The focus of many research efforts today is the classroom presentation. Should it be a lecture, discussion, multimedia, or some combination of them? This essay takes a look at some unorthodox methods that could be used outside the classroom to help students become scholars. Although the focus is on mathematics, most of the ideas can be transferred to other academic subjects. The stories are unconventional, but they are very suc cessful examples from the twentieth cen tury literature. I believe that they may help spark new ideas that can be applied in different college settings.