Re: our students

["Sara Glennon" <SGLENNON@landmarkcollege.org>]

I was born in 1962, and I can remember several times in high school 
that teachers said something like "And you all know about Vietnam..." 
 But I didn't.  I didn't pay attention to national or world events 
until I was in my teens.  In college I was grateful to be able to 
take a history course on the 1960's.  I think this kind of reminder 
that our students are young is useful.    

Sara




> Date:          Mon, 31 Aug 1998 21:10:20 -0700
> To:            wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu
> From:          Jim Adams <adams001@coyote.csusm.edu>
> Subject:       Re: our students
> Reply-to:      wcenter@ttacs6.ttu.edu

> Kate,
> 
> I am very glad your son responded so thoughtfully to the social context
> list. Like so many others who have responded so far, I found the "College
> Freshman 1998--for what it's worth" posting useful for trying to comprehend
> the world of an 18-year-old. However, I must say that my first reaction to
> the list made me worry about further propogation of the sterotypes of a
> dissassociated, selfish Generation X that I hear so many of my generation
> talk about. So, a big TOUCHE' to your son.
> 
> Jim
> 
> At 11:15 AM 8/31/98 -0700, you wrote:
> >I recently received the posting about the social context of students
> >just entering college.  After sharing it with my son, an 18-year-old
> >first-year college student, he responded with the following:
> >
> >As we prepare for the beginning of another academic year, these facts
> >may help us to remember the social context of the people who teach us.
> >
> >Many of the people who are teaching college this fall across the nation
> >were born between 1946 and 1964.
> >
> >They have no meaningful recollection of the Charles I era, and did not
> >know he had ever been executed.
> >
> >They were pre-pubescent when the Korean War was waged.
> >
> >The Panic of 1907 is as significant to them as the Era of Good Feelings.
> >
> >There have been only two Japanese Emperors.
> >
> >They can only really remember one English monarch.
> >
> >They were 4 when the USSR fist tested an atomic bomb, and do not
> >remember the Great Depression.
> >
> >They have never lived under totalitarianism.  "The Long March" is a
> >missile to them, not a historical event.
> >
> >NKVD is just a bunch of letters.
> >
> >They have known only one Italy.
> >
> >They are too young to remember the U-2 shot down, and Prague Spring
> >means nothing to them.
> >
> >They do not know who Michael Collins was.
> >
> >Their lifetime has always included genocide.
> >
> >They have never had swine flu, and likely, do not know what it is.
> >
> >Futurism predates them, as does photography.  The expression "A penny's
> >a pound the world round" means nothing to them.
> >
> >They have likely never played stickball, and have never heard of it.
> >
> >There has always been Marxism, and Maoism is not new.  Anarchism may
> >have special meaning.  What do you mean there used to be Hegelianism?
> >
> >They may have heard of a Victrola, but chances are they have never
> >actually seen or heard one.
> >
> >NATO was introduced when they were 1 year old.
> >
> >They have always had a telephone.
> >
> >Most have never seen a TV set the size of a chest of drawers, nor have
> >they seen a cylindrical wax LP
> >
> >They have always had light bulbs.
> >
> >There have always been movies, but they have no idea what the Brighton
> >School was.
> >
> >They were born the year that COMECON was introduced by the CCCP.
> >
> >Driving has always been "in a car" for them.
> >
> >They have never heard of the Hanseatic League, East India Co., South
> >Seas Co., or White Star.
> >
> >Dada is what Marcel Duchamp's son called him.
> >
> >They have no idea when or why corsets were cool.
> >
> >Radio has always had frequency modulation.
> >
> >They have never seen or remember a pro sports team like the Washington
> >Capitols, South Philadelphia Hebrew Association, Cleveland Rosenblums,
> >Pittsburgh Ironmen, Chicago Stags, Providence Steamrollers, Cleveland
> >Rebels.
> >
> >They do not consider the New York Mets and Milwaukee Brewers "expansion
> >teams."
> >
> >They have never seen Knute Rockne play, and isn't Bob Cousy an
> >announcer?
> >
> >The World War I is as ancient history to them as the Russian, American,
> >or even the English Civil Wars.
> >
> >They have no idea that Holy Roman Empire officials were ever
> >defenestrated in Prague.
> >
> >They don't know who Dr. Caligari was or where he came from.
> >
> >They have never heard the phrases "54', 40" or fight,"  "Join or Die,"
> >or "Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead."
> >
> >They do not care why Sacco and Vanzetti were executed and have no idea
> >who Sacco and Vanetti were.
> >
> >Ma Perkins, Just Plain Bill, Amos n' Andy, and The March of Time are
> >shows they have likely never heard of.
> >
> >King Tutankhamen's tomb was found?  I thought we always knew where it
> >was.
> >
> >New Hampshire and New York have always been "new."
> >
> >They cannot remember the St. Louis Bombers ever winning a NBA
> >championship, or even being in one.
> >
> >Waterloo, Odessa, and Toledo are places in Europe, not America, and they
> >have no idea Cincinnati is named after a Roman statesman.
> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
Sara Glennon
Director
Center for Teaching and Learning
Landmark College
Putney, VT 05346
(802) 387-6746       email: sglennon@landmarkcollege.org


"...when a subject is highly controversial...one cannot
 hope to tell the truth.  One can only show how one came 
to hold whatever opinion one does hold."   Virginia Woolf