Comments for Contech

Comment on Blogging and Teaching Against Poverty by Herman Barber

Herman Barber — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:36:35 +0000

I came to your blog by way of a Google search for a short video entitled
“Bourgeois Blues.” I am working on a six-hour class on the topic of curtural competence. This short film was recommended. I would like to purchase this video on DVD. If you have any contact information that may allow me to purchase “Bourgeois Blues”, I would me most appreciative.

Have a great day!

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by Joshua L.

Joshua L. — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:14:45 +0000

Though I completely agree that the growing trend of internet courses for campuses will continue to rise over the next few years, I find it hard to believe that a university itself will allow to be completely replaced by technology. Faculty itself is a valuable asset to a student. One that is often overlooked, however I bet an successful college graduate can remember a professor that really pushed them through and put them on a career track.

I just think the internet allows for a diversified spectrum of student preferences and that’s the point; it’s another option, not a replacement in the future.

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 02:16:24 +0000

yes.. come to claas

no… cannot come to class.

Admit…

No Admit.

come to class or cannot come to class.

All this time, money, energy is about who can, cannot attend.

MIT, Berkeley, Stanford, Yale: free courses for a free world.

Billions, billions billions billions of people can see lectrue.

Comment on Why don’t more sociologists blog? by Tanya Golash-Boza

Tanya Golash-Boza — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 22:40:07 +0000

Thanks for this post, although I am a bit late reading it…

I have been blogging all summer, and have enjoyed it tremendously. However, I think I am in a unique position – I am “in the field,” and thus am seeing new things and collecting new evidence each day.

I hope to continue blogging when I am back in the real world of teaching, service, and research next year, and have been searching around for good examples of sociology blogs. Racismreview.com is an obvious one!

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by Brian

Brian — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 11:09:47 +0000

The demise of higher education can’t come soon enough, and it isn’t predicated upon students’ intrinsic motivation. Rather, this culture has been wildly oversold on the idea that individuals *must* have college degrees or their lives will prove worthless and they won;t be able to find meaningful, engaging employment.

Well, I think our citizenry is waking up to this myth. Once folks understand that the current higher education–and its outrageous costs–are unsustainable, and that individuals can derive much satisfaction in the skilled trades, I *hope* and *pray* that the higher ed. bubble (the next big bubble, I think) bursts. Enough is enough . . .

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by JP

JP — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:27:08 +0000

I am a graduate student in international relations at a branch of an American university overseas. I have recently been taking a class in International Political Economy, and I supplement my lectures with a podcast I found of an identical course at Middlebury College. The Middlebury professor is in my opinion, a much better and clearer teacher (and does not veer into unsolicited polemics on the current administration like my own professor). Without the podcast, I would be scrambling.

Perhaps being a grad student makes me more motivated than an undergrad to do outside work.

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by AL

AL — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:25:08 +0000

Maybe I’m too cynical, but I agree that Tapscott seems to overestimate the learning motivation of students. For many years, anyone (with the money to do so) has been able to purchase textbooks written by leading scholars in the field and read those books on their own. While some people may have certainly “self-taught” themselves in this way, I would guess that relatively few people have done so. Why? As you say, without the incentives of grades, deadlines for assigned coursework, and the degree credential, the motivation to learn just for the sake of learning is generally not there.

Comment on Contemplating the Demise of the University by is the brick and mortar college obsolete? –

is the brick and mortar college obsolete? – — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:41:19 +0000

[...] via Contech » Contemplating the Demise of the University. [...]

Comment on Propaganda in the Digital Era through a Sociological Lens by john brown

john brown — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:16:07 +0000

Jessie, FYI, had the pleasure of citing your blog in the above website. best, john

Comment on Rethinking Scholarship and Tenure in the Digital Era by Jessie

Jessie — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:16:52 +0000

Hmm…. I’ve been mulling this over. I suppose that I should amend what I said in the original post to read that the goal of granting tenure to someone is that they’ve both “created new knowledge” and built a national reputation. The thing that seems different to me about the Internet-era, is that some people are creating new knowledge through the medium, not just popularizing knowledge they (or, others) have created. Here, I’m thinking more of the Web 2.0 video that went viral, rather than the “last lecture” that also went viral. In the case of the Web 2.0 video, the person that created it didn’t have tenure at the time (not sure if he does now), but I had several conversations with colleagues about “how would you evaluate that” if you were on a T&P committee. What I think we need to do, and what I meant to suggest in my post, is that we need to expand the kinds of things that “count.” Perhaps this only applies to the social sciences where we’ve been rather narrow in what we consider. Perhaps what we need to do is be more expansive like our colleagues in the fine arts who consider all sorts of “products” as evidence of productive scholarship.