You have arrived

We have a new GPS system for the car. We had one last year, but it was stolen this summer. So, now instead of Jill from Garmin we have "Ferdinanne" Magellan. She is quite good company and so far has not led us astray. (well, if we don't count the little detour to Arthur Treacher's, which really wasn't her fault at all.) One of her most endearing features is the pronouncement, as you draw near your destination that "You have arrived."

What a comforting thought, to have arrived. Arrived at your destination or your destiny. There are many things in life that proclaim "you have arrived." A new luxury car, a new designer home, a new office at work. Throughout life we arrive, arrive at new destinations and new positions, new places of understanding and new places of geography. We are urged to think of the journey, not the destination. I understand the appeal of that, the enjoyment of the process. But I think we can also take some pride in our arrivals, the completions of our journeys. To have arrived, even if temporarily, even if only at a stopping point along the route, is something in which we can take some delight.

End of the Semester

Classes are over and the papers are coming in. It is always a somewhat bittersweet time. I'm happy to have a break from the weekly lecture preparation. I'm not so happy to have a stack of 90 papers in my office that need to be read. What I really miss, however, are the students. I like most of my students. I enjoy seeing them, watching their expressions, listening to their thoughts. It is hard for me to remember those seats, that view. The classroom looks very different from the front. Instead of the backs of heads, I see faces. I see those who are sleeping, daydreaming, texting, doing crossword puzzles...oh, and I see the few that are listening. I don't blame them. I was the same in college (well, except for the texting part).

But I do miss hearing about what happens to them in the next semester or year or after graduation. I get sort of attached to them, even if we only see each other a few hours a week and have little conversation. I still know who is getting good grades and who is not, who is late every week and who sits in the corner. I see the changing hair and clothing styles. I've always had a dream of having a couple meet in one of my classes, but as far as I know that has never happened!

So, to my 90 students this semester, Fall 09, I wish you the best. I hope some of you will keep in touch.

Disability--social versus medical

I attended a small conference today that was designed to increase discussions that could help bridge the humanities and science. The focus of the discussion was on "disability" and was primarily attended by physicians and faculty who teach the humanities in medical schools. So, for the sociology students who stumble onto this site, you should be familiar with the idea of social construction; that society defines social groups and roles--gender, race, disability--according to a set of shifting criteria. We all participate in reinforcing these categorizations by using them in our own lives, teaching them to our children or students, and, often, through formal (legal) definitions. Disability, it seems, has been largely co-opted by a medical model, or set of criteria. People who deviate (another good sociological term) from the "norm" are disabled. The disability could be mental or physical. The medical model looks at disability as a problem, one that can be fixed (sometimes) or managed. The medical model emphasizes cure, defined as removing the problem. In contrast, sociology views disability as a failure of the environment to adapt to the different needs of those with differences

One of the goals of the discussion is to make physicians more empathetic, to have them look at patients not as disabled, but as people first. However, as one discussant pointed out, we still live in a policy world dominated by the medical model. Insurance, social benefits, and all kinds of things are dependent on one being labeled as disabled by a physician. What good does it do to sensitize physicians if we then ask them to turn around and complete the bureaucratic documentation. Are both parties complicit in the perpetuation of the label?

Thanksgiving Dinner

Making Thanksgiving dinner is one of those events where more goes into the planning than the actual execution. Pies are best made the day before when the oven is free. Not much else can be made ahead of time, so there is a lot of waiting for the time to be right to cook. The turkey is stuffed and put in the oven early, then nothing. You can get the good dishes out and set the table. You can make lists of things to be done...at some point the potatoes are peeled and put on to boil, same for the sweet potatoes. A relish tray can be arranged.....then, all at once, the gravy has to be made the turkey taken out of the oven, the sweet potatoes put in the oven, the potatoes mashed, the turkey emptied of stuffing, carve the turkey, steam the asparagus....all in the last 15 minutes before everyone sits down. The whole morning is spent in anticipation, but there is nothing that can be done but wait.

Sometimes my class feels the same way. We start a project or topic, we fiddle around, then, all at once, papers are due, things need to be graded, exams are taken, papers are read, grades are handed in and the semester is done. All of the anticipation, all of the waiting, knowing that the onslaught will be coming and nothing can be done.

Then, like Thanksgiving dinner, it is all over, cleaned up, put away, washed and dried. The end.

Precious, the movie

I've done some book reviews, but I don't think I've done many movie reviews on this blog. Here's one. Tonight I went to see the movie "Precious." I had read a lot of the reviews and hype, and knew the basic storyline, but nothing prepared me for how intense the movie would be. It is one thing to hear that a movie deals with incest, physical and emotional abuse, illiteracy, poverty, and teen pregnancy. It is quite another to watch it so graphically and realistically displayed.

I wondered while watching it if I could ever show it in class. In some ways it is a great movie for an intro to sociology class. It makes very real the struggles faced by those in poverty and those who suffer from neglect and abuse. But it is pretty graphic, both in language and in visual scenes. I worry that it would upset some students, both those for whom the story is all too real, and those for whom the story is unlike anything they could imagine. I wonder if the impact of the story would overtake the underlying sociological point I would want to make.

There is also controversy about the film's depiction of African American life. Some feel that it perpetuates an image of poverty and abuse. Others feel that it shows a story that needs to be heard. I can see both sides of that argument. I guess part of the problem is that there are so few images of African American life to use as a frame of reference, so many other stories that we could use to balance against this one. I know when we were in Europe we were always correcting stereotypes based on movies, and they were innocuous, like did all parents drive their kids to school. Imagine having your whole life interpreted as seen in movies.

So, see the movie.

Ira Glass, my hero

I'm writing this for my niece Martha, who is the only person I know who regularly reads anything here, and the only person I know (although there are millions) who listens to This American Life. Tonight I had the chance to listen to my hero, Ira Glass, host of TAL. He is every bit as charming, thoughtful, funny, and poetic in person as on the radio. Like most folks on the lecture circuit his talk is a well-honed piece. He integrates pieces from the show (and pieces that didn't make the show) with music, insights, and jokes. It is, surprisingly, just like the show!

Two things that I walked away with. First, the whole structure of storytelling. He pointed out the need for action, for building suspense, for moving the story forward. He said that when he interviews people he often asks them to back up, to tell things in order, asking "what happened next?" As he said a story is like a train, moving out of the station, gathering momentum, you want to know where it is going. You can't stop listening. Second, the meaning of storytelling. How stories are a way to see into the lives of others, to share their experiences. He noted how rare it is for any one of us to have someone in a day who really listens to our story, who cares about our lives. And, how we can listen to the stories of others. Oh, and a third thing, I realized that while I know the basic outline of the story of the Arabian Nights, I don't really know as much as I now would like to know.

A wonderful night.

"At Risk"

I was trained as a demographer, someone who studies aggregate population trends. One of the key points in demographic methods is understanding rates--rates of change, prevalence rates, incidence rates....We spend a lot of time talking about who in the population is "at risk" of experiencing some event. So, for instance, only those who are currently married are at risk of divorce or widowhood. Only those who are currently unmarried are at risk of marriaged. We are all at risk of dying (one of the reasons I decided to study mortality was that it was so straightforward--easy to measure.) Who is at risk of dropping out of high school? High school students. You get the point.

But the term "at risk" can be more tricky. Are the only people at risk of being happy those who are currently unhappy? Are the only people at risk of being helped those who are currently living with unmet needs? We are all at risk of some events in life over which we have virtually no control...someone else's death, someone else's birth, someone else's marriage. Can we control the risks to which we are exposed? To some extent. We can avoid dangerous people, places, and things. Can we also put ourselves in the position to experience positive events? Not by avoiding people, places and things, but by seeking them out?

Saying "No"

I want to make it clear at the beginning that I do believe that in cases of sexual conduct, if a man or woman, boy or girl, says "no" then that means no, no matter what...

But, what about the more everyday "no." When does a no mean no and when does it mean something else? Or when should we say no and really mean it and when should we say yes? In raising kids you soon learn that when they say "no" that isn't always what they mean. Your job as parent is to figure out when to push and when to pull back. I'm sure there are times when I've let my kids quit and say no, when I should have pushed them on. I'm sure there are times when I've pushed my kids and should have let them quit. It is a tough call. Some kids approach almost any new situation with the word "no." I think they are often afraid, afraid they will fail, afraid they will be embarrassed. It is much safer to not even try. Figuring out when that is happening can be hard. When is something really too hard, or too unagreeable?

Saying 'no' can be very powerful and a valuable lesson to learn. Toddlers practice the power of that word, to the frustration of their parents. But along the way we may forget how to say "no." I vowed not to accept another request to write a book chapter, but no sooner had I said "never again" than I said "yes." I should have said no.

Take your kid to work

My grandmother was the secretary for the local machinist union when I was growing up. She worked part time at the union hall, collecting dues, mailing out information, doing other clerical and bookkeeping tasks. It was a real treat as a child to go with her to work for the day. While we were there we stuffed envelopes, used the adding machine, and got free bottles of Coke from the vending machine. The union hall was in the county seat, the big town of Valparaiso, Indiana, and we would walk around the block a few times--but didn't cross the street. For lunch we would go to the lunch counter at Woolworth's and have grilled cheese sandwiches.

I don't think I ever went to my father's office. I do remember a few times being shown a place where he worked, and maybe once or twice going to pick him up or take him a dinner when he worked overtime at his "moonlighting" job. What he did and where he did was a great mystery to me.

My boys have come to my office since they were infants. Doug spent many baby hours in my office, Evan somewhat fewer, but he was there, too. As they became toddlers they would come for a few hours now and then. I still have in my office the wooden train set that I kept there for their entertainment. When they got to be school age they would sometimes come to a class. They might bring a book or a Gameboy, but my younger son loved to "help." He would hand out papers, collect assignments and advance my PowerPoint slides He would even answer questions and make comments. He loved being seen as the "smart kid." Of course, that attitude faded with age and it is no longer "cool" to come to my classes.

I think it is good for kids to see where their parents work, and for the people at work to see that you have kids. I am a strong advocate for breaking down the artificial barriers of work and home. I think both places need to acknowledge the importance of the other. And one way to advance that respect is to let each be aware of the other. Being a mother is part of who I am, and being a professor is part of who I am. I don't want to pretend in either arena that the other does not exist.

Halloween

We had 0 trick or treaters at our house Saturday night, not a single one. Each year we seem to have fewer and fewer children at the door. I think we maxed out at about 20 some years ago. We do live in a rural area, with no sidewalks and fairly widely spaced homes with long driveways, and there aren't many kids in our immediate vicinity. All in all, however, the idea of Halloween night as a time of general mischief and kids running wild seems to have faded. When I was a child, back in the dark ages, we would roam the streets for hours. My neighborhood was not that much different from the one I live in now, the big difference was the number of kids. We traveled in packs, collecting candy and causing trouble. We would soap car windows (or sometimes WAX them). We scared the younger kids by jumping out of bushes and ditches. We wandered aimlessly.

Costumes were secondary to our pursuits. We went simply--as ghosts, hobos, skiers, or witches. A few odd pieces of clothing, maybe some make-up or a wig, and we were set. I don't think I ever owned a store bought costume. When my kids entered Halloween age I was overwhelmed by the whole costume scene. I hated making them or buying them. I hated dressing the kids up. I hated taking them trick or treating. Instead of Halloween being a kid holiday, it became a parental chore. I lost my enthusiasm. Maybe that's why we don't get many trick or treaters, they can tell this is a house inhabited by Halloween naysayers.

Community Meals

This morning I went to the Lions Club Pancake Breakfast at the fire hall. This community meal is always held on the Sunday before election day in the fall. It is usually packed with people and all of the local candidates come out to pour coffee and press the flesh. Sitting there enjoying my pancakes, with real maple syrup, I thought about the evolution of the community meal. They are held everywhere. The menus differ, the venues differ, but do the purposes differ? They are a combination of fundraiser and community building and fellowship. They are sponsored by fire departments, schools, civic organizations and churches. The menus vary--pancake breakfasts, meatloaf, spaghetti, ham loaf, fish frys, and chicken barbeque are all popular around here. In Central PA there were chicken and waffle dinners. I'm sure across the country the local cuisine is featured--clambakes, crab boils, etc.

Growing up our local community club had a "smorgasboard" dinner, playing off our Swedish heritage. Local women would make their special dish and the spread was quite impressive, especially the pies. Hundreds would come, and just like the Lions, the smorgasboard was always the Sunday before Election day in the fall. Kids would help clear the tables and pour drinks, women would work in the kitchen. I don't know what the men did--maybe set up tables beforehand. The dinner gradually faded away until it was only a few women making several dishes at the clubhouse and serving everyone. With the deaths of my grandmother and mother, the smorgasboard died as well.

I'm curious about these events now. How does sharing a meal become a central part of a community? Food has always been a way to create family and community, think back to the Passover meal, Thanksgiving, etc. Sharing food is a way of building trust, showing kindness, and inclusion.

Maybe I should have a new research agenda....

Religion

A friend sent this to me and I thought it was cute, so I share it here....It also reminded me of a cute story from my son the other day. His class was discussing the Buddhist religion and had just gone over the stages of enlightenment, ending with the achievement of nirvana. The teacher was then discussing the Dalai Lama. She said he was the holiest person in the religion. My son raises his hand and asks, "If he is so good, why hasn't he reached Nirvana? Why is he on Earth?" The teacher stammered, "Well, he is like Buddha's gift to the world." Evan was not convinced, "I don't know, it sounds like this religion has a lot of plot holes!"

Siblings

There are interestings studies of birth order, how one's position in the family influences personality, achievement, and temperment. I used to think that variation in a family was a function of family size, after all, the more kids the more chances for differences to occur. More kids usually means a greater age span between siblings, greater temporal variations in social and cultural influences, differences in parental attention and resources, and the influence of sibling behavior on each other. But, I've noticed that even in small families (siblings=2) there can be tremendous variation. This is most noticeable in the case of fraternal twins. I'm familiar with two families with twin boys. In each the twins are dramatically different from each other in appearance, interests, abilities, and personality. In fact, they seem less like siblings to each other than they do to other siblings in the family.

What made me think about siblings tonight was a comparison of my sons. Both play mallet percussion (marimba, vibes, bells, etc.) Because they are 4 years apart, they have never been in the high school band together, but have led and followed. In our band the mallet players stand to the side, so they are clearly visible to about 1/2 of the audience. Our older son had a very casual performance style. He would saunter up to the instrument, unless he was playing (which he did with intensity) he gave the appearance of being on a Sunday stroll. Our second son is all business. While he has also adopted a somewhat disinterested look, he has a lot more attitude in his playing. He has style and flair. He approaches his task like a professional, spreading out his music across the stands, testing the mallets. When he is done playing the final piece of the night, even if the band has not, he begins to put his music away and clean up. He has done his job for the night, his part is done, time to go. Many parents comment on his style and stage presence. He loves the stage.

Parents' Weekend

This was Parents Weekend at SU, well, actually it is called Family Weekend, more inclusive. It is odd to have a child only 15 miles away from home, "at college." We see him frequently, but have not been to his dorm since he moved in. On Friday night, he came home to see the final high school soccer game and spent the night. Aren't we supposed to go there on Family weekend, not him come here? I think next year we will get a hotel room. On Saturday we took both boys out for lunch and then went to campus. We saw "the room." Doug has been very neat and tidy, so that was encouraging. When we arrived at about 2 PM, his roommate was just getting up. We chatted with roomie and roomie's parents for a bit, then headed over to the Dome for the football game. On Family weekend they don't have a student section, and you can tell. The place was much quieter than usual. The game was not too thrilling, other than for the mistakes.

So, how was my first Parents' Weekend as a parent? Unimpressive. I love my son, and it was a lot of fun to have lunch with him, but the rest of the experience feels a little forced. I know from talking to my students that it is mainly first year students and families that "celebrate" this weekend, and I can see why.

Things you find on the way...

Today I've been finishing the editing of a book chapter on the link between health behaviors and mortality. The final editing requires a check of all the references to be sure that everything I've cited in the paper actually is listed in the reference section. Often when I write I have a couple of articles in front of me while I'm reading and thinking and writing. I write a statement, cite the reference in the text, but sometimes forget to add that article to my reference pile or list. So, I go back at the end to clean it all up.

Today I realized I had a reference in the text and no matching entry in the references. I could not find the article on my desk or in one of my piles. So, the easiest thing to do is use a database to look it up. I type in the author's last name and the year of publication (the information I do have.) Posner 1995. The first hit that comes up is an article titled "THE PROTOTYPICAL PEDESTRIAN - PICTORIAL REPRESENTATIONS OF HUMANS ON TRAFFIC-SIGNS." What? Curious, I had to read the abstract, which I include here:

"The figures on pedestrian traffic lights do not only instruct those on foot in traffic to walk or wait, but also have a variety of other semiotic functions. A worldwide comparison reveals significant national differences; however, the prototypical figure on traffic lights is always male and mostly young and dynamic. On the other hand, figures on traffic lights are becoming increasingly standardized, on the other hand, there are designers who create the figure as an individual in relation to certain attributes of his "home environment" for example. Moreover, the material used for figures on traffic lights provides them with an individual "body", which, like any material object, can age and be damaged. Recent years have seen an increase in public prominence for the green and red men not least as a result of the projects described here. Consequently, they have also managed to establish themselves as a motif in advertising in which the dialectics of advance and pause can be spontaneously understood."

Wow, who knew you could read so much into those little red and green (or white?) guys. I remember hearing about the change of former East German crossing lights after unification. Apparently East Germany had a friendlier crossing man and those in the East were mourning his loss as the more modern Western man made his appearance.

Bad Books

I belong to a book club. We meet once a month (more or less) and discuss a book. Our format is that the hostess of the month gets to choose the book. This way you read things that you may not have otherwise picked and everyone gets the chance to pick a book. This works out well most of the time. Some books I really like, some I don't like all that much but am glad that I read, other books I don't like at all. Unfortunately, this month was one of the "don't like at all" months. We read The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein.

Stop reading now if you think you will want to read the book......

The book is told from the viewpoint of a dog. The dog relays the story of his owner, a race car driver. In the course of the story the man's wife dies, his in-laws try to get custody of his daughter, he is nearly bankrupted, and he has to fight a statutory rape charge by a niece. Oh, and then the dog dies. Sorry to spoil it for you, but you pretty much know that will happen from the beginning. It is sappy and saccharine. The writing is at about the 8th grade level. There are no great insights, no wonderful lines to quote, and lots of details about auto racing that might be interesting to somebody....not me.

So, while I often write recommendations for books, this time I'm writing a dis-recommendation (okay, I just spent 5 minutes looking for a word to mean the opposite of recommendation and couldn't find what I wanted....disapproval, condemnation, denouncement....none seemed right.)

My son says I should write "Usually I write a recommendation but this time I'm not. This book sucks."

Classroom Chemistry

What makes one class better than another? First, what is a "better" class. I would say it is one in which the students are engaged, enjoy being there, and are learning. I would also say it is one in which I am engaged, enjoy being there, and am learning. I'm not quite sure why some classes are better than others. There are environmental factors--the shape of the room, the time of day, the heating and lighting. They can be very important. All of the instructors at SU know the room in Sims that has two big pillars in the middle, effectively creating hiding places for timid, or tired, students. I've had rooms that were stifling hot, or classes of 35 in rooms meant for 100. Or, classes of 100 in rooms meant for 90.

But there is something about personal chemistry that seems more important than the environment. I think it takes a small group of interested students who ask questions, comment, and speak their minds. You don't want students who dominate the discussion, but ones who are willing to make the sometimes outrageous comment or ask the hard to answer question. Their interest and enthusiasm can be contagious for the class, and for me.

I try to make myself more human in my classes. I tell stories about my kids and husband, ask questions about student life, give general advice about careers and majors, anything that might make me seem more approachable and less intimidating. I know that when students respond I tend to loosen up even more. That is when classes can be fun, when we stray off topic a little or push the boundaries.

I just finished teaching my first year forum. These classes only meet for 1/2 of the semester and are by design more informal than a traditional class. This year my class was incredibly diverse, and incredibly chatty. I hardly could get a word in edgewise. I think a few students just sat there in disbelief and may even have been inwardly rolling their eyes at their classmates comments and behavior, but it was clear that this group had no problems talking about anything. Topics included female genital mutilation, bathroom behavior, sex toys, and more.

I learned a lot from them!

Strength of Weak Ties

There was a very influential paper in sociology in the 1970s by Granovetter..."The strength of weak ties." In his analysis of social networks, Granovetter notes that the individuals who link between social groups are very influential because it is through them that information gets spread. These people have weak ties to us, but are bridges to other networks. After all, if we tell a rumor to our best friends, who are also all best friends, the story won't get very far. But, if one member of our network is linked to another network and spreads the story into that network, then the story is more widely diffused. He focuses on the bridges between networks in information diffusion and social cohesion.

I was thinking of the phrase the other day in my exercise class. I've been working out with these women for about 12 months. The group size varies from 5 to 25, but usually is about 15 women. We represent a pretty wide range of ages and fitness levels. There are no women in the group with whom I am close friends. A few I know pretty well from school activities, a few I know by name, and some I don't know at all--even after 12 months of sweating together. But, the group has expanded my social network and created more "weak ties." I now have access to information about other people and events in our community that I did not have before. I am more embedded, even though none of these women are my intimate friends in the traditional sense.

Presents

Today is my son's birthday. He is getting to that age where buying presents is more difficult. I remember the "Lego years." From around ages 7 to 11, you can give any boy Legos and be pretty confident that the gift will be appreciated. But after those ages, Legos are passe (although they may still be enjoyed, they just aren't appropriate for gifts.) Then there are the video game years. But once you have acquired the most popular games, there are few options. Also, video games are on the expensive side, you aren't going to get those as gifts from friends. Around age 12, the most common gift from friends becomes money. Easy for everyone, no returns, no decisions.

But what about parents? As my son noted the other day, "Buying birthday presents is a real test of how well parents know their kids." Boy, way to lay on the pressure....if you buy the wrong gift, you don't understand your kid. Making just the right decision seems now to carry so much weight. Unfortunately, most of the things my son wants are expensive. Too expensive for birthdays? Hard to tell. What is the price limit for a birthday gift? How does that compare to a Christmas gift? Parents can't just give money, that certainly shows a lack of understanding of your child. So, we are left to make our best guess, listen for hints, and observe the subtle clues that teens drop. Only time will tell if we have made the right decision.

Student evaluations

One of the most distressing aspects of my job is the need to assign grades to students' performance. In general, my grading consists of a few basic elements; periodic exams, homework assignments, and an indicator of participation (sometimes just attendance). Do those items reflect what a student has learned? Probably not. In some narrow way they may measure the ability of a student to memorize information, sometimes to apply it to a new situation, but that is about it. I can't measure enthusiasm, effort, or interest very well. Should I?

Writing exams is the most difficult area. It is hard to find ways to ask questions that just don't require the regurgitation of facts. I don't want students to memorize definitions, nobody needs to know the textbook definition of "ecological fallacy" for instance. But, I would like them to be able to recognize one when they see one. That means finding, or constructing, examples of principles that are clear and easy to interpret. That is hard.

Invariably, a student will read a question in a way in which I never intended it to be read. Is that "wrong"? How should I interpret a student's creative attempts at an answer? Essay questions can be particularly difficult to grade since students like to take the "kitchen sink" approach. They will throw in any piece of information that might possibly be relevant to the answer, hoping that somewhere in the mix they have included what I wanted.

In the end, I'm sure some students end up with better grades than they deserve and some with worse. I used to worry about it, now I just accept it.

More brain news...

I guess this is the week for brain news. I was just reading the NYTimes (online) and noticed an article about absurdity and logic. Two things you wouldn't expect to go together....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/health/06mind.html?hpw

The idea, as I understand it, is that your brain wants to find patterns and logical connections. When it is confronted with something illogical or absurd it starts to work extra hard, searching for patterns. As a result, exposure to absurdity may increase your brain's ability to see new patterns. You may notice things that you wouldn't have seen before, connections that were hidden.

The story concludes with the observation: at least some of the time, disorientation begets creative thinking.

Happiness

I was looking for research examples to share with my class tomorrow. We are talking about causality and the time dimensions of studies (cross sectional versus longitudinal). On the Gallup website are several interesting examples of cross sectional and repeated cross sectional studies (trend studies).

http://www.gallup.com/poll/123452/Americans-Least-Happy-50s-Late-80s.aspx

The one that caught my eye was on life satisfaction. Happiness is high in young adult years and steadily declines into the 50s (my AGE!!!) The good news is that it takes a swing back up and the 60s look like good years once again!

Sit up Straight

I have to thank my friend Anne for sharing this news item with me.

Body Posture Affects Confidence In Your Own Thoughts, Study Finds
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091005111627.htm

First, let me state that Anne has the best posture of anyone I've ever known.

Now, what is the gist of the article? Apparently your posture can make you more confident in your own thoughts. In an experiment, students who sat up straight and wrote positive comments were later more likely to identify with those positive traits. However, if they wrote negative comments, they were more likely to identify with those as well. The effect is on confidence in your thoughts, not in creating positive thoughts. Students who slumped in their seats were less likely to assign either positive or negative traits to themselves. They were less confident in their thoughts.

I guess if you are going to think negative thoughts, then you should slump and if you are going to think positive thoughts you should sit up straight.

Interesting that people who are feeling "down" tend to slump, and those who are feeling good tend to sit up straight. Maybe our posture is reinforcing the good thoughts and minimizing the negative. It is similar to our perception in sociology that putting on the costume for a role (a doctor's white coat, for instance) can change your thoughts and behaviors. If people also tend to treat you differently based on your posture, then this study is even more powerful. You will feel more confident in your (positive) thoughts, others will treat you with more confidence, and the circle is completed.

So, sit up!

What makes a class chatty?

This year I have one very chatty class. The class is designed to facilitate chat, but this group is way above the norm. It is a small first year seminar. 16 students, all first year students. Very diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender. The purpose of the class is to provide an introduction to college, provide some cultural experiences, and generally facilitate the transition. Since I serve as the academic advisor for these students as well, I will see them several times over the course of the year. The class itself meets only for 2 more weeks.

I try to encourage the students to talk. I have lots of questions that they all must answer each week--favorite class, hardest class, favorite food in the cafeteria, advice they wished they had gotten before coming, etc. But this group just TALKS all the time. I have to resort to the elementary school tricks of clapping my hands, standing quietly, or reminding them of the rules to get them to settle down. I bring snacks to class, we sit around a big table, all things designed to make the class informal and to encourage TALKING. Boy, does it work with this group.

There are a few quieter students and I wonder sometimes if they wish the rest of the group would just "shut up." I think I might have been one of those students in my college years. I would have wanted to let the teacher talk, to be a good student, to follow the rules. I'm glad my students are willing to talk over me, around me, and right by me. I like that.

Play, again

Funny how some topics just seem to pop up over and over. I don't know if I'm just more alert to a topic and notice the stories, or if there is some secret topic generating meeting that news organizations attend to get ideas. I remember hearing once about the "color meetings" where the next season's color palette was discussed and decided (actually I think it was done a few years in advance.) So, when everyone comes out with "eggplant" or "plum" or "seafoam" at the same time, it was really planned years ahead.

Anyway, the topic of recent interest has been play. I think I ruminated on this a few months ago, based on a radio program I had heard while traveling to my nephew's wedding. Now, there is a NYTimes magazine article on the topic. The article is part of the "education issue" of the magazine and focuses on research showing the value of play for children learning self control and self regulation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/magazine/27tools-t.html?ref=magazine&pagewanted=print

Apparently, engaging in role playing as a young child helps the brain to learn how to self regulate. If you are being a mommy, then you have to act like a mommy. You have to control your behaviors. One interesting highlight, they asked kids (I think they were about 4) to stand still for as long as they could. Most kids couldn't make it for a minute. Then they asked the kids to pretend that they were guards and that they had to stand at attention. While role playing, kids could stand for 4 minutes.

Part of the conclusions are that preschools and kindergartens have become too academically focused and should include more time for play. They do point out, however, that kids today may need some guidance in how to engage in imaginative play. As a kid I played a lot of make believe. My sisters and I had whole other personalities that we adopted (I was Leslie, because I really liked that name!) We played school, house, church, farm, just about any scenario.

Learning Names

I've lost my ability to learn names. I used to be pretty good at learning and remembering student names, not anymore. This semester I have about 100 students, 50 in one class, 40 in a second, and 15 in a third. There always seems to be one or two, even in the class of 15, that I just cannot cement into my memory. Maybe I've just had too many to learn over the years. I gave up trying to learn the names in my lecture classes of 150. I should figure out a better system, maybe a seating chart or something. This year we can access the ID photos of our students, maybe I could make myself flashcards.

It is even more complicated than that, however. Each year, as our student body gets more diverse, I have to learn new pronunciations and spellings. I'm not complaining, I love having the diversity in the classroom, and I've learned a lot about names and language from my students. I'm not sure I would saddle my child with an unusual spelling, though. It makes you stand out, but not necessarily in a good way. I have to write little pronunciation notes on my class rosters to remind myself of an "y" that is pronounced "ee" or an "y" that is pronounced "i".

Can I blame it on age? I have trouble accessing the names of people I have known for a long time, what hope is there for me to learn 100 new names each semester?

Population, Congress and 2010 Census

Tuesday, in my social research class, we discussed the "one person one vote" ruling and the shift of Congressional representatives from one state to another. Today in the NYTimes there was an interesting article about the very topic.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/us/politics/18baker.html

Since each state is guaranteed one representative, the number of voters a member of Congress represents can vary considerably, from about 550,000 to 950,000. I thought it was interesting to read that the last time the membership of Congress was increased was in 1911, based on the 191o census. The huge waves of immigration between 1910 and 1920 meant that by 1920 there had been pretty dramatic population shifts, from the South to the Midwest and Northeast. There was tremendous political pressure not to adjust for these changes. The size of Congress has not been increased since then.

Should Congress be increased? And by how much? Do we want 1000 members of Congress (the number required to give equal representation)? Would that make the system any better?

Stressful life events

I was part of a dissertation defense this afternoon. The student was looking at race differences in stress and depression. One of the common measures of stress used in research is the "life events scale." This list has evolved over time as new research develops. Some researchers included both positive and negative events (weddings, birth of a child, death of a parent, loss of a job). Others use only negative events and include things like "victim of assault" or "victim of robbery."

In our discussion of the findings we went off on a tangent about what makes an event stressful. For instance, for anyone in the room being asked to get up in front of a room of 30 people and talk about some subject for an hour would not be considered stressful, we do it every day. For many people, however, public speaking is one of the most common items of stress. What determines a stressor for any individual? Can we define any life event as uniformly stressful for the population? How common of a stress does it need to be to be considered "universal"?

Social Networks II

In today's NYTimes there was an interesting corollary to the social network piece in the magazine section (I read the magazine section on Saturdays usually....) This article was about the collapse of financial markets and what, or who, was responsible. While it has been fashionable to blame the "quants" and their fancy formulas, this article argues that perhaps the failure of the models was not in their economic predictions but in their failure to understand group behavior. Panic spreads just like obesity. Financial engineers (got to love that term) are now thinking that maybe they need to include estimates of human behavior into their econometric modeling.

Quoting from the Times article, Unboxed, "Financial markets, like online communities, are social networks. Researchers are looking at whether the mechanisms and models being developed to explore collective behavior on the Web can be applied to financial markets." A former physicist says this effort is "intriguing but awfully ambitious." Do we need to model life? Will we ever be happy to just sit back and enjoy it?

Mowing Lawn

For many, many years we cut our grass with a push mower. We have, over the years, had some big lawns, so this was like an 8 hour job. My husband said that when he was 50 he would buy a riding mower. He got one when he was 49. The boys and my husband have done over 99% of the lawn mowing since. I barely know how to operate the machine.

Until today. Now I know why they kept me from it. It is too much fun. They didn't want to share! I put on my iPod, revved up the machine, and zipped around the lawn. The only thing I would change is all of the trees and shrubs we have, it is too hard to go around them. And I don't like the ditch. But the hill....WHEE! The hairpin turns....WOW! I might just have to make this my job from now on. Maybe I can switch with the laundry.

Social networks

The magazine section of the NYTimes highlighted the work of Nick Christakis today. Christakis made headlines 2 years ago with his study of obesity. Using some very interesting data he and his co-author showed that obesity may actually spread through a social network. At first, they may seem common sense, we are certainly affected by the behaviors of our friends, aren't we? But sociologists had not been able to document this before. We still may not have the "truth," even with Christakis' work. Is he just seeing the effects of shared environment? Or of homophily (the attraction of people with similar characteristics to one another)?

Regardless of whether he has "proven" the spread of social behaviors, he makes some interesting conclusions that resonate with a certain Buddhist flavor. After looking at obesity, smoking, and drinking, he examined the "spread" of happiness among social contacts. It appears that there is an effect, stronger for happiness than for unhappiness. He concludes that if we smile at others during the day, that good feeling will be transmitted to those with whom we interact. In turn, they will spread that good feeling to others. As Jim Fowler, Christakis' co-author notes, the effect of my smiles on my son affect not just him but his best friend's mother as well.

Interesting to think about. Do our behaviors ripple through the universe in ever expanding circles? Can we set off a sense of goodness through the world? Is that what happened in the days following Obama's election? Was there a spread of good feeling through social networks? Are there uber-contacts, people who can have a massive effect on the feelings of others? Are you one of those people?

New Babies

Today I got to hold a one day old baby. I haven't done that in nearly 14 years, since my own son was born. Babies are so miraculous. They are tiny and warm, they have incredibly long fingers and little mouths. It was quite a thrill for me.

Social Capital

This semester I chose the topic of "social capital" for my research methods course. I used to have students come up with their own research ideas, write a short survey, collect data, and analyze results. They tended to choose the same topics over and over "drinking and Greek life," "body image and exercise habits," "gender and ...fill in the blank." So, I started picking the topic. We focus on this for the course and I think it helps to create some continuity.

Today we discussed a few readings that addressed social capital. For those of you not in my class, social capital is a term used to describe the relationships we have with other people, our networks of support, advice and resources. Some of the poor outcomes associated with single parent families are thought to be related to lower levels of social capital, the absence of fathers in particular. Social capital can help in finding employment, in obtaining higher education, and in finding life partners.

One interesting area is the effect of family size on social capital. Having come from a big family, I'm always interested in how that affected my upbringing. For instance, I attribute the fact that I am a fast eater to being from a large family. If you wanted second helpings, you had to hurry or the food would be gone!

The standard thinking is that having many siblings will reduce the social capital of any one child because the time and attention of parents will be diluted. Each child receives less. I am sure that this is true. I wonder, though, about the effect of sibling interactions. There is some evidence, for instance, that having an older sibling who has attended college helps a younger sibling in the college admissions process. But what about other, perhaps more difficult to measure, aspects of sibling relationships. Do older siblings introduce new ideas to their younger siblings? Our dinner table conversation would sometimes revolve around our older son's reading or science topics. I'm sure that our younger son picked up on some ideas, just by being present at the table. I remember vividly a bedtime conversation with my older sister when she revealed the mysteries of multiplication to me.

Is the effect unidirectional? Do only younger siblings benefit? Or is there some benefit to the older child, in terms of social capital?

As I age, I'm increasingly interested in sibling interactions as an area of research. Is it too late to embark on a new line of research?

Challenge

I just felt that I needed a new challenge and decided to post two entries in one day. Trouble is, nothing that exciting happens in my life! So, let me just give a run down on my day. I lecture at 9:30. I don't really like the teaching station in my room, and have to struggle to get all of the technology working the way I want it to. But, I started off strong. Then came the fatal error described earlier, or, as my boys would say "epic failure." It was 10:45 now and I was already behind the 8 ball. I took a minute to run up to my office to center myself, and came down to the lab that had started at 11 (thank goodness for great TAs!!) Everyone was working away, there were no computer issues, great comeback. I left a little before noon, planning to catch some lunch before my next class at 12:30. Of course, someone stopped by my office and with one eye on the clock I chatted until after 12. I had time to eat my watermelon, gather my notes, and get down to class. That class was going okay, except nobody has tried the homework assignment, so they don't know if it will work or not. They are all tired. It is the first day after a long weekend, middle of the day, crowded room. I sent them out into the halls for a little exercise, and then tried to finish up. Went back to my office to drink a diet coke and eat my lunch before heading back down for the 2 pm lab session. That session went quite well, and I stayed for lab session 3 that starts at 3:30. Most of the students were making good progress and we ended lab at 4:45. I had time to go up, check my email, and then attend the sociology department welcoming party. It was nice to touch base with the sociologists. It was really nice to come home, eat a big juicy peach and take an evening walk. That is Tuesday for me!

Lecture errors

I have a lot of sympathy for politicians. At least for the part of their lives where they are subject to intense scrutiny for every clothing decision, haircut, and word that they utter. I am surprised, actually, that they don't make more mistakes than they do.

Today in class I did something I learned long ago to never do (well, apparently didn't learn well enough, since I did it again). I tried to do something in Excel that I hadn't already tested out "at home." There are so many little mistakes you can make when typing or writing a mathematical formula. I usually go over exactly what I want to do ahead of time and then very carefully reproduce that in class. This time, I was just going off the cuff..."I can do this! Watch me!" Okay, watch me make a complete mess of the example is what you saw.

Could I recover? I tried. Went back to first principles. I guess I proved that even professors make mistakes (do students really need that proven to them?) Oh, well. Another opportunity to learn.

First Day of Class

Yesterday was the first day back teaching after a year long leave. I felt a little rusty, but I'm hoping, like riding a bicycle, it will be something I haven't forgotten. The two classes I'm teaching are very similar in content, so I will have to be careful that I remember which topics have been discussed where. Combined, I have just over 100 students, so that will be a lot of names to learn. That is one of my goals this year, to learn the names of my students better. I think as I get older it gets harder.

Also different this year is having my own college age student. I can look out in the classroom and imagine my own son sitting in a similar classroom across campus. When I told him I was always a little nervous on the first day, he said, "Don't worry mom, remember they are more afraid of you than you are of them!"

cooking, eating, and obesity

I really enjoyed the movie Julie&Julia and would recommend it to all. I love Meryl Streep, and she is great as Julia Child. Since my area of interest is obesity, stories about food are always interesting. There was an interesting article in the NYTimes a few weeks ago about cooking and eating. Here is the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/magazine/02cooking-t.html

It is written by Michael Pollan who wrote the book "In Defense of Food" and "The Omnivore's Delight." He argues that we need to go back to eating real food, things that we can actually identify, as opposed to manufactured and processed food. This fits well with Julia Child's desire to have people learn how to cook with real ingredients.

Over time there has been an increased emphasis on food that is easy to prepare and easy to eat. We have Campbell's "soup at hand" that can be prepared and eaten from the same container. We have bite size cookies, crackers, and other snacks. If this link still works, there was an interesting article in the NYTimes, feb. 12, 2006 "Twelve Easy Pieces" that discussed the need for foods to be "snackable" now to be marketed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/magazine/12apples.html?_r=1&scp=13&sq=february%2012%202006&st=cse

One quote..."True convenience now means being eaten with one hand, no utensils, outside the home and alone." As a sociologist, what does this say about our connection to other people? The use of mealtimes for social bonding?

Women's increased participation in the labor force becomes an implicit, sometimes explicit, culprit in these changes. Are there other possible explanations?

walking in a straight line

There is an interesting new research study from one of the Max Planck institutes in Germany. Researchers tested the theory that people lost in the woods walk in circles. They attached GPS devices to subjects, put them in a forest or desert, and told them to walk in a particular direction. Without the aid of the sun or moon, subjects began to walk in circles. Here is a short account of the research. (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090820123927.htm)

In one discussion of this story, the point was made that the idea of a straight line is relatively new, there are almost no straight lines in nature and no other animals move in straight lines. Humans are obsessed with straight lines because of our built environment--straight roads and sidewalks, squared buildings and city blocks. The "need" to walk straight is only a result of the world we have created.

It makes me think about linear thinking, as well as walking. A few comments from the article above were interesting. For instance, "Without an external directional reference to recalibrate the subjective sense of straight ahead, that "noise" may cause people to walk in circles, the researchers said." Aren't there other aspects of life where the "noise" may interfere with our ability to maintain a sense of "straight ahead?" A bit of wandering may be good, but is circling around and around aimlessly useful? We use landmarks and external cues not just for walking, but for thinking, too. Sometimes ignoring those cues can lead to great discoveries, sometimes they can lead to confusion and frustration.

Soft Measures

I read an interesting article today about measurement. An education researcher commented that whenever he evaluates a school his first stop is the boys' bathroom. He claims you can tell a lot about the school climate by the condition of the bathroom. How clean is it? In one school there were fresh cut flowers (not in any school I've ever visited!) His overall message, however, was that many of the best indicators of school success are not the hard empirical facts like test scores, they are softer measures. Some of the indicators he proposes are;

the entrances is disheveld (dead plants, missing sign letters, cigarette butts)

teachers read newspapers and take calls during professional development events

administrators talk solely in the future tense (we are planning to....)

materials aren't up to date and teachers aren't current on current events

windows are covered with dark paper.

In my research methods class we spend a lot of time talking about indicators of a concept. This article is encouraging me to think about othere "soft measures" that we might include in our discussions. For instance, what are soft indicators of neighborhood quality? What are soft indicators of quality health care?

Opening Lines

Getting ready for a new semester makes me think of first impressions. As a teacher you want to make a good impression on that first day, most students (although they may not admit it) also want to make a good impression.

When I was on the speech team in high school my coach advised me to always have the first and last lines of my speech nailed. You wanted to get off to a good start, partly to set the tone, but also to calm your own nerves. You wanted to end strong as well, leave the judges with a strong impression.

At my last book group we were discussing Marilynne Robinson's book, Housekeeping. One of my colleagues had found a Yale University lecture on the book that focused on the first line. The book starts, "My name is Ruth." The lecturer compared that to the opening line of Moby Dick, "Call me Ishmael." How do those lines compare? One invites interaction, the other is declarative, a statement. Do those lines set the tone for the stories to follow? How important is the first line of a book? Do you remember any particularly strong first lines? I think I was listening to a quiz show once where they read first lines and the contestants had to identify the book. It was surprisingly easy.

So, in a few weeks when I walk into class, what will be my opening line?

Things I can't do

I can't make pie crust from scratch.

I don't eat many pies, so when I want to make a pie I just use a prepared crust. They taste fine and are so much easier. Should I learn how to make a pie crust? Is it an art I should master? If I baked more pies, would I eventually get better at making crust, or is it just beyond my abilities?

What about other things in life? Do we fail at some things because we don't do them often enough, or are they just beyond our abilities? How do you tell the difference? How many times do you fail before you give up (or give in?)

What is the difference between giving up and giving in? Giving in can imply a concession, you give in to someone else's demands, but isn't that also a giving up? You are giving up your position. And if you give up trying something, are you giving in to your flaws or limitations?

The heat of summer

It is almost the middle of August and we have finally found real summer temperatures. I can't really say that I'm pleased. I like being warm, but detest being hot. I would choose cold over hot any day. In the winter you can put on a sweater and curl up under a blanket. In the summer, you just can't get cool enough. As kids we used to beg our parents for a pool. We didn't get one. We lived near Lake Michigan and often in the summer our parents would take us all to the beach. We very rarely went in the middle of the day, usually the trip was after dinner. We loaded up the van, and would compete to see who saw the lake first as we came over the top of the last sand dune. I don't know how my mother coped with 7 or 8 kids at a beach, but she seemed relaxed. Later she did admit that she was constantly counting heads! We would stay for an hour or so, then load back up and head home. We had to stand by the garden hose and get the sand washed off before we could go inside, that was a cold surprise. By that time, we were worn out and off to bed. Good planning by my parents!

There was also a swimming pool a few miles away at a Boy Scout camp. We would ride our bikes or get dropped off by a parent and spend the afternoon there. I could not have been very old, since the camp closed when I was 8 or 9, but I remember quite a bit about it. We used to have "tea parties" underwater and try to talk to one another. We would invent silly ways to jump into the water. I know I couldn't really swim, but I wasn't afraid of the water or of getting my face wet. I can't believe the freedom we had as kids to roam the countryside.

Now, when summer comes the beach just seems too hot and sandy, pools are fun for a bit, but then I get bored. I'd rather be curled up on the couch, with the snow falling, a warm blanket and glass of wine, and a good book. I guess I won't be retiring to Florida!

Evaluation

An academic life is not for those with thin skins or have egos easily bruised. Our lives are full of evaluation. Every course gets honest and brutal feedback from each student enrolled. Often we have peers come to observe our teaching performance. We are expected to regularly send off our writing to others with the intent of receiving criticism (hopefully, mixed in with some positives!). We submit proposals to funding agencies where they are picked apart, sometimes word by word, by a discerning panel of other academics.

Of course, we sit on the other side of the table as well. We hand out grades to students. We review journal articles and book chapters. We sit on grant review panels.

Most of us will admit to having a little ritual for reading either student evaluations or peer reviews. The ritual often involves alcohol. Comments like "I'd rather run naked through the Quad in January than ever take another course from this professor" go down much better with a little pinot noir. We often save those review envelopes for the end of the day, for a time with quiet and no interruptions. I know I have to read them quickly first, then set them aside for a few day before I can go back and really digest what has been said.

Hopefully, what we learn from reading evaluations of our own work helps us be better, and more sensitive, evaluators of others.

Stories and Richard Russo

I'm not a big fan of Russo's novels. Everyone thought I would love Straight Man, and it was okay, but I just didn't get that enthralled. The same for Empire Falls, I'm not sure I even finished that one. So, I was a little surprised this morning to be completely entranced by an interview with Russo on NPR. His new book, That Old Cape Magic, apparently deals with marriage, memory, and parents. Old ground for novelists. But I was struck by a few of his comments in the interview.

First, in the book, the main character is carting around the ashes of both his mother and father in the trunk of his car. As Russo commented, even after our parents die they are not that far away. How true. The ways in which are parents live on are myriad. Our own actions and behaviors are shaped by our childhood experiences, both in concert with and in reaction to our parents. We still turn to our parents, at least figuratively, as a source of advice or support, or in anger and misunderstanding.

He also touches on the role of storytelling. He commented in the interview that often new writers have trouble identifying the truth in the story they are writing. I liked his example of how in a long marriage you are likely to hear your partner tell the same story many times. Each time, however, the telling is slightly different and the audience, too. Different people will ask different questions, pick up on different points. Over time, hearing the story over and over, you can start to see the truth in that story, what that story means and represents.

So, maybe I'll need to read his latest book, give him another shot.

Attachment to houses

My in-laws are getting ready to sell their house and move into an apartment. It is a big step, they have lived in their current house for 30 years and before that lived in another house for about 20 years. One of their sons lives in that house now. My father lives in the house next door to where his parents moved with him and his sister when he was 16. So, he has lived on those 5 acres for 64 years.

I've been in the house I live in now for 14 years, the longest residence since my childhood. I feel some attachment to this house, it is where we have raised our sons, but I don't feel like it will be hard to move. My husband and I talk about downsizing once the boys are through college. I think that is a good idea, to move to a new place while we can enjoy the freedom of a smaller house and more manageable yard (although I don't know if I can convince my husband that a smaller yard is a good idea.)

What is it about space that we become tied to? Given my recent thoughts about the importance of office space, I guess it is only natural that I now am thinking about living space. Is it the memories that are attached to the space? Do we need that tangible presence to preserve those feelings? Is it just inertia and habit? Do we just resist change in general?

I know in other cultures and in other times of history less (and maybe more) importance was attached to spaces and houses. They were, or are, utilitarian necessities. Still, I think most people have memories of particular houses that hold some significance to them. Recently a young woman showed up at the end of our driveway. This was the house she lived in when she was a child and she was curious about what it looked like now. My husband invited her in and showed her around. She pointed out her old bedroom, where things had been in her childhood, how much the trees had grown, etc.

As a sociologist, then, what are we to make of space? When I teach family sociology I talk a little about how changes in housing design both reflected and facilitated family change. Having separate rooms reinforced and facilitated the desire for privacy. That privacy changed family dynamics and the expectations of family members. Comparing houses now to the era in which I grew up, the idea of shared bedrooms for children is outdated--every child has his or her own room. When I was growing up, families with 4 or 5 children regularly lived in 3-4 bedroom houses.

Jigsaw puzzles

I love doing jigsaw puzzles. Not those "impossible" ones that are all one color, or in which all the pieces are exactly the same. I like the standard 1000 piece, picture with some structure, type of puzzles. I also do the border first, find all of the straight edges. In looking for puzzle images, however, I found this one, in which the puzzler is working on the corner and middle. Usually, after the edges, I start to fill in a little. The bottom often gets done first, I think because it is closest to me. The center usually gets filled in early, too, since that has some identifiable pieces. I like to keep the pieces in the box and shuffle through them, letting them sift through my fingers while I look for just that right one. It is easy to do things like the edges of buildings, signs, things with distinctive colors, too. Gradually, the puzzle gets filled in. For some reason, the sky is almost always last. All that blue seems like just too much to figure out.

Jigsaw puzzles are very relaxing. You can work at your own pace, carry on a conversation at the same time, or work silently by a partner. They remind me of an old fashioned quilting bee. My sisters and I usually work puzzles when we are together. It bugged my mother. I think she thought it was anti-social. Or else she just didn't like the space it tied up. Still, it is a family tradition. My husband and kids have no interest. So, when we go on vacation I get to do one all by myself! It is a highlight of the trip for me.

Puzzles that can be solved are soothing. You know what you are working towards (I always consult the picture on the box.) There is only one right answer, but there is an answer. You get a sense of accomplishment as you complete the picture. There is that thrill when you find just the right piece for a particular spot. Jigsaw puzzles are like math problems, or logic puzzles, or any of those other pursuits that provide a definitive answer if you look long enough.

Kitchen sinks

When I lived in Central Pennsylvania I remember an evening when I was standing at the kitchen sink, looking out the window and could see the kitchens of three other houses. We all had the same fluorescent lights, the same window over the sink. What's the deal with kitchen windows? Are kitchen sinks designed to be under windows for a reason? Is it so women can see out into the world and imagine what is out there for them? Do they all have fluorescent lights?

Growing up, our kitchen sink did not have a window over it, at least not after the dining room addition was built. The sink faced a blank wall. It did have a fluorescent light. But, ever since then, every house I've lived in has had a window over the sink. In our current house, the window looks out over a small patio with a tree, flowers, and bird feeders. It is a pleasant view. Does it make the task of dishwashing more pleasant? I don't know.

But, on that evening long ago, I was struck by the fact that in four houses, at the same time in the evening, someone was standing at the kitchen sink, fluorescent light glowing, washing dishes. Is that comforting? A sign of shared routine and domestic tranquility? Or is it depressing? A sign of shared routine and drudgery?

Is the difference what your window looks out on to?

Gettting courses ready

When I started this blog I intended it to supplement my introductory sociology course. It would be a place to expand on topics covered in class, to introduce recent events relevant to our discussions, and to cover things we didn't have time for in class. I hoped it would also give students a better sense of what their professor does in the other hours of her life, those outside the lecture hall. Some of that has to do with me as a person, as a researcher, but also I wanted to talk about the "invisible work" of teaching.

One of those invisible tasks is the construction of the course syllabus. There are books written on how to make a good syllabus, what should be included, what messages you send students through the syllabus. I worry more about the substance--what topics do I want to cover and in what order? what do I want students to read? what assignments will be useful and when should they occur? Even after I have taught a course many times I still find things I want to change. New videos or readings, new topics, new ideas. But adding something means something else must go. What to delete? What didn't work last time or didn't capture student interest? What is essential to the course and what is fluff?

For the fall I'm teaching two courses. Both are very similar in terms of the topics--research design and data analysis. I'm working on the ordering of topics, the assignments, the timing. Check back and see what happens.

Play

What is the purpose of play? As a sociologist, I would have to say that play serves several purposes. It is part of the socialization process. Through play children learn some of the rules of society--taking turns and sharing, for instance. We also know that humans need social interaction in order to thrive. In Introduction to Sociology I usually assign a classic reading about feral children, those who have been raised with little or no human interaction. Most are unable to ever fully gain the skills lost by those early years of deprivation. We certainly saw examples of that in children raised (warehoused?) in Eastern European orphanages. Play is one way to have social interaction.

But what about for adults? What purpose does purposeless activity serve? I listened to an interesting program about play on Speaking of Faith, an NPR program, over the weekend. It was a rebroadcast, but the point is timeless. Play "enriches us and nourishes human spirit and character," argues Stuart Brown, director of the International Institute of Play. (how's that for irony, your job is to study play!)

Play creates trust and empathy, helps us deal with stress and solve problems. What a good drug. Play doesn't have to be social, however, it can be solitary, like reading a book or listening to music. Still, I think the social aspect of play must add a dimension that further enriches. So, go play.

Mother of the Groom

Having two boys who are nearing the age when I can begin to contemplate that they may marry someday, and having just attended my nephew's wedding, I've been thinking of what it means to be the mother of the groom. The mother of the groom has very limited involvement in the wedding, that seems pretty clear. I think the groom's family is officially responsible for the rehearsal dinner and that's about it. She has little say in the other aspects of the event, or little involvement in the planning.

But, what does it really mean to be the mother of the groom? The one who is welcoming another woman into her home and life? While it is the father, and more often now the mother, too, of the bride who "gives her away" to the groom, what is the mother of the groom giving away? Is it seen that she is only gaining a daughter, not losing a son? Is the mother of the groom like being the father of the bride? What about the mother of the bride, or the father of the groom? Do those relationships change with marriage? It seems like the same sex relationships are easier to maintain after marriage, the lines of communication are clearer and the roles are simpler--father of the groom can still go fishing and watch sports on TV at holidays, mother of the bride can still go shopping and be there for advice and comfort. But us opposite sex parents seem to lose a little more, to have our roles changed more. It will be interesting to see. Check back in 10 years or so and see what I think then!

Graduations

This is the season of graduations--from kindergarten, elementary school, high school, college...I attended my high school graduation, held in our high school gym. That is the last big ceremony I attended until my son's high school graduation last week. I did not attend my college graduation. I did not attend my graduate school graduation. I have gone to several SU commencement ceremonies, but that has been it. They are funny celebrations, a mixture of humor and gravitas. There is exuberation at having accomplished something and sadness at leaving things behind. Speakers tend toward the inspirational--go do great things. I would hate to be a graduation speaker. I have no clue what I would say.

The trappings of power

What is it about offices that gets people so riled up? What is it about space that it became a way to define an identity? Did it start with medieval castles, or before? Is there a culture in which small, intimate spaces are considered more powerful? Is our office size just a proxy for the size of our country? If we can't be generals or kings of a country, we can at least be kings of some small empire.

Space is on my mind as I get ready to move into a new office. Who knew it was such a momentous occasion. I have a nice office. It is spacious and quiet. I put up some personal touches, so it feels homey. BUT, it does not have a WINDOW!!! I wondered if that would bother me, but it doesn't really seem to have an effect that I can tell. When I agreed to accept the dean's appointment as director of CPR, I thought I might move into a new office, but I didn't really care if I did. I could do the job just fine from where I am.

But, since I don't have a WINDOW, I have to move. I guess the director has to have a window, and reasonable square footage. Okay, move me. My new office is likely to be somewhat centrally located, some think this is bad...I'll be too "available," too accessible. Is that bad? I don't think so.

Do our offices reflect our personality? Certainly there are the messy offices, the cluttered ones, the every paper edge straight ones. But what about the location, the size, the WINDOWS. Will visitors think differently about me and my job because of my office? Maybe. But I won't.

Coincidences: Chopin, Abraham, and Isaac

Sometimes I read or hear about the same thing several times in the same week or month. I wonder about those coincidences. Am I just more alert to one reference, having heard or read the other? Are there cycles of reference that just come around now and again, and other writers and readers amplify them? Is it just some type of karma, some way the universe is leading me in a particular direction?

Two such coincidences have occurred recently. The first has to do with Chopin. I've just read three books, all with references to Chopin music and seen a movie in which Chopin plays a role. I'm only vaguely familiar with his music. I have listened to some of the more famous pieces, but I'm certainly not an aficianado. I wonder if I would like his music if I listened to it more. Certainly, in the books I read the music plays a vital role in the development of the characters. It is used as a test of emotional availability, as a means of sexual expression, and as a symbol of longing.

The other reference that has popped up a few times is to the Biblical story of Abraham and Isaac. The first time was in a podcast by Richard Krulwich, who does science stories on NPR. The podcast was of a sermon he delivered at his synagogue on the story. He emphasizes the silence in the story, the things not said by Isaac, Sara, and Abraham. He argues that perhaps it is in the silences that we find faith. I just finished a book called "The Work of Wolves." I don't know that it is great literature, but it has some interesting themes. At one point the story of Isaac and Abraham is raised. The character speaks of Sara, and what she might have said to Abraham, how we don't know those words. "The story we have exists because it is incomplete. It could not survive a real mother's words....The words by which we know are defined by words unsaid. And those unsaid words might be the ruination of faith...The story of God might not survive our hearing it." So, in some ways it is the opposite of Krulwich's argument. Is faith found in the silence, or lost in the silence?

"I'm really pleased."

When can a short, reassuring, phrase bring conversation to a halt? When it is uttered by a doctor. In an interesting study of doctor-patient communication, the phrase, "I'm really pleased (or happy) with your progress," tends to end any questioning or the raising of any further concerns by a patient. The doctor is the authority, she is happy, so everything must be okay. The doctor, in her defense, usually means this as a comforting phrase, a reassurance, but does not realize how it shuts down any concerns that the patient might have.

Are there other such "show stoppers" in conversations? The obvious "whatever" certainly indicates an end of interest, but that is its intention. What about unintentional comments or phrases that make others think you are no longer interested, even if you are? Maybe something like, "I hope that goes well for you," fills the bill. I know I sometimes say this, not intending for it to be the last word. But, it certainly could be interpreted that way.

Aging

I'm currently attending the annual retreat of the Brookdale Foundation's Leaders in Aging Fellows program. The program supports research by new researchers in the area of gerontology. Some are physicians, some are basic scientists, some are social scientists...and they throw in a humanities or two as well. It is really interesting to hear the diversity of the research presented. There are four new fellows this year. One is doing work on delivering palliative care in the emergency department of hospitals. Another is interested in mouth care in nursing homes (how do brush the teeth of demented elderly). There is one who is interested in medical costs at the end of life and another who is looking at how the immune system changes with menopause. And those are just the new fellows. Topics of conversation revolve around dealing with aging parents, aging selves, and aging patients. It is always an interesting group.