The Future of PS460, 2011

Today I was informed by several members of this term's PS460 of some crucial details implicit in Mr. Engeset's summary of what transpired in the seminar's meeting last week in my absence. My curiosity is particularly focused on the "pods" proposed in Mr. Engeset's summary. By pods, I'm referring to a proposal from the group that the post-Ricci future of this capstone be divided in such a way that different factions of the eleven members of the class will each read different volumes and after completing them "report" their learnings to others who will reciprocate by reporting on their selected volumes.

This, folks, is simply a non-starter. The "pod" approach is unacceptable. It's been tried and it's failed on both occasions I mistakenly consented to it. It's an "excuse" for not doing the work that is "required" to pass or earn a grade higher than a D in this course. And apparently I've not made it clear enough to all members of the seminar that the PDF grading format is not one that I shy away from utilizing for those who, for whatever reason, feel that they can hide in the woodwork, let others carry the load of interrogating Ricci, Lindblom, Walker, or Dryzek -- or anyone else in the class for that matter -- and receive a P for essentially going through the motions without so much as giving a thought to one's own obligation to the class as a whole other than to gripe at the few proposals that have been put forward. This won't do. We've had serious nominations of volumes by only Isaiah; a mention of one by Trevor, and none from anyone else. The old adage that attends the choice of non-voting is applicable here: if you don't put any ideas on the Table, you don't have the right to bitch about the ideas that have been proposed. The IR faction is understandably interested in having our reading represent international politics and rightly so. But not a single title has been proposed by the IR folks in more than five weeks. Likewise, with those of you who've chosen to by-pass entirely or virtually entirely the Obamadogs forum for posing possibilities: Not a word on where we might want to devote our collective energies in the bulk of 460--either in reading or writing.

Which makes me wonder: Is it assumed that the "negotiated" nature of the undefined part of the class is something beyond the role of students to play? That I'm not serious about enforcing the rules--i.e., submitting D's and F's for those who have shown hardly any evidence of having read let alone having understood Professor Ricci's claims. We have had at least one member of this class lament the fact that he's not really been challenged in his years at Wartburg and therefore feels cheated. We've had a thread online pertaining the the pathetic findings that nearly half of college students make no measurable progress in critical thought, analytical reasoning or writing ability in their first two years and over a third make no measurable progress over four years. My question is: where have those of you who have reasons to share this disappointment been on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 to 9:30? Where have you been in struggling with the readings to prepare yourself to at least be responsible for your own learning and thinking -- leaving aside for the moment whether we all have obligations as class members to anyone other than ourselves?

It's no secret to me that, so far, this year's experiment has fallen way, way short of expectations of what is capstone-level participation, engagement and learning. My best guess is that this is no secret to you either. What is most disconcerting about that is that it is not inevitable -- indeed, just as Ricci's "tragedy" need not be so, simply because in a democracy the citizens exercise free agency and make of their freedom what they will, so it is with higher education when it reaches, allegedly, this level. It is, to put it in cliche terms, exactly what you make of it: nothing more, nothing less. Having been fortunate enough to have "negotiated" with groups that have realized this on their own, it's disappointing in the max to witness those groups unwilling to extend the little bit of personal effort and, perhaps discomfort, that it takes to make this an educational experience worthy of pride rather than embarrassment in retrospect.

Kapiche?

DT