Rebekah Nathan’s “Community and Diversity” focuses on the changing definition of the word community on college campuses and how that change affects the way students spend their free time and interact with other students. While campus directors set up and promote campus life community with good intentions of providing every student with interesting activities and helping first-time students make the jump from home-life to college-life, big communities usually only take away from the little free time left in the day and make students feel more isolated and alone. The demand on students to participate in every campus activity in order to form a healthy campus life community pushes students further away from organized groups and makes forming small, exclusive social networks even more desirable.
At the beginning of her essay “Community and Diversity,” Nathan notes most students only feel a sense of togetherness in three areas: “age, pop culture, and a handful of (recent) historical events” (Nathan 101)—areas that do not exactly function as ties that bind. Even as campuses pour more resources and energy into trying to involve students and to create a functioning community, many students instead opt to reserve time for themselves and small groups of friends, forsaking the large, time-restrictive group for networks of “individualism, spontaneity, freedom, and choice” (Nathan 105). While these egocentric groups often overlap, they rarely have identical matches, as each student creates his or her own network on a basis of proximity and similar interests. Many of the groups are also either entirely comprised of a single ethnicity or include only one or two persons of different races.
Although the large, organized form of campus...
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...s purpose and motivation—to provide social structure, to educate, or to merely retain the majority of the freshman class? While a large-scale community can provide students with multiple activities with which to fill their days, it simply cannot offer each student much needed personal care and attention. Although Nathan conducts brilliant observational research in her essay, “Community and Diversity,” she merely scratches the surface of the situation, reporting on the evidence around her, but not reaching the heart of problem. Students today require a deeper understanding from other students—an understanding they cannot have in a large community. Instead of waiting for small-scale university programming to come along, students have to take matters, and their best interests, into their own hands and create small, private networks that cater to their individual needs.
...e term “empty and sentimental…and the extraordinary power one can gain through speaking/writing in an actual community is ignored” (Harris 134-135). He brings up Bartholomae, as his work shows that universities have many communities that “shift subtly” and are always changing. Bartholomae says universities are along the lines of Harris’ discussion of public. Lastly, Harris worries in teaching students in a particular common way, as it will lead to agreeing with everything their professors tell them, which he argues against. Students should be working toward some well-defined version of composition. He doesn’t want students to stop being who they are. To Harris, community does not mean consensus. He offers the metaphor of a city, allowing for consensus and conflict, rather than the idea of one utopian community because he doesn’t want no Jesuses in his Promise Land.
Being new to a college campus, I've learned to adjust. I’ve stepped outside my comfort zone and learned to explore various outlets. Little did I know that the college culture didn’t fall too far from the typical high school environment. Subcultures, or what I’d like to call clicks, seemed to be something that transcends from each level of schooling. In college this subculture is known as the Greek system and it is one of the major outlets students use for socializing.
Upon arriving to college, many students face the challenge of finding a community to belong to. I believe the student affairs professionals on campus are the resource to building communities within the student body. Reflecting back on my first semester of college, I found my community within two organizations; Dance Marathon and UI Alumni Association Students Today, Alumni Tomorrow (S.T.A.T.). Within the organizations I met two advisers who opened my eyes to the world of student affairs.
Social capital corresponds to the production function of social connections. “By engaging in closed work systems, individual actors can tap into information channels and engender a sense of trust and reciprocity with others in the social network” (Coleman 75). Developing relationships and connections to others within a social system enables individuals to generate social capital for themselves. The study by J.S Coleman utilizes the idea of social capital to help understand how community college students may be disadvantaged by increased exposure to part-time faculty members (93).The disadvantaged backgrounds from which many community college students originate, as well as a tendency for these students to be less academically prepared than their peers in four-year institutions, may place community college students at a deficit when considering their levels of both cultural and social capital. To counteract this potential deficit, community college students may need additional nurturing and guidance from mentors and faculty members. Although social capital involves trust and a mutual exchange of information and knowledge the focus is on how social capital facilitates networks of information and knowledge. This concept considers how students can generate social capital through their connections with institutional agents. Community
In 1990, the second Modern Language Association Literacy Conference was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During the conference Mary Louise Pratt a Stanford Professor delivered a keynote/lecture that revolutionized how people think about their social spaces. She introduced a revolutionary way to think about these social spaces, instead of calling them communities she started calling it the “contact zone”. According to Pratt a “contact zone is a place where cultures meet, clash, and grapple” (Pratt 487). While lecturing her fellow colleagues Pratt argues that our idea of community is strongly utopian. She continues to plead her case by saying that societies often profess, “embodying values like equality fraternity and liberty, but systematically fail to realize”. (Pratt 493). Pratt wanted her colleagues to realize that it comes down to seeing your social spaces as “communities” or as “contact zones”. Although, she makes a strong case stating that communities are considered utopian and therefore social spaces should not be seen as such. I believe social spaces should be seen as “contact zones” and that we should embrace that clash of cultures it creates because it has the potential to make us stronger. After all, the laws of celestial mechanics dictate that when two objects (cultures) collide there is always damage of a collateral nature. While reflecting on how the concepts of “community” and “contact zone” affect me and how I perceive my social spaces, I could not think of a better example than the “Northeastern University Community”. It made me think of how one gets to be part of a social space, how being outside or inside of such space can influence the point of view one has on it, and even how could it be possible that we suc...
People come from many different environments which brings or doesn’t bring many different opportunities. These two essays highlight the multicultural, multiethnic, multiclass salad bowl that this world and this country possess. The first essay discusses the social demographics in the college classroom. The second essay is from a person who was not able to attend college, probably because of the lack of opportunity to do so. When I read these two essays it helps me realize the reason that I have chosen my major.
Nathan performed many observational studies that compelled her to voice the disparity between the formal and informal areas of college life. The "undergraduate worldview" (112) is composed of an in-class, intellectual side that goes vastly unnoticed beside the behemoth that entails living in an environment filled with thousands of young adults. The partying, dorm life, and other non-school sanctioned aspects of living in unsupervised quarters encompass both a student’s time and mental capacities. She found that a majority of conversations surrounded topics of sports, the opposite sex, and TV shows. They find solace in the communal suffrage of going to class and seldom discuss how difficult classes can be. This demeans the intellectual side of college by turning the topic against cl...
The greatest advantage in participating in freshman learning communities is the chance to interact and socialize with a group of students known as a cohort. Lichtenstein (2005) noted that these programs are based on the premise that the better the student’s social involvement in the life of the college, the greater chance for academic success. Not only does this cohort of students assist in reducing the anxiety of the transition, but also gives students the social support needed to successfully progress through college (Engberg, 2007). Because of the small size, students are given a greater chance of participating, discussion, and overall getting to know one another. Students in learning communities not only tend to form their own support groups that extend beyond the classroom, but also spend more time together outside of class (Tinto 2000). Discussions outside of class, social activities, and study groups are all encouraged to participate in as a cohort.
Entry to community college allows just that. Addison explains, “just follow any one of the 1,655 road signs, and pop your head inside—yes, independent film, a first independent thought, a first independent study” (212). Many potential college prospects are turned away because this self-discovery found in community college cannot be found in private college; however, Addison insists that community college is the golden ticket to regain these would-be scholars. To begin, acceptance is necessary for admittance to many colleges—not community college. In the words of Addison, “down at X.Y.C.C. it is still possible to enter the college experience as a rookie” (213). Any student desiring education, preparation, and self-discovery does not need to look any further than community college, which, for some students, is the only shot at the college experience. On top of this, community colleges provide opportunities like no college—public or private—could. Community colleges provide introductory courses that could not be found in regular institutions; this allows students to explore and get their feet under them. To find and pursue an interest proves more difficult at a college because intense classes are provided from the beginning, whether students have declared a major or have yet to decide. In sum, Addison claims that an atmosphere designed
Diversity is a common issue everywhere, people find it hard to accept others who are different than than them in any way, and racial diversity is an especially big issue. College campuses create opportunities for students to become more accepting about diversity. They are surrounded by students of many different cultures and races opening their minds to new ideas.
Colombo explains that “Beginning college can be disconcerting experience” (Colombo, p.1). That there will be more peer pressure from your peers and an increase expectations that you have never faced during your high school days. “In the dorms you may find yourself among people whose backgrounds make them seem foreign and unapproachable” (Colombo, p.1). Colombo also states “If you commute, you may be struggling against a feeling of isolation that you’ve never faced before” (Colombo, p. 1).
The primary trait that I lack is confidence. In my mind, others are always smarter, prettier, more driven, and just better than me. Because of this attitude, I do not usually voice my opinions, state my ideas, or take control of anything; I automatically assume that anything I say or do is wrong or stupid. Although I still need to work on strengthening my confidence, SMU’s community atmosphere, specifically the Hilltop scholars program, has given me the enormous confidence boost I need to step out of my comfort zone and make my ideas a reality. A gain of confidence through supportive communities is apparent in the films Legally Blonde, Renaissance Man, and Higher Learning because each film includes individuals who need greater self-confidence, which comes from the support of their communities. In “The Quest for Community in Higher Education,” Parker Palmer outlines specifically how community can build up confidence. Additionally, in “The SMU Community According to Etzioni,” Christiano Gallo illustrates that confidence promotes involvement, which promotes confidence. The support I feel from various members of the SMU community has provided me with experiences similar to Elle, Rago, and Malik’s and has helped me understand how Palmer’s ideas foster confidence. Also, encouragement from others has opened my eyes to how involvement can instill confidence. Community gives us somebody to lean on. Somebody to lean on gives us confidence.
Colleges try their best to form a sense of community, but the reality is that everyone has their individual path and schedules, and one must really put in effort to have similar paths and schedules as their peers. For example, Nathan writes that everyone has different classes, meal plans, as well as extracurricular activities, which makes it hard to form a sense of community. In addition to a lack of community, Nathan also notices the lack of diversity. Again, colleges try their best to have very diverse communities, but the reality is that the majority of students are Caucasian. The lack of community and diversity shocked Nathan, because colleges make it seem like the
The United States is a country that celebrates numerous cultures and ethnic personalities. All the more, college campuses are better preparing students for the encounters and chances that await them in their future. Learning to live, study, and work in a diverse community is now a vital component in becoming a diverse individual/worker. Nevertheless, how should students recognize college campuses that aid diversity and multicultural experiences in a valuable way? Monmouth University has grown enormously over the preceding years. This has given rise to the concern of whether Monmouth has been able to handle this progress. This paper will help to acknowledge and address concerns relating to diversity on Monmouth University’s campus.
In college a student should question what it means to be part of a clique. Although they were popular in high school, many students do not belong to cliques in college. In fact, being involved in a clique simply portrays a student as being scared to make new contacts and expand his or her world. In sum, how a person socializes in college can lead to one’s development or downfall. Losing track of goals is the last thing a student wishes to do. How we socialize tells our classmates and future employers who we are. Socialization in college makes us open ourselves to the world, and in so doing, we must assume responsibility for all our choices.