Andi & Others: I used The Spirit Catches You last fall in my Health, Medicine & Society course and students loved it. I found that it worked very well at the end of the term as a "wrapping it up" kind of book. We spent the last two full weeks of class just on this book. It allowed students to apply a lot of what they'd learned throughout the term to this single case study. The chapters on the history and politics of the Hmong were less appealing to them (these were the only chs they complained about), but they understood why these were important for understanding the larger cultural context. We had excellent discussions in class, although some students thought it was a little outdated and wondered to what extent medical practices had changed. I've also heard very good things about Mountains Beyond Mountains, but have not used it myself.
Hope this helps. -Denise Copelton --- Andi Stepnick <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi All, > > I am totally revamping my Health, Illness, and the > Body course this term > as I want to try using monographs for the first time > as opposed to a > reader. (Some sections will be based on journal > articles.) > > At this moment (and things can change), I plan to > start with The Spirit > Catches You and You Fall Down and Ill probably end > with Mountains > Beyond Mountains (since its a real hope giver). > In between, who > knows? Ive read so many great books. I'm > considering, among many: > > Imagining Robert: My Brother, Madness and Survival: > A Memoir > Mama Might Be Better Off Dead > Great Influenza > Pathologies of Power among others) > The Body Silent > > What books worked best for you? > > > Also, what do you find reasonable in terms of the > amount of pages per > week for an upper division course? (Our majors are > quite good and hard > workers.) We meet once a week for 2.5 hours. I > would think I could ask > for 200-300 pgs a week. > > > Andi > -------------- > Every object, every being, > Is a jar of delight. > Be a connoisseur. > ~Rumi~ > > Life is raw material. We are artisans. We can sculpt > our existence into > something beautiful, or debase it into ugliness. > It's in our hands. > ~Cathy Better~ > > Things which matter most should never be at the > mercy of things which > matter least. > ~Johann von Goethe~ > > > Dr. Andi Stepnick > Associate Professor and Chair of Sociology > 300-C Wheeler Humanities Building > Belmont University > Nashville TN 37212-3757 > > Direct Line: (615) 460-6249 > Office Manager: (615) 460-5505 > Sociology Fax: (615) 460-6997 > > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Del Thomas Ph D <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Monday, July 17, 2006 1:05 pm > Subject: TEACHSOC: Re: In-class discussion vs. > WebCT? > > > Andi, > > > > There seems to be a set of basic complaints about > on line > > work...... > > from many different quarters. > > Several lists have been swamped with complaints of > too much > > email.... > > also some students will reject > > or be offended by academia barging in on or taking > over > > their place/medium..... it is not rational......I > gave up trying > > to > > understand it. > > Then there is always the elephant stepped on my > note book.... hard > > drive.... monitor...... > > > > We are after all dealing with creative teens.... > > > > You may want to consider the following > collaborative learning model > > > > While most of the material/content in sociology > is abstract random > > it > > is presented > > in linear form....single threaded so to > speak...divide the class > > into > > groups...working simultaneously > > on different threads ......and sharing in > class....and out of class > > via > > a list... this replicates the way the brain works > > and the way we need to think......... > > > > Each group can process a different and yet related > topic....with > > individuals producing individual portfolios > > You may or may not want to tie it all together.... > One class made > > a > > movie....frequent rewrites produced adaptive > learning > > and abstract random thinking...... > > > > Also the presence of a product...ownership was > important..... be > > for > > warned other faculty may complain that > > students are spending too much time on your > course....or even worse > > bring in connections from sociology to > > other courses. Life is risky. :-) > > > > Del > > > > Andi Stepnick wrote: > > > Hi everyone, > > > > > > Over the last five years, in my Intro Soc > classes, Ive gotten > > rid of my > > > of my paper assignments (except one in my course > linked with > > biology). > > > Instead, Ive had students do online discussion > posting in WebCT > > two> times a week. I like WebCT for many reasons > (e.g., it > > requires some > > > constancy in working with the material, it > allows students to > > apply Soc > > > ideas to real world situations, it provides an > opportunity for > > them to > > > hear alternate points of view, provides me with > a way to give > > feedback> for all to hear, can be fun). > > > > > > Although it seems that students are online > (e.g., facebook, myspace) > > > **all the time,** twice weekly WebCT posts seems > like too much > > for many > > > of them. (Or maybe that's just standard > complaining about > > "work.) I > > > understand. It can be scary coming up with > ideas for all to see, > > > declaring an opinion, using sociological ideas, > and whatnot. > > Similarly,> reading/responding to students posts > requires constancy > > on my part that > > > reading a slew of papers at the end of the term > does not. (I still > > > review their online portfolios at the end, but > briefly.) > > > > > > But WebCT seems *so much better* for them than > papers in many > > regards> (e.g., writing skills). So, Ive kept > with it. However, the > > > complaining is wearing me down and Ive pondered > getting rid of > > it this > > > term. (Not to cater to complainers but to be a > better guardian > > of my > > > own time.) > > > > > > I may go back to papers (possibly group papers > to encourage > > dialogue and > > > reduce grading time). Im also considering > using my online > > discussion> questions in class and adding a larger > discussion === message truncated === -------------------------------- Denise A. Copelton, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Sociology SUNY Brockport 350 New Campus Drive Brockport, NY 14420 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
