I am participating in a faculty Writing Associates Seminar, in which we are learning to integrate writing more intelligently and productively into our courses. For an upcoming retreat, our seminar leader asked us to write a letter to our future students about what we hope they will get out of our class. I wrote theContinueContinue reading “A Letter to My Future Students”
Category Archives: Teaching
Contemporary Application of Bourdieu’s Distinction in Musical Taste
In his famous book Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, Pierre Bourdieu reports findings from a French survey of cultural tastes fielded in 1967-68. Of particular note is a figure showing the distribution of preferences for three musical works by class fractions. Bourdieu reports that Bach’s “Well-Tempered Clavier” represents “legitimate taste” andContinueContinue reading “Contemporary Application of Bourdieu’s Distinction in Musical Taste”
Sociological Theory Student Survey Updating Bourdieu
OK, Wake Forest Sociological Theory students. You asked for it, you got it. Listen to the following three songs and complete the survey at the bottom of this blog post! http://youtu.be/ViwtNLUqkMY http://youtu.be/IBH97ma9YiI http://youtu.be/MYxAiK6VnXw http://www.wedgies.com/question/534d6951305268020000067f Thanks for participating!!!!
Teaching the Frankfurt School on the Culture Industry and Standardization of Cultural Products
In my sociological theory class recently, I was teaching about critical theory (i.e., “the Frankfurt School”). Specifically, students were reading excerpts from Theodor Adorno’s and Max Horkheimer’s work on “The Culture Industry,” excerpted from their 1944 book The Dialectic of Enlightenment. We talked about how the production of mass cultural commodities (books, films, TV, music)ContinueContinue reading “Teaching the Frankfurt School on the Culture Industry and Standardization of Cultural Products”
Q&A With My Friend Black Hawk Hancock on His New Theory Book
My friend and I did an on-line Q&A about his new theory text, Social Theory: Continuity and Confrontation. The University of Toronto Press put it on their blog last week. Check it out HERE. I’m looking forward to using the text next spring in my theory classes.
Title IX at Wake Forest University
I find Title IX endlessly complex and fascinating. I am teaching the Sociology of Sport this fall and the more I dig into the issue, the less I feel like I know and the more I want to know. In response to a class discussion, a student forwarded me the following email from our universityContinueContinue reading “Title IX at Wake Forest University”
Work Hard, Play Hard?
Many students at elite colleges and universities in the United States adhere to the motto, “Work Hard, Play Hard.” I tell my students applying this motto to higher education creates a false dichotomy between work and play. I insist that my courses will require them to work, to be sure, but that we will haveContinueContinue reading “Work Hard, Play Hard?”
What We’re Selling, What They’re Buying
Had a conversation with a good colleague the other day who marveled at the fact that the knowledge we are trying to “sell” students in class is the only commodity that people willingly shortchange themselves on. That is, most students pay full price for their courses but want to do as little as possible inContinueContinue reading “What We’re Selling, What They’re Buying”
What the teacher learned
I was reminded the other day at a teaching seminar of this truism: Students may not remember the substance of what you teach, but they will remember how you made them feel. Now, I’m no proponent of “emotivism” as a moral philosophy, but I do know that the professors who took the time to makeContinueContinue reading “What the teacher learned”
Why Did I Leave OLU?
This weekend, I am going to a meeting at The Louisville Institute for the Study of American Religion to help choose recipients of a book-writing fellowship. The Louisville Institute has been very supportive of my work in the past, giving me both a dissertation fellowship and a large grant to conduct research on conversion. TheyContinueContinue reading “Why Did I Leave OLU?”