Лекция по элективному курсу «Страноведение  США» для 11-х классов средней общеобразовательной школы на тему: « Самые известные университеты США»

The Most Famous Universities of the USA

                     HARVARD UNIVERSITY is an American private Ivy League research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard was named after its first benefactor (sponsor) whose name was Harvard. Although never formally affiliated (to be a member formally of) with a church, the college primarily trained clergy. It had become secular (not religious) by the 19th century.

                   Nowadays Drew Gilpin Faust is the 28th president of Harvard. She was elected as the first woman to lead the university in 2007.

                   The motto of the university is “VERITAS” that means in Latin “Truth”. The nickname f the university is “Harvard Crimson” and its symbolic colour is also crimson (bright red). “Crimson” is also the name of the Harvard sports team and the daily university newspaper “Harvard Crimson”.  Today more than 21.225 students study at different faculties, colleges of the university. And the Academic staff of the institution is more than 2.107 teachers and trainers.

             The endowment (annual budget) of Harvard is US $ 32 billion. It is the largest financial endowment of any academic institution in the world, standing at $32 billion as of September 2011. The university comprises 11 separate academic units - 10 faculties and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study – with campuses throughout the Boston metropolitan area. The Business School and the athletic facilities, including Harvard Stadium are located across the Charles River in Allston and Medical, Dental, Public Health Schools are located in the Longwood Medical Area.

              8 US presidents, political leaders and other best-known people, 75 Nobel Laureates have been students of Harvard. They are some of them: John Hancock, John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and a lot of other foreigners who later became heads of different countries where they had come from.

             Harvard University Library System is centered in Widener Library in Harvard Yard and comprises over 80 individual libraries holding some 15 million volumes. According to American Library Association, this makes it the largest academic library in the USA and one of the largest in the world.

 YALE UNIVERSITY  is an American private Ivy League research university located in New Haven, Connecticut, the United States. It was founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut. The university is the third oldest institution of higher education in the USA.  Originally it also trained clergy, just as in Harvard, and political leaders for the colony. In 1718 the college was renamed “Yale College” to honour the gift from Elihu Yale, a governor of the British East India Company.

              The motto of Yale is “LUX ET VERITAS” that means in Latin “Light and Truth”. The symbolic colour of the university is Yale Blue. The nicknames of the Yale University are: Bulldogs, Elis, and Yale’s. The president of the university is Richard C. Levin. The academic staff numbers 3.619 people. Nowadays 11.593 students study at the Yale University.

            The endowment of the university is US $ 19.3 billion as of 2011 and it is the 2nd largest endowment of any academic institution in the world.

            Yale’s Library System consists of more than 2 dozen libraries and holds 12.5 million volumes. 49 Nobel Laureates have graduated from Yale. It also produced 5 US Presidents, 19 US Supreme Court Justices and several foreign heads of state.

           Yale Law School is particularly well-regarded. It is the most selective law School in the USA. In 2007 outgoing (nowadays) Yale President Rick Levin characterized Yale’s institutional priorities: “First, among the nation’s finest research universities, Yale is committed to excellence in undergraduate education. Second, in our graduate and professional schools, as well as in Yale College, we are committed to the education of leaders.”

         Yale is famous for its Gothic architecture of the University campuses. It also has several iconic modern buildings. Yale also owns and has restored many noteworthy 19th century mansions along Hill house Avenue, which was considered the most beautiful street in America by Charles Dickens when he visited the USA in the 1840-s. The decorative friezes on the buildings depict the style of the middle Ages architecture.

        The Statue of Nathan Hale, the national Revolutionary War hero is in front of Connecticut Hall. It is worth mentioning that the prototype of the Yale ideal in the early 19th century was a manly yet aristocratic scholar and patriot who regretted he had but one life to lose for his country.

        The Yale University as well as Harvard has their own University Police. A variety of safety services are available including blue phones, a safety escort and a shuttle service.

         Yale’s museums’ collections are also of international importance. The Yale University Art Gallery is the country’s first-university affiliated art museum. It contains more than 180.000 works and important collections of modern art.

                                                        Questions

1. When and where was Harvard University established?
2. Whom did it train originally in the 17th century?
3. Who is the president of Harvard nowadays?
4. What is the motto of Harvard and what about other symbols of the university?
5. What is the endowment of Harvard?
6. How many students are there at the university today?
7. What famous political leaders and other well-known people graduated from Harvard?
8. Where is Yale University located?
9. When was it founded?
10. Why is it called “Yale”?
11. What is the motto of the university?
12. Who is the president of Yale?
13. Which school of the university is particularly regarded?
14. What are the most important priorities of the university?
15. What are Yale’s University campuses famous for?

Учитель английского языка

МБОУ гимназия №12 г. Донецка                                                                    Е.Е. Чумакова