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Students and Titles
Joseph M. O'Neal (josephon@ADMIN.STEDWARDS.EDU)
Mon, 4 Mar 1996 09:19:34 CST
I teach in a degree program in my university that is limited to adult
students. Many are older than I am, most are more successful in one way
or another (money, public acclaim, accomplishments, top of their
careers), and all of them know I lot of things that I don't. I know more
about anthropology than they do, with rare exceptions of people who have
published books in frontier history or archeology or who have very
extensive overseas experience, but they all know more than I do about
their areas of specialization. Many are highly sophisticated critical
thinkers. Many have the wisdom of age (yes, as I grow older I have come
to recognize that there is wisdom that comes with age if you're open and
receptive to it).
I can hardly imagine these people calling me Dr. or Professor rather than
using my first name. In my courses, we share our explorations into
anthropology. I do not teach, I mentor and facilitate. In this sort of
learning environment, with these sorts of learners, we all learn an
amazing amount during a semester.
Every time I teach a tradional campus course with mostly kids in it, I
feel sorry for my colleagues who do only that sort of undergraduate
teaching. --
Joseph M. O'Neal 512-448-8745
St. Edward's University FAX: 512-448-8767
Austin, TX 78704 josephon@admin.stedwards.edu
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Christ, the dumb insolence of inanimate objects! He could never
understand what was in it for inanimate objects, behaving as they did.
What was in it for the door-knob that hooked your jacket pocket as you
passed? What was in it for the jacket pocket?
Matin Amis, The Information
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