Graduation Time

Above: Kendel, Janette, Carson, Jeff, and Amy

I am leaving for the University of Arkansas in 30 minutes; Jeff Grooms, a close friend and former student will be graduating with a degree in German and European history. Jeff, and his wife Amy Clothier were a part of the last AP European history class I taught in 2004 at CAC (N. Little Rock, AR). I enjoyed my time with both Jeff and Amy on and off campus. Having the two of them over to the house was always a treat. The entire Grooms’ family made my stay at CAC a joy. I taught Jeff’s brother Kendel my second year at CAC. Much like Jeff, Kendel was fun to be around on and off campus; he introduced me to the band Ho Hum one night while out at Little Rock’s Juanitas.

I think all of us have those we would love to work with. As jeff starts and completes his PhD in European history, I will be be recruiting him to be my colleague one day. The picture above is from Jeff and Amy’s wedding two years ago. I made a quick 7 hour drive north to attend.Today, it will be a very slow 9hr drive. Good luck in graduate school Jeff….We are very proud of your accomplishments. I will see you in a few hours.

Independent Schools Face Campus Racism

Photo [Boston Globe]

I am currently serving on a student diversity committee chaired by the Director of Admissions and co-chaired by the Associate Director of Admissions at Houston Christian. Our meetings have been good and to no surprise full of interesting student anecdotes; I suspect matters such as race is not a huge problem at HCHS due to the diversity of our campus, and that of the city of Houston. According to our stats, HCHS student population this year is made up of 19% students of color, while next year’s entering class is at 20%. Still, highly affluent independent schools, such as HCHS must contend with a much smaller racial and socioeconomic group of students. Our students appear to be open to racial diversity and those of different religious views too.

As an independent religious school with no denominational ties, religious and non-religious students engage fairly well. We have atheist students, Muslim students, and in the past a Buddhist student (a favorite of mine). With tuition being what it is at many schools, minority students often cannot afford the tuition. This creates a sense of conformity in a homogeneous environment. Often students of color feel isolated in white private schools. At times, as is the case at HCHS, many of our students of color are the most popular students. I was one of two black students to graduate from a private school in Montgomery, Alabama. Although I had great friends and felt as though I fit in well, there were racial issues that caught my attention. A teacher once asked me about the sexual attitudes of black men towards white women almost to imply that black males are predators. Furthermore, another teacher assumed that my family was on welfare and that I was a token student.

Of course, 95% of my experience was great; I still keep in touch with a few of my instructors and the head of the school — who, by the way, offered me my first job. There are complicit acts committed by some private schools that naturally promotes codes of de facto racism. Some of the nations most elite independent schools are dealing with matters of race, as they look to promote a sense of cultural vitality and intellectual curiosity among their students. My first teaching appointment put me in a private school in which I believe I was the first black male teacher; I was not surprised when students would often challenge my intellect and knowledge of subject, regardless of academic success or degrees. Better yet, before I went on the market I was warned by an advisor that I would face this if the school was not very diverse. It did not take too long before students were more concerned about my exams than my skin color. The Boston Globe published an article addressing how independent schools were going to address this topic. Here are a few examples of what students reported:

In September, a black female student discovered a racist comment scraped into the door of her dormitory room at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. A week later, the faces of six black students were crossed out with a magic marker on a photograph hanging on a dormitory bulletin board at Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Conn.

Now, one week since at least 23 black students at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., received letters in the mail that students said read, “bang bang get out of here,”

At St. Paul’s, where 8 percent of the 524 students are black, tension over racial divisions surfaced last week after news of the hate letters surfaced. Some white students approached their black peers to offer sympathy and express shock, but some African-American students responded angrily, saying such gestures should have come before the letters arrived.

Click [here] to read the rest of the article. h/t: Phil Sinitiere

What Makes an Independent School Different? By Guest Blogger (ESA)

I have asked students, independent school faculty members, and administrators to participate in a blogging forum addressing matters of independent school life. Below is a piece written by a guest blogger who will be refered to here as Elite School Administrator (ESA). ESA works at a top tier independent school in North Carolina. Creatively, he has taken a set of myth questions and comments and added his thoughts. Much of my research and writing interest centers around historical markers and sociological factors as meters vis-a-vis race and independent schools. Because of such interest, I make it a point to network and explore the nature of independent schools.

Myth: Private school teachers make less than their colleagues in public schools.

As with most things, that’s not necessarily true. A lot depends on the kind of the school we are talking about. For example, a third grade teacher in a parochial school will make about 10-15% less than her counterpart in a public school. Why? Parochial school budgets are traditionally the slimmest in the business because their tuitions are among the lowest in the business. Now, put that same third grade teacher in a Montessori school and the salary gap closes significantly. Why? Montessori schools typically charge what the market will bear. Highly qualified teachers with terminal degrees working at the top prep schools will make very close to what their colleagues in public education make. Ditto for administrators. Now, put that same third grade teacher in a Montessori school and the salary gap closes significantly. Why? Montessori schools typically charge what the market will bear. Highly qualified teachers with terminal degrees working at the top prep schools will make very close to what their colleagues in public education make. Ditto for administrators.

ESA: The nice thing about many if not most independent schools is that they are willing to negotiate salary. My campus does not have a set salary chart. Now, when I was part of the teaching faculty full time I worried about this my first few years. I was not sure what I would be making down the road. In the end, the best schools always pay the best teachers what they should earn.

Elitism

Myth: Private school students are spoiled rich kids or n’er-do-wells who have been packed off to private school for remediation.

Yes, there are day schools in many parts of the country where you will see more luxury cars per square foot in the school parking lot than you can possibly imagine. Yes, it is impressive seeing Josh’s dad land on the soccer field in his company helicopter*. The reality, however, is that most schools are remarkably diverse, inclusive communities. Ignore the popular stereotypes which Hollywood loves to perpetuate.

ESA: This tends to be true at schools on the lower end. Such schools are young and have not developed a reputation for academic quality. They usually have an administrator who does other things as well as reviewing the files of potential students. A school such as this often enough does not administer an admissions test or interview the family and the student. They are driven by money so they can keep the lights on.

Same Sex Partners

Myth: Same sex partners are not welcome in private schools.

That probably still is the case in most conservative religious schools. On the other hand some of the top prep schools including Andover welcome same sex couples on their faculty and staff. They enjoy all the rights and privileges which heterosexual couples enjoy.

ESA: My campus has taken a very active position on diversity. We have a few but not many openly gay faculty members. As of a few years ago, we adjusted our health care policy so that a gay faculty’s partner would be eligible under the family policy for health care. I do know of some schools that have gay/lesbian associations made up of students and faculty. We do not have that. I suspect our gay students are still dealing with their decision to come out. I write about this topic because it is one that is addressed at many Independent School Conferences.

Certification

Myth: You don’t have to be certified to teach in a private school.

That most definitely was the case a couple of decades ago. While some private schools will hire a teacher who is not certified by a state licensing authority, they usually do so because of mitigating circumstances such as a critical need for a teacher in a particular discipline. Typically the new hire is expected to earn her certification within one or two years. The same is true of teachers who have had other careers and decide to become teachers later in life. The school will hire them in order to get teachers who are passionate about their subject. Certification will be required within a year or so after employment. It is a practical approach to hiring which is usually successful.

ESA: I do not agree with this comment. Our school’s policy is one of subject matter and content. We conduct national searches for each position in every department. The value of hiring the ideal person is too important to let certification get in the way. It is true that many schools operate this way, but we have found that it makes it difficult to recruit candidates from across the country. We see our body as a group of academics, diverse in their intellectual rights.

Housing

Myth: Private schools require their faculty to live on campus

Some do and some don’t. Boarding schools typically want their junior faculty to be dorm masters. In other words you are required to live in an apartment in the dorm and be responsible for supervising the students who board. Senior faculty and staff generally live in school-provided housing located on campus. Day schools don’t require their faculty to live on campus as a rule.

ESA: Because I teach at a day school, this is not a matter for us. I do know that many of the best boarding schools require this. Boarding schools are clearly not for all. I lost a teacher to one last year. She was looking to be surrounded in school life. Before addressing this point, I asked her if she enjoyed the 24/7 mentality of boarding life. I was not surprised to hear her say yes. I do know that you give up a great deal of privacy. Many faculty members live in the residential halls where students reside. What many people do not know is at some boarding schools, they provide on campus faculty housing.

Dress Code

Myth: Private school teachers have to wear academic gowns.

American and Canadian private school teachers ‘dress up’ in their full academic regalia for state occasions such as prize day and graduation only at schools which have a tradition of such formality. Personally, I think that an academic procession with faculty wearing their gowns and hoods is inspiring. Some English schools such as Eton have a very formal dress code. Gown and mortarboard are de rigeur in the class room. (Considering how cold and draughty English classrooms can be, that’s probably not a bad idea.) What is the dress code in most schools? Generally it follows the lead of the student dress code. If a blazer, shirt and tie are required for young men, male faculty will dress similarly. The same applies to women faculty. They will wear clothes appropriate to the young ladies’ dress code.

ESA: This is true for some but not all independent schools. Each member of our faculty wears a gown and a hood that reflects their highest degree earned and university color. Our faculty is made up of teachers, scholars, coaches, and leaders who are a part of a very important process. It is this, in my opinion, that seperates the top independent schools from others. We wear our gown and hood twice a year. In the fall during convocation and in the spring at commencement. Our students only recently started waering a cap and gown. They used to wear very nice formal wear at commencement.

We do have a uniform policy. Our motive was driven to eliminate the socioeconomic issues related to clothing. We give a number of substantial schlorships and aid to outstanding students who might not be able to afford us.

Reference Note:

http://privateschool.about.com/cs/employment/a/advantages_4.htm

It is May Day ‘08

I am going to celebrate this day with yet a 5th reading of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. This might be the day American businesses stop exploiting the labor of Mexican Americans — legal or not. To me labor is labor, as long as you are not asking this student [here].

According to Democratic Socialist of America (DSA):

May, 1886: several hundred thousand American workers of the Knights of Labor, the American Federation of Labor, and socialist and anarchist groups all demonstrated for the Eight Hour Day. It was the center of a world-wide movement for shorter working hours. Even the song lyrics of the American movement, “Eight hours for work/eight hours for sleep/eight hours for what we will,” argued for a “natural” pace of life in tune with the seasons, rather than the long hours and miserable conditions imposed by the capitalists.

The catastrophe of the day, a police riot in Chicago against anarchists and a subsequent murderous frame-up of their leaders for bomb-throwing, could not entirely overshadow the excitement of the moment. Working people had spoken. For many anarchists but not only for them, the day also retained the special significance of martyrdom, the occasion to mourn the great heroes of Haymarket who had died from the hangman, unrepentant in their revolutionary fervor.

The C.V.

I have asked a few academics, administrators,and students to participate in a series of blog pieces that address the nature of schools and teaching. Many of the post will reflect independent school life; I am still hoping to ask a few others to make a contribution to this. Though I am waiting for a few pieces to arrive, I hope to add some insight into my profession with some hopes at assisting others who are considering this path. I will start the first series off by briefly addressing the need to have a curriculum Vitae and maintaining it. Because I am often asked to do various things that involves travel, research, writing, and teaching, I have kept my CV published. When I am looking to ask a person to help me with a project, the first thing I want to see is his or her CV.

I arrived to campus early so that I could achieve two goals: 1.) finish marking a set of essays and 2.) review my curriculum vitae; Mrs. Chili, who teaches on the campus of a New England college, has been waiting for me to send an updated draft…I guess for about two months now. As noted below and here, the CV is an essential part of the dossier; it reflects the academic activities of a teacher and others. Moreover, it demonstrates the range or narrowness of a person’s professional path. I consider the CV to be an official record of what a person has done; I try to note conferences I have attended, papers I have presented, and lectures and/or seminars I have either presented or attended; it is here that needs to be updated. Although I am still working on a paper (extended essay review) that I hope to get published (got of track and busy with courses), I am not expected to have a long list of articles or book publications….Though, I do expect to have such a list which will be reflected by a few current projects and future projects, too.

It is always great to see your name on another person’s CV (see below other presentations and participation at Rice in Houston); it adds a sense of purpose for what you and that person have done; I always add others to my CV who have participated or played a role in a project I was involved with. Here is a bit of How to Write a Curriculum Vitae? advice:

Step1: Assemble your information: degrees, diplomas, papers published, books and articles authored, patents earned, courses taught, grants and prizes earned.

Step2: Decide on a style. As with résumés, there are formats geared toward every objective.

Step3: Clarify your objectives. Are you looking for a position? Graduate admission? A patent? Are you sending a book query?

Step4: Check out current trends in CVs in books and magazines and on Web sites dedicated to careers and graduate programs. Look at CVs on the Internet, especially within your orbit of interest.

Step5: If you’re a job seeker, list courses taught (latest first), including institutions, departments and courses. Also include special classifications such as department head, graduate advisor, committee member, etc.

Step6: If you’re a would-be contributor, first list articles, books, papers or columns authored; include publication, issue, year and publishing house.

Step7: If you’re a hopeful graduate student, list diplomas, GPA, experience and education first.

Step8: Include thesis topics and areas of interest in detail; this document will be used to gauge experience, applicability and interest.

Step9: Have a literate friend or colleague proofread, edit and generally review your document for clarity and polish.

Step10: Remember to include a bit of personality in your CV through your language and your personal style.

Step11: Update and polish your curriculum vitae every time something changes: a Ph.D. earned, a professorship at MIT, a book accepted for publication, etc.

Students of Color and Advanced Courses

Students of color (SOC) face challenges that many of their white counterparts will never experience. For one, black students disappear in the more advanced courses. In high school, students of color are thought to be ill prepared to enroll in courses such as AP English, AP European History, or AP Calculus. Teachers, many who draw false conclusions, often assume that students of color have other non academic interest. I think this is true for many, but not just SOC. In eight years of teaching, I have had a total of seven SOC. I am not sure Advanced Placement courses help or hurt this matter. Although high school faculty members are teaching college (usually first or second year) courses, many tend to want students who will do well on the exam; in many ways I am the same way; but, I do take risks with students; I think it is important that many experience more than the typical high school level curriculum.

Of course teaching in an independent school does not help. Here at HCHS, our students pay roughly between $15,000 - $20, 000 a year, depending on the program. I do believe many SOC are behind academically; however, there are a number who are the most advanced students. The discrepancy between those who do well and those who do not might be an income factor; I still cling to race as a major factor when weighing social progress, but I also realize that class status is a determinant of ones plight, too.

I am proud to say that HCHS diversity is at 19%, which is high if you are not one of the nationally elite independent schools with 1/2 a billion dollar endowments. My interest in SOC an advanced courses as well as faculty of color an advanced courses dates back to my very first year of teaching at CAC (N. Little Rock). Then, I participated in a four year grant study via the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Our study focused on faculty and students of color and their role in the Advanced Placement program. The natural conclusion was few teachers of color and SOC were involved in advanced courses. While at CAC there were few students to recruit; here in Houston, there are far more but many must be convinced - - which I understand; I have been a pretty good mentor to SOC…but I have to make the effort. Two years ago I had a black female student who struggled enormously with the reading load; her parents did not make things better, often looking to play the race card (i.e., brothers must stick together). This year I have a queen in Veronica Forge (see her here) who is only the second black female I have taught. Funny, but my top students at HCHS have been minority students: Eric Solomon (part Cuban), Alejandro Penafiel (Ecuadorian), and Dorian Ojeman (with me below).

It is my goal to always highlight and recruit SOC into my advanced courses. I also think it is important to mentor SOC, especially black students. I do not think one must be a black teacher to mentor black students. Better yet, I suspect the best dynamics are made up of natural relationships and not race.

The Right Attacks Again

I saw this on Mark Elrod’s blog….This is pretty sad. And some people wonder why Christians are viewed as fundamentalist. The Lame-O reports that “Update (4-21-08 @6:45 pm): The sign has been changed as the result of public outcry.”

A Review of Expelled by Jim Brown

Jim Brown teaches AP European History and World History at Brazoswood High School. He is also a reader for the AP European History exam. Jim and his wife Staci, who just joined the math faculty at HCHS, will be Houstonians in a few months. Jim is a great friend with much insight into matters such as politics, race, and education that are addressed here at The Proletarian. Click here to see Jim’s previous blog piece.

With the house on the market, we needed to try to stay away in case a buyer wanted to come by so we decided to go see the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (see here). You can learn a lot about the movie by going to the website and see what its all about. I certainly don’t want to get caught up in an argument about intelligent design/ creationism v. Darwinian evolution, I’m sure I would lose no matter what side I took. I just wanted to give you my impressions of the film, one that I would recommend that you see no matter where you stand on the debate. Interestingly, I don’t think Mr. Stein takes a side in the debate either; his main premise is that the debate should occur. He examines the cases of several highly credentialed scientist that have been dismissed from their positions for questioning Darwinian evolution and suggesting an alternative theory.

Like I said, I don’t want to get into a rehash of all the arguments presented in the film, I’ll let Ben Stein do that. What I want to do is encourage you to go see it. This movie will get you thinking. As my 10 year old son put it, “It feels as if new parts of my brain have opened up.” ☺ It’s a look into the halls of academia that you don’t often get to see. Its refreshing to see intelligent people being able to explain their positions on an issue without being interrupted or talked over like we see on so many news programs today.

The biggest message to hit me from this film was that ideas matter. Ideas have power. Thoughts, philosophy, world-view, all of this can have an enormous on the world and the battleground is the classroom. They realize that first impressions are lasting impressions and that what students first learn about a subject will have a greater impact on their world view than later learning. I say the battleground is in the classroom but its also in the minds and souls of the young people of America and the World. Stein examines the logical progression of ideas that flow from a world with out a Planner or Designer. He talks about how Nazism and Eugenics flow from the ideas of Darwin and the bleak view of the world that has no moral authority. Its actually scary to see people explain how they lost their faith in religion and the feeling of freedom they feel at the though that there is no God.

I’m not going to suggest that this is a balanced or fair view of the Intelligent Design debate no more than An Inconvenient Truth or Fahrenheit 9/11 are fair and balanced about the issues they raise. What Ben Stein is doing, and I think he has done it well, is starting a debate that has been pushed aside by many people in the scientific community. This is a film that thinking people should go see.

Teaching John Wayne, Public Enemy, Eighties, and Race

As I get closer to the eighties in my Advanced Placement United States History course, I start hearing the tunes of Public Enemy’s song Fight the Power (see their Black panther like video here). I like to play this in class so that students might gain a greater understanding of eighties black rage with Reagan’s supply-side economics, black urban poverty, and the lack of a political voice. In the song, Public Enemy takes a shot at both Elvis and John Wayne for being racist, as well as white society for not clasping to black culture. Here are the words about Elvis and John Wayne from Fight the Power (Note: I only play the language free CD):

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant ******* to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
********him and John Wayne
Cause I’m Black and I’m proud
I’m ready and hyped plus I’m amped
Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but rednecks for 400 years if you check
Don’t worry be happy
Was a number one jam

I am not so sure about Elvis, but I have long thought that John Wayne was racist dating back to my Montgomery childhood. As I juxtapose the eighties to Cold War policies, I focus on the relationship between race, urban society, and economic policies. I attribute Reagan’s administration for giving rise to gangster rap….Groups such as NWA emerged with their hard hitting lyrics about life in Compton.

I briefly addressed this in a previous blog piece:

During the late eighties and nineties, America was in a struggle to define its intellectual and spiritual identity. The nation had clearly moved in a more conservative direction during the Reagan-Bush years. I recall the eighties being a period of heightened racial tension, as neighborhoods continued to become even more segregated due to the lack of economic opportunities for both poor whites and ethnic/ racial minorities. This was very clear to me at a young age when my family moved from Limestone, Maine to Montgomery, Alabama – one of the more segregated cities in the country. However, race was not the only “cultural force” at work. Americans still did not understand the origins of AIDS, as many ignorant of this terrible disease prejudiced by the realities of modern day relationships assumed it was a gay only disease. Moreover, the eighties was the decade that first introduced gangster rap, a form of realist genre that illustrated the harsh realities of black and Latino urban life, which was amply portrayed in the movie Colors (must see video here), starring Sean Penn and musically produced by Ice-T.

John Wayne, however, might not be as racist as I thought - - I do not know. Jake Nicholson, a student in my World History course, sent me this YouTube video of Wayne’s hyphen speech, which I have never heard before. Watch the video here or read his speech below and tell me what you think, as I prepare to introduce him to my US History students.

Hyphen Speech

The Hyphen, Webster’s Dictionary defines,
Is a symbol used to divide a
compound word or a single word.
So it seems to me that when a man calls himself
An “Afro-American,” a “Mexican-American,”
“Italian-American,” An “Irish-American,” “Jewish-American,”
What he’s sayin’ is, “I’m a divided American.”

Well, we all came from other places,
Different creeds and different races,
To form a nation…to become as one,
Yet look at the harm a line has done -
A simple little line, and yet
As divisive as a line can get.
A crooked cross the Nazis flew,
And the Russian hammer and sickle too-
Time bombs in the lives of Man;
But none of these could ever fan
The flames of hatred faster than
The Hyphen.

The Russian hammer built a wall
That locks men’s hearts from freedom’s call.
A crooked cross flew overhead
Above twenty million tragic dead-
Among them men from this great nation,
Who died for freedom’s preservation.
A hyphen is a line that’s small;
It can be a bridge or be a wall.
A bridge can save you lots of time;
A wall you always have to climb.
The road to liberty lies true.
The Hyphen’s use is up to you.

Used as a bridge, it can span
All the differences of Man.
Being free in mind and soul
Should be our most important goal.
If you use The Hyphen as a wall,
You’ll make your life mean…and small.
An American is a special breed,
Whose people came to her in need.
They came to her that they might find
A world where they’d have peace of mind.
Where men are equal…and something more-
Stand taller than they stood before.

So you be wise in your decision,
And that little line won’t cause division.
Let’s join hands with one another…
For in this land, each man’s your brother.
United we stand…divided we fall.
WE’RE AMERICANS…and that says it all.

The Faculty Lounge

As a former student of a private Montgomery, Alabama high school, and an instructor currently working at my second private school in eight years of teaching, I have had some unique experiences that have shaped my view and understanding of faculty socialization. I still contend that schools are archaic and in need of structural change. Many continue to follow an outdated industrial Taylor model that promulgates what social scientist call the scientific management model. One aspect about the politics of schools that have served as a formative shaper of both students and teachers are faculty lounges.

My idealistic view of the faculty lounge clashes with that of popular culture; I see a room in which colleagues gather together to discuss their most recent class discussion or lecture. Furthermore, the lounge offers teachers a place to discuss local and national politics, as well as a forum for academic and social reform on campus. It is a gathering place to chat about recent faculty travels, conference attendance, and presentations. The lounge, however, has been shaped by faculty members who define conventional constructs and customary images. Such customary depictions have been played in movies and on television. I recall watching an episode of the Simpsons in which Bart and the rest of his class fanaticized about the secretive nature of the faculty lounge; they assumed that it was a place of luxury and wealth, a place where teachers gossiped about students and colleagues, and epitomized the notion of anti-intellectualism. More than that, the image popularized by cancelled TV shows, such as Boston Public,  portrayed teachers more as social workers than holders of knowledge.

We do not have a faculty lounge at Houston Christian. Our campus ran into space problems four years ago, thus the lounge was out and an additional classroom emerged. We just completed the construction of a new $9 - 10 million Drake Performing Arts Center and a second gym….I suspect the future addition of a new campus student center might change this. I am curious to observe in an ethnographic fashion the behavior of HCHS faculty and staff; I suspect that with the brainpower and academic diversity on our campus, the faculty lounge will defy the sociological norms that exist.

                     Houston Christian’s Campus

HCHS is not the only campus to lack a faculty lounge. While visiting the Allendale Columbia School in Rochester, New York after spending a little time attending the American Historians Association meeting in Washington D.C., I was introduced to the concept of faculty coffee and tea time. At 10:30, faculty members can either spend a little time in their office working or head to the commons area for beverages. This of course was very interesting; I spent the morning with a classicist discussing the school and Chopin. Other teachers sat at a commons table used for faculty and student lunches. Here is what the Allendale School has to say about their commons:

At our family style lunch, the warm meal is delivered right to the tables. If you’re looking for something extra, you can usually find it at the salad, soup or cereal bars. Students and faculty eat lunch together in a civilized, enjoyable environment where conversation is more than just academics.

While visiting the St. John’s School of Houston last year, I was thoroughly impressed with their lounge; however, their lounge is broken up departmentally.  At St. John’s, the history lounge consists of a departmental library with books and journals, as well as couches, faculty offices, and a seminar table. I did a search on dissertation abstracts to see if any sociology students have written on the sociological significance of the faculty lounge, but I found nothing. I suspect there is something out there or will be in the future on this topic.

 

 

By the Numbers

I usually do not pay too much attention to the stats on my dash; however, I found it interesting that the piece on the confederate flag has this many views. This is by the numbers since I have been using wordpress. Oh, I just wrote it in December. I need to point out a mistake with this list. It does not reflect what people have viewed since I started this blog, but what they have viewed since January ‘08. I looked at the wrong stat page; I would repost the correct list but I see no purpose. (4/18/0

bill clinton	6,537
confederate flag	2,373
chris everett	1,605
animal house	915
college student	820
happy feet	806
tcu	777
tupac	714
fox news	688
duke university	537
college students	492
gilmore girls	480
fred thompson	477
calvin and hobbes	468
squirrel	455
sexism	413
karl marx	403
famous black people	320
hilary clinton	295
college	290
confederate flags	287
oj simpson	271
tupac poems	266
forrest gump	262
malcom x	239
john belushi	222
proletarian	217
squirrels	210
2008 election	207
working conditions	190
hartwick college	184
calvin and hobbes christmas	166
cartoon students	150
gangster poems	140
european history	136
jim rome	131
the proletarian	129
chris everett tennis	127
calvin and hobbes school	121
famous black americans	117
jordan	113
teaching cartoons	108
writing	105
undocumented workers	105
john belushi animal house	102
pictures of bill clinton	100
exam cartoon	96
squirrels with guns	95
exams	94
college animal house	94

Edward Gilbreath on Calvin College and Tenure

I have written some about tenure and the lack of tenure at many independent schools; I am happy to say that Houston Christian offered me a nice contract with financial incentives that will keep me here. Furthermore, this is the first contract I have received that extends beyond one year. Actually, I signed and returned my contract on time with little thought to leaving…. The temptations over the years have been tempting. I really like the direction the school is moving in; I have no doubt that we are on the brink of being one of the leading independent schools in the city of Houston. Still, the tenure issue has long bothered me. Edward Gilbreath posted the blog piece below and here at his blog addressing the issue of tenure at a conservative Christian college. I have blogged on the tenure topic here. Many would like to end the tenure review process; however, I say it should be expanded and used more. Here is an interesting article on how Baylor has cut back on tenure but at the expense of women.

Where have you been, my Reconciliation Blog peeps?! Once again, I’m learning about a hot topic way late in the game. You’re supposed to be telling me about this stuff, especially now that I’m away from the pulse of evangelical happenings (i.e., Christianity Today). Anyway, have any of you been tracking the story of Calvin College faculty member Denise Isom? Isom, who is African American, is an assistant professor of education whose request to worship at a predominantly black Baptist church was denied by the Calvin board. Check out this CT story for all the grisly details. When my coworker LaTonya Taylor brought this story to my attention, I had to read it several times before I could really believe it. Was I missing something? Apparently not.

 

Isom’s ordeal saddens and angers me. It has elements of some of the worst “Reconciliation Blues“ stories that I’ve ever heard, both before and after writing the book. How could something like this be happening at a contemporary evangelical college, especially one with such a forward-thinking reputation as Calvin? 

 

When I read the CT article, I was reminded of a question that was posed to me by an African American faculty member of another Christian Reformed school. She asked, “Is racial reconciliation truly possible on an institutional level?” She was frustrated by the words of one of her college’s administrators who told her matter-of-factly that the school’s board of trustees would always be made up of those who were movers and shakers in the Christian Reformed denomination, that someone who didn’t fit this profile wouldn’t even be considered. To this woman’s mind, that was the same as saying “White males will be the only people considered for board membership at this college.” And this was at a school that had expressed a strong desire to become more racially and culturally diverse. Good luck with that.

 

The Calvin College board ruled that upholding its denominational requirement for tenure-track faculty was crucial to the school remaining a Reformed institution.  They wrote in a statement: ”Nearly all Christian colleges and universities that distanced themselves from their founding denominations and theological traditions eventually also drifted away from being Christian in any meaningful way.” This line of reasoning seems to assume a superiority over other denominations and implies that the Baptist beliefs of Isom’s church will somehow undermine the mission of Calvin College. Yet, like that other Reformed school noted above, Calvin proclaims a commitment to racial diversity.

 

The American evangelical church acknowledged and (for the most part) rejected its practice of overt racism long ago. But something sinister still lurks within our institutions. Could denominational and theological tradition be one of the last barriers to true racial reconciliation among evangelicals today? A quote in the CT article from Olivet Nazarene University president John Bowling makes me wonder:

Any Christian college or university has an obligation to remain loyal to its core values and constituencies and to maintain theological coherence. To override those commitments could be a disservice to the university in the long run.      

In my opinion any theological tradition that cannot take into account the realities of the culture in which that theology is being lived out and make adjustments where tradition clearly falls short, lacks the grace and love that God is calling us to. “So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you; then God will be glorified” (Rom. 15:7).  

I did find several excellent posts from other bloggers who were on top of this story. This one from Rachel at her blog, Momentary Trace, is poignant and insightful. And this report from The Grand Rapids Press offers a somewhat hopeful update.

 

 

 

Teaching Great Students

Above: Section B of Advanced Placement United States History Students (h/t: Alysa Lejeune)

I must admit that I have it good; I teach 4 sections of advanced history courses with students that make an effort to get to know me as much as I get to know them; since my first year of teaching after graduate school in 2000, I have spent a great deal of time outside of the classroom getting to know them. I have hosted cookouts and social gatherings at my home, test reviews and meetings with students on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at Starbucks, as well as responded “very slowly” to a number of text messages. Unlike many high schools, each student at Houston Christian has an e-mail account making it easier to contact them; however, students no longer use e-mail….Next year I think I will create a class facebook directory. I must thank my high school history teacher, Mrs. Susan Picken, who first introduced the idea of teacher-student gatherings; it was my senior year in which she invited students to her home for an informal social gathering. Moreover, I saw this trend continue as I went to college and graduate school.

The picture above was taken a month ago as my B section of Advanced Placement United States History gathered at Hannah Turner’s house for a pre-review dinner and a study session. Hannah’s cooking is top notch as she hopes to attend culinary school after earning an undergraduate degree. I spent last night with a number of students at the Turner’s who were hosting a Young Life meeting. Again, dinner was provided by Hannah.

Edward Blum’s University of Houston’s Seminar on Race by Phil Sinitiere

Phil Sinitiere, the department chair at the Second Baptist School and a historian of religious history and race published the photo above and the blog piece below here at his bald blogger blog; Phil invited me to join him (seated in the middle) and Edward Blum for a great dinner the day before Blum’s lecture. Above to the left is Blum and I am off to the right taking copious notes. There is little for me to say here; Phil did a great job. I also address Blum’s discussion of black Jesus here as found in his recent book on W.E.B. Du Bois. Take a second to look at the photo below of Christ and the black man being lynched; if Phil’s audio is not clear on this blog, take a second to visit his bald blogger for the audio recording of Blum’s lecture.

Last Thursday SDSU’s Edward J. Blum gave a lecture/book talk at the University of Houston’s Central Campus. The History and African American Studies departments co-sponsored the event. Thanks to Dr. Bob Buzzanco and Dr. James Conyers for making this event happen.

Ed’s talk was titled “The Noose and the Cross: Race, Religion, and the Redemption of Violence in the Works of W. E. B. Du Bois,” and discussed lynching and the way W.E.B. Du Bois worked to find redemptive value in this violent expression of white supremacy. The lecture also covered Du Bois’s short stories, religious art from the Harlem Renaissance, Jeremiah Wright, and even religiously-themed artwork relating to the life of Tupac Shakur and Barack Obama (and here), among other topics.

Listen to the lecture here (53.5 MB). Ed used the image below–”Christmas in Georgia, A.D., 1916,” by Lorenzo Harris, and taken from the December 1916 issue of The Crisis (pp. 78-79)–to begin the discussion. The caption reads: “Inasmuch as ye did unto the least of these, My brethren, ye did it unto Me.”

As I remember it, these were the Q&A question topics (question are hard to hear on audio):

1) religion/hip-hop/”G” not gangsta but reference to “God/deity”

2) LeBron James/messianic images

3) Du Bois’s use of religion for strategic, pragmatic purposes only

4) religious imagery/Nation of Islam/civil religion

5) Du Bois’s “lost voice” prior to/during the Civil Rights Movement

6) Is Du Bois spiritual and/or religious? Neither? Religious not spiritual; spiritual, but not religious?

7) religiously-sanctioned violence (Christianity) secularization and narratives of American religious history

Independent Teacher

I started reading The Independent Teacher about six months ago; I did not know it existed until a friend of mine who too teaches at an independent school informed me of it. It is no secret that teaching at an independent school is unique from other venues. Because of this, there are a number of professional publications devoted to faculty and staff working in private schools. This e-journal appears to be fairly popular among many private schools. I have linked this to my side bar roll under Education. Another very important link for those of us in the independent school industry is NAIS.

Here is a description:

Welcome to Independent Teacher

Independent Teacher is an electronic journal that publishes articles on curriculum and pedagogy, across all grades and disciplines, of particular interest to independent school teachers. Our goal is to be a forum in which educators can share and discuss ideas and methods.

We publish two issues each year, November and May.

Thinking about MLK JR.

Much has been written about the 40th Anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. While watching PBS last night, a forum discussing “would King be happy with the progress we have made today a’la race relations” was on and really informative. The conclusion was mixed. Edward Blum, who was in Houston to guide a seminar at the University of Houston made an interesting comment which I find to be true: He stated that while growing up many of his white friends only knew two things about Dr. King: 1.) His I Have a Dream Speech; and 2.) he had multiple affairs. Of late, there has been much discussion that he plagiarized his doctoral dissertation; I am not so sure about that. After all, it is easy to make reference mistakes….I will not get stuck on this point.

Here are a few interesting discussions about Dr. King’s 40th anniversary from a couple of blogs I read:

Political Cartel

Miss Profe

Bald Blogger

Houston and Nuclear Bombs

This ad has been posted throughout the city of Houston by Brian Klock; in many ways, it reminds me of early political ad campaigns in which politicians used fear of nuclear threat by the Soviets to win elections. With the heightened fear of terrorism, I suspect we will see more ads of this nature. Hillary R. Clinton ran an ad exposing Obama’s lack of experience earlier in the campaign by playing a red phone ringing in the middle of the night. Walter Mondale did the samething in a 1984 ad (see here). The point of course was to make the public question Obama’s qualifications for handling a major nuclear crisis. Houston has been seen as an easily accessible port city to smuggle a small nuclear bomb into; I do not remember the number, but I do recall hearing once that only 5% of shipping cargo is checked. Of course with our technology today, I am sure there are more efficient ways of doing this. Although Mark Elrod told me a few months ago that the Daisy Girl ad is thought to be lame by today’s standards, it is one I recall seeing while in high school (see video clip of ad here):

The advertisement begins with a little girl (Birgitte Olsen) standing in a meadow with chirping birds, picking the petals of a daisy while counting each petal slowly. (Because she does not know her numbers perfectly, she repeats some and says others in the wrong order, all of which adds to her childish appeal.) When she reaches “9″, an ominous-sounding male voice is then heard counting down a missile launch, and as the girl’s eyes turn toward something she sees in the sky, the camera zooms in until her pupil fills the screen, blacking it out. When the countdown reaches zero, the blackness is replaced by the flash and mushroom cloud from a nuclear explosion.As the firestorm rages, a voiceover from Johnson states, “These are the stakes! To make a world in which all of God’s children can live, or to go into the dark. We must either love each other, or we must die.” Another voiceover (sportscaster Chris Schenkel) then says, “Vote for President Johnson on November 3. The stakes are too high for you to stay home.”

As soon as the ad aired, Johnson’s campaign was widely criticized for using the prospect of nuclear war, as well as the implication that Goldwater would start one, to frighten voters. The ad was immediately pulled, but the point was made, appearing on the nightly news and on conversation programs in its entirety.

As I get closer in my courses to the Cold War, many of my fears re-emerge. During my early 3rd - 5th grade years, the Soviet Union was not a stable state. It seemed that the office of the premier was a revolving door. As a kid, I often constructed mental maps of the world with my hand tracing lines from Moscow to various United States cities. Each line represented a nuclear missile; I would even draw a mushroom cloud marking the destruction of a city. And, the 1983 movie The Day After did not help my fears. Warning: Watch this clip

Clips such as The Day After are being replaced by a secret nuclear bomb being smuggled into Baltimore then detonated during the Super Bowl. See clip from the Sum of All Fears.

What is the Traditional Family? by Jaylon Williams

I am neither a historian nor the academic that Carson is, but I have written some and have presented on the topic of family and marriage. I am employed at a nice size public university in the Northeast. I met Carson at a conference a few years ago and have served as a guest blogger here. While Carson is recovering from surgery, I will be at the control of this blog. Feel free to leave a thought or comment.

Marriage is one of the oldest institution in human history. According to the Judaic-Christian Bible, Adam and Eve became aware of their nudity after disobeying God’s instructions. Some scholars believe that Adam and Eve’s relationship marks the birth of physical and emotional love. Like Adam and Eve, many of the couples I have studied in a historical and present sense are drawn together by emotional and physical attraction.

Unfortunately for many of us today, we have allowed politicians to espouse slogans such as family values and protecting the family and marriage to the point that we are not clear why the definition of family has changed. Today, almost 60% of all American marriages end in divorce. Dating back to the 2004 election, conservative Democrats and Republicans played the vote card by blaming the demise of marriage and the family on gays and lesbians. Gary Glenn, a prominent member of the  traditional family movement in the U.S. state of Michigan, has described the movement as “…a burgeoning alliance of white evangelicals, conservative Roman Catholics and African-American Protestants for whom gay marriage is like abortion: non-negotiable.” (Wiki)

Actually, many sociologists marked the 1960s as the point at which family and marriage changed. Still, this is too simple. In western society, marked by the dawn of the industrial revolution, social scientist have noticed a shift in the family as we have passed through various historical periods since: 1890, 1920, 1930, 1960, 1970, 1980, and 2000.

I do think it is important that we as a society look at the family as a way to measure and reflect our attitudes about race, religion, sexual identity, and tolerance. Sociologist tell us that many of our beliefs are shaped by the family. If this is true, the ideal family I believe is starting to take place when many will argue that we have entered  into a new age of the changed family. Here is an article from USA TODAY I enjoyed.

Here are the Numbers:

1. 75% of the couples I counsel (religious and non-religious) lived together before deciding to marry.

2. Couples tend to marry within their race and class status — though this has changed a great deal.

3. Education continues to be a a major factor in formulating the family unit. I read a few years ago that this factor has replaced religion among protestants but not to the same length with Catholics, Jews, and Muslims.

Thanks

It is safe to say that I will not be teaching any of my classes this week. Thanks to all of you who are keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I am in ICU right now and will remain here until Saturday. Dr. Chen and his staff are monitoring me in preparation for surgery on Wednesday. Chen, a very confident neurological surgeon, spoke to me this morning about the process and what he needs to do. This all started on Thursday as I was struggling with headaches and vomiting, but I did not realize the serious nature of the matter.

Christine Metoyer who chairs the department will be playing with my teaching schedule this week; I believe she is going to take over my advanced courses. Thanks Matt Lee for the comment about my hospitalization on the previous post.

I Like Breaks

Either I do not know how to vacation during spring break or I am doing what most people do when they get a break: working to get caught up; teaching 3 heavy reading and writing courses keeps me from completing outside assignments as quickly as I would prefer. Like many history courses, there is a lot of reading assigned. Not only must I read all of the primary and secondary sources assigned to students in the syllabus, but I must also complete additional historiographical readings, too; however, I am better than most at getting through lengthy journal articles. If my courses were purely lecture courses, the aforementioned tasks would be easier…. Okay –easier to fake; we all know a few instructors who do this.

I have been able to complete 60% of my department’s webpage. I still need to construct an individual page for each member. I do not have the skills or the permission to link it to the school’s faculty directory, but that is why they pay the technology department the big bucks. Here is the link: http://hchshistorydepartment.googlepages.com/home

I am on the road and should get back to Houston later today.