The Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection where I work offered this as a summer group read for faculty and staff, and I'd meant to read it forever,The Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection where I work offered this as a summer group read for faculty and staff, and I'd meant to read it forever, so jumped in. Tomorrow we'll have a Zoom session with the author. There are a lot of good things to talk about and a lot of directions the discussions have led us in. I'm interested in hearing more....more
I read through this in preparation for a faculty discussion group at work. It has some good ideas in it but the reading experience is a bit bogged dowI read through this in preparation for a faculty discussion group at work. It has some good ideas in it but the reading experience is a bit bogged down to my tastes with too many fonts and student quotations cluttering up each page. I think the quotes are nice to read but in the middle of a narrative paragraph, not so much.
The ideas are simple, maybe too simple? I struggled to find a new idea or one we were not already intentionally implementing in our stepped up advising program, our pathways program, and so on. But for people who maybe are not so student focused or for faculty teaching at places without these programs, this will be a useful read, as it gives 33 ways an individual faculty member can reach out to students. And while the subtitle says first-year and first-gen students, we all know that pedagogy good for those groups tends to be good for everyone....more
This is a solid book with good ideas (and I appreciated the reflection questions aimed at the people running the show) but it started to feel a bit eeThis is a solid book with good ideas (and I appreciated the reflection questions aimed at the people running the show) but it started to feel a bit eerie when the language in the book mirrored the language we are using in our current campus strategic initiatives. I guess we know where the ideas came from now! ...more
I read this for a faculty discussion group at work. I find I agree more with Rose's observations on what isn't working than on his proposed solutions,I read this for a faculty discussion group at work. I find I agree more with Rose's observations on what isn't working than on his proposed solutions, but it has generated some interesting directions of thinking. I enjoyed ruminating on my jaggedness (too many books, not enough kissing) from the average and thinking about the Gallup StrengthsFinder in the scope of this book. He's not a huge fan of tests like Myers Briggs but then talks about strengths-based job design and degree programs. I'm still thinking about where the line is between personality (which he sees as situational) and strengths (wouldn't these also be situational?)... but we have one discussion to go.
This is not an easy read. I read it slowly, partly because of the difficulty of the content, partly because I read it in pockets of free time at work.This is not an easy read. I read it slowly, partly because of the difficulty of the content, partly because I read it in pockets of free time at work.
In the conclusion to Missoula, Jon Krakauer writes:
"...I was angry with myself for being so uninformed... I resolved to learn what I could about [rape.] I did a lot of reading, and sought out rape survivors who were willing to share their stories. Writing this book was an outgrowth of that quest.
As the scope of my research expanded, I was stunned to discover that many of my acquaintances, and even several women in my own family, had been sexually assaulted by men they trusted. The more I listened to these women's accounts, the more disturbed I became. I'd had no idea that rape was so prevalent, or could cause such deep and intractable pain. My ignorance was inexcusable, and it made me ashamed."
To which I am trying to hold back a *facepalm.* At least he stopped, at least he listened, at least he learned. And then focused in on the college town of Missoula, MT, because of the attention it received in the early 2010s for several rape cases. Early on in the book, Krakauer demonstrates that while the media afforded this specific location with a lot of attention, adding urgency in dealing with the cases (some of the time), the statistics in Missoula are not in any higher than anywhere else in the United States. Sexual assault, or "sexual intercourse without consent" as it is defined in Montana, is prevalent, and often unreported.
"Only between 5 percent and 20 percent of forcible rapes in the United States are reported tot he police; a paltry 0.4 percent to 5.4 percent of rapes are ever prosecuted; and just 0.2 percent to 2.8 percent of forcible rapes culminate in a conviction that includes any time in jail for the assailant. Here's another way to think about these numbers: When an individual is raped in this country, more than 90 percent of the time the rapist gets away with the crime."
Unfortunately a look at the cases Krakauer focuses on demonstrates on why so many people do not report. Many people in the system blame victims for rape in ways victims of other crimes would never be questioned. Professionals from police to university administrators to the DA seemed to buy into the rhetoric of false claims and refusing to see it as a problem. Krakauer points to the flaws in these particular cases, but also to the pain and trauma experienced by the people who report, are exposed in the media, are forced to relive their experiences in testimony, and still may not see justice.
Krakauer also attempts to untangle stereotypes about rape, particularly those surrounding false claims, and how frequently a person is raped by someone they know and trust (and what that does to your psyche) compared to "stranger" rape. Because of my role on campus, when I was in the middle of reading this book I attended a workshop led by David Lisak, and returned to the next chapter to find him as an expert witness on trauma and sexual assault in at least one of these cases (elsewhere in the book he is quoted on his research into serial rapists, numbers I know from his presentation, which I hope I will remember to add to this review when I have my notes in front of me.)
From the title, I was expecting more of this book to be about Title IX and dealing with sexual assault on college campuses, but it is really about how the criminal justice system handles these kinds of crimes. I suspect this is because it is easier to gain access to criminal proceedings than academic disciplinary hearings. He does refer to academic hearings, particularly in how the requirements for conviction differ from being found "responsible" at an institution. ...more
Jenny (Reading Envy)
>
Books:
higher-ed
(5)
Loading...
