LOST University was launched as a website in late October. It wasn’t quite clear what exactly it was at that time and even now after it’s been mostly revealed there’s still some confusion.  So I thought I’d take the time to guide you through it.

LOST has always been a show that didn’t shy away from trying to educate it’s viewers beyond the fiction that appeared on the show.  There’s been ARG’s (alternate reality games) every summer since the show premiered in 2004 to bring fans deeper into the universe and also encouraging them to explore the world.  Then there was the LOST book club, which had fans reading and discussing the books read by the characters on the show.  LOST University is essentially an extension of this.  In short it’s academics speaking on various subjects that are somehow involved with the show, like philosophy, hieroglyphics, and time travel for example.

But before we get too far into talking about the content, let’s discuss the prerequisites. Signing up and getting your student ID card featuring your name, ID number, PIN, and picture, that you can print at home is totally free.  Just head over to lostuniversity.org and sign up.  There’s also a “Tutoring Center” that features some videos about topics from the show using clips from the show itself, so far only 3 are up but they have a schedule up to release more.

LU's team is The Polar Bears

But then we get to what you really need to experience the rest of the LOST U experience: A Blu-ray player with BD-Live ability connected to the internet (like a PlayStation 3for example), and Lost: The Complete Fifth Season on Blu-ray.  The Blu-ray version of season 5 is the only way to access the classes.  So you might be wary of this.  But I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t be.  First of all it’s only $10 more than the regular dvd set, Blu-ray prices have dropped a lot, especially for popular titles like this and for the extra $10 you get a few more special features, LOST U, and of course the entirety of Season 5 in full HD.  LOST is the perfect show to show off high def.  It’s got beautiful cinematography that fills every inch of screen and wonderful surround sound details.  This is the way this show is meant to be watched.  So really you should be buying the Blu-ray anyway.  Beyond having the Blu-ray version of season 5 and an appropriate Blu-ray player, LOST University is totally free.

Now let’s explore more in depth.  The entrance process starts by signing up at lostuniversity.org.  It’s a very simple process, be sure to have a picture of yourself ready on your computer to upload for your personalized student ID card, already something cool for LOST fans.  Then you take an entrance exam.  Don’t worry it really doesn’t have anything to do with getting in, everyone gets in.  The test is a multiple choice test asking questions about your knowledge of the show itself.  Then you’ll be given a LOST 101 video to watch.  It’s only a couple of minutes.  After that you’ll have your PIN and Student ID#.  It’s now time to pop in the final disc of the Blu-ray.  Navigate yourself to the LOST University section and your player will connect using BD-Live to LU.  The first time you do this it will probably take a while because it updates and downloads some stuff, but not too long, just be patient.  You’ll then be prompted to enter your PIN and ID#, letting the servers sync up your Blu-ray info with the LOST U website.  Now you’ll be talked through the process from here by various voices.  The first step is registering for classes.  Right now we’re in the first semester that opened December 15th with the release of the Blu-ray set.  You can see the list of courses available online before you even sign up.  The first semester classes are:

• HIS 101 – The Ancient Writing On The Wall
• LAN 101 – Foreign Language For Beginners
• PHI 101 – I’m LOST, Therefore I Am
• PHY 101 – Introductory Physics of Time Travel
• PHY 301 Seminar – New Physics with Jeremy Davies
• SCI 201 – Jungle Survivor Basics

A quick note about PHY 301, when you try to sign up for this class you will get a class full message.  Some people claim they were able to actually sign up but no idea if that’s just people being assholes on the internet.  It would make no sense to only allow a very small amount of people into a class so I don’t know what the deal is there.  It says to check back next semester.  Everything else you can sign up for and take.

SCI 201 is a short video that explores what you’d need to do to actually survive on a LOST like island.  It’s pretty funny and uses clips from the show to illustrate it’s points.  At the end of it you’ll be walked through the process of making a small raft with straws and toothpicks.  There’s no exams and you pass just for watching the videos.

LAN 101 consists of 2 different classes that will teach you 15 phrases from the show in Korean and then in French.  You have to wait 2 days between taking classes.  This goes for all courses.  Basically you can watch the first video for each course all in the same sitting but to watch the second video for each you have to wait 2 days.  Does that make sense?  I have no clue why there’s a 2 day waiting period, probably to extend the experience.  Meanwhile go back to the Lost U website on your computer and you can go into your binder where you’ll find handouts and class notes that you can print out.  You’ll also find homework.

The homework is obviously optional.  There’s no way for them to know if you did it or not.  It usually consists of essays asking you to explore more about the topic covered in the class and compare it to how it is on the show.  If you’re really into this I encourage you to do it.  Every class also has a reading list of real books available to buy on the website (or you could go to a library) if you want to go more in depth.  You’ll find these reading lists on the website as well.

HIS 101 is another super interesting course, especially the second class where you are taught how to read hieroglyphics, this is especially useful since they’re everywhere on the show.

I should take a break and tell you exactly what the classes are.  For the most part they’re short videos, maybe 5 minutes in length, that feature a specialist on the particular topic giving you a quick lesson in it sometimes with bits of show footage interlaced, and with bullet points on the side (you’ll find these in your class notes section of your binder, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take notes while watching because there’s more than just the notes on the tests).  Each course seems to consist of 2 of these videos (which are pauseable and watchable as many times as you want), with the exception of SCI 201 that’s just one video and LAN 101 that’s all text and audio.

After you’ve watched both videos for a course you are then able to take that course’s test.  Your course notes and handouts that are on the webpage will be helpful, but paying attention to the videos is also very important.  I’d suggest watching them again before taking the test.  These are multiple choice exams and after you take it, if you pass you’ve completed the course and are given your grade and the full amount of credits for the course.  I have no idea what happens should you fail.

You can buy this on the site.

All of this stuff is really interesting for anyone interested in diving a little deeper into the real world aspects of LOST and the whole thing is both educational and interesting.  I’d really recommend checking it out.  I’m sure the first semester will be available for a good long time for people not buying the Blu-rays right now and semester two starts January 15th with a bunch of new courses that all sound interesting on their own. And I seem to remember reading early on that if you pass both semesters you get a diploma.

LOST has really elevated the television viewing experience here and should be rewarded for the effort this took to put together.  It’s really wonderful and I hope they do it for the next (and final) season as well.