An institution in development
Organizing intellectual life.
Hemingway University is a developing interdisciplinary educational and research institution. It is not accredited and does not grant degrees today; becoming an accredited university is its long-term goal.
Educational principles
Five commitments guide everything we build.
They guide how the academic model, and every structure that follows from it, is being designed.
Intellectual Formation
Education should cultivate judgment, independence, and intellectual character.
Disciplinary Rigor
Interdisciplinarity depends on real disciplines.
Directed Independence
Growing autonomy, supported by structure.
Inquiry and Creation
Making things is a central way of learning.
Knowledge in Relation
Fields distinct enough for rigor, connected enough for synthesis.
Academic progression
From foundation to original work.
A proposed path of intellectual development through the institution, in five stages.
Foundation
Essential intellectual tools, methods, and literacies.
Exploration
Encountering several domains and finding directions of inquiry.
Concentration
Sustained disciplinary or interdisciplinary depth.
Synthesis
Connecting methods and knowledge across fields.
Research / Creation
Substantial independent inquiry or creative production.
These stages describe development through Hemingway University. They are distinct from Mettica’s depth levels (Intuitive, Conceptual, Formal, Advanced), which describe how deeply a learner engages a single subject.
Institutional form
The structures a university will need.
Each is a future part of Hemingway University. Its status is shown beside it and will change as the institution develops.
- Status: Long-term
Schools / Faculties
Durable academic homes for related disciplines.
- Status: Long-term
Institutes / Centers
Homes for sustained interdisciplinary research.
- Status: Long-term
Programs
Structured courses of study, eventually leading toward recognized qualifications.
- Status: Long-term
Seminars / Courses
Structured instruction in small, discussion-centered settings.
- Status: Long-term
Studios / Laboratories
Spaces for experimentation, design, and creative production.
- Status: Long-term
Independent Research
Pathways for learners to pursue substantial inquiry of their own.
- Status: Long-term
Publications / Archives
Institutional scholarship, published work, and the record of the institution.
Research and Creation
Making things is a form of learning.
Hemingway University treats research, writing, software, design, art, experimentation, and other forms of production as central to learning, not as a reward saved for the end of it.
Scholarship and creative work are understood as one continuum. A learner comes to understand a field partly by making something in it: an argument, a model, a program, a composition, an experiment, a publication.
Forms of inquiry and creation
- Writing
- Research
- Software
- Art and design
- Experiments
- Models
- Publications
Mettica
Mettica is being developed as foundational learning infrastructure for Hemingway University—and as an open platform that extends beyond it.
Mettica organizes understanding
- Navigating disciplines and their subfields
- Tracing relationships between concepts
- Approaching a subject at different depths
- Eventually, engaging knowledge through text, visual models, simulations, narrative, and sound
Hemingway University organizes intellectual life
- Academic pathways
- Mentorship and seminars
- Research and creative practice
- Scholarly community, assessment, and standards
- Long-term: formal programs, qualifications, and accreditation
Where things stand
What exists now, and what is still to come.
Every part of the institution carries one of three statuses. They will change as work progresses.
Status: Now
Public website
This site, rebuilt to state clearly what exists now and what is still being developed.
Provisional academic model
The five educational principles and five-stage progression, published here as a proposal.
Mettica’s first public release
An independent, open learning platform, live at mettica.org.
Status: In development
Institutional design
Defining the academic structures, standards, and governance the institution will need.
Mettica integration
Shaping how Mettica will support learning at Hemingway University.
Status: Long-term
Mentorship
Mentors who guide and support each learner’s intellectual development.
Formal programs and recognized qualifications
Structured programs that lead to qualifications recognized beyond the institution.
Accreditation
Recognition as an accredited university, the institution’s long-term goal.
7 institutional structures
Listed under Institutional form, each with its own status.