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Quick Studies

Learn, Stanford style, without going back to class. Presenting Quick Studies, a monthly collection of articles, videos and podcasts curated exclusively for you.

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Accent? What Accent? I'm from California!
Do you say "greasy" or "greezy"? Beyond the stereotypes of Hollywood celebrities and surfer dudes, a Stanford linguistics project called Voices of California has revealed subtle differences among Californians north and south, in the Central Valley and on the coast.
Read the Stanford University News article  »

 

Don't Cash That Check Just Yet
"People seem to think retiring and starting Social Security are the same decision. And I'm saying, Nope." Stanford economist John Shoven gives practical advice on saving for retirement in the face of a struggling economy, low interest rates and longer life spans.
Read the Palo Alto Patch Q&A;  »

A Good Friend Gets Harder to Find
If you feel like it's gotten harder to make new friends, you're not alone. Psychology professor Laura Carstensen explains why, as we move toward midlife, we tend to interact with fewer people and focus instead on the friends we already have.
Read the New York Times article  »

Watch

What Goes into Making a Chair? video
Follow along as Stanford students prototype, weld, saw and perfect their own distinctive chairs in a 10-week advanced design class that's become a rite of passage for design and engineering students.
Watch the YouTube video  » (2.5 min.)







 

Log In and Learn: Why Online Education Makes Sense video
"Our goal is to take the best courses from the best instructors at the best universities, and provide it to everyone around the world, for free." Coursera co-founder and computer science professor Daphne Koller, PhD '94, explains what motivates her to bring massive online education to all.
Watch the TEDGlobal2012 video  » (20 min.)

Hands-On Education Hits the Road with SparkTruck video
Using low-tech props like construction paper and scissors, graduate students from the d.school explain how a series of visits to elementary schools led to SparkTruck, an "education build-mobile" dedicated to spreading the fun of hands-on learning by encouraging kids to find their inner maker.
Watch the Aspen Ideas Festival video clip  » (10 min.)

Listen

Can We Create Banks We Love? audio
Finance professor Anat Admati explains why letting banks carry massive debt is fundamentally flawed, and offers an alternative.
Listen to NPR's Planet Money podcast  » (16 min.)

How to Be a Better Parent? Back Off audio
"It is in the small daily risks that growth takes place. In this gray area of just beyond the comfortable is where resilience is born." Psychologist Madeline Levine, author of The Price of Privilege and co-founder of Stanford's Challenge Success project, explains the dangers of over-parenting and the keys to nurturing self-esteem.
Listen to KQED's Forum interview  » (51 min.)

Why Everyone Needs a Wolf Pack audio
Assistant professor Greg Walton explains how concern about social belonging — having positive relationships with others — can lead to poorer school and health outcomes for ethnic minorities, and describes an intervention he conceived to help college freshmen fit in.
Listen to the Stanford Center for Social Intervention podcast  » (37 min.)