Archive: Jan 2012

MONTE BUTE ELECTED AS IFO ACTION COORDINATOR

by Russ Stanton, IFO Director of Government Relations

The Inter Faculty Organization (IFO)  Board of Directors has elected Monte Bute to the position of Action Coordinator. The IFO represents faculty at Minnesota’s seven state universities. The Action Coordinator will chair the Action Committee and:

  • Help publicize the valuable work and efforts of the IFO and its members to various external constituent groups.
  • Engage in efforts to build solidarity and community within the IFO and its membership and with various external groups.
  • Coordinate information flow between faculty and the Negotiating Team regarding issues and progress of negotiations.
  • Coordinate actions that will move the negotiation process on and encourage settlement.
  • Keep the Negotiating Team informed of action plans and be receptive to input from the Negotiating Team; and
  • Work with the GRC to encourage efforts at writing letters to legislators and the local press.

Monte Bute is an associate professor of sociology at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. His opinion essays appear on the editorial pages of daily newspapers in the Twin Cities. Bute also frequently testifies on higher education issues before the Minnesota Senate and House of Representatives.

Bute began teaching at Metropolitan State as a community faculty member in 1984. He finally finished a long-delayed B.A. at the university in 1991. After a 20-year career as a community organizer, he realized that his next mission in life was teaching. To fulfill that calling, Bute began graduate school rather late in life. Professor Bute has been a prolific writer over the years, publishing 65 articles in scholarly publications and the popular press.

Sociologists of Minnesota (SOM) gave Bute the Distinguished Sociologist award in 2004. Bute has received Metropolitan State University’s Outstanding Teacher award and the Excellence in Teaching award. He has also been given awards by Minneapolis Community and Technical College, the Jobs Now Coalition, and the Job Training Partnership Association.

Professor Bute is a past president of both Sociologists of Minnesota and the National Council of State Sociological Associations (NCSSA). Bute has been the editor of Sociograph, associate editor of the Sociological Imagination, and has served on the editorial board of Contexts, a journal of the American Sociological Association. He has been a fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.

 

Letta Page 12:07 pm on January 16, 2012 | # | Reply

The third additional set of films to hit our inboxes comes from the incomparable Monte Bute, of Metro State, who is well-known for his approach to teaching about death and dying while, well, experiencing these ultimately social phenomena. Monte pointed out that he generally has not found documentary to be a particularly good way to help students enter into the world of death and dying, but was readily able to supply five fictional films that work beautifully in a classroom—even one approaching a sometimes too-close topic.

1. “Ikiru,” directed by Akira Kurosawa

2. “The Seventh Seal,” directed Ingmar Bergman

3. “Of Gods and Men,” directed by Xavier Beauvoix

4. “Tell Me a Riddle,” directed by Lee Grant

5. “Dead Man,” Jim Jarmusch

To hear more about Monte’s approach in the classroom, listen to his episode of the Office Hours podcast here on The Society Pages or check out his own TSP blog, A Backstage Sociologist.

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