Plane musings

Midterms have come and gone, though the calendar is always lost on me since my course designs do not usually figure in a traditional midterm. Instead I use quizzes and essay reviews to assess my students’ grasp of theories and concepts, with a comprehensive “not quite midterm/not quite final exam” scheduled later in the term. Overall this works, but I’m realizing after a few years of this that the grading never ends. However, the idea of just one or two exams does not fit in my pedagogical assumptions. Eventually exhaustion and carpal tunnel might change my mind. All kidding aside, I mention grading as an entry point to the importance of innovative course design and assessment in keeping my teaching fresh. The blog and Twitter assignments in my popular culture course have been most helpful in this regard. I continue to be amazed at the Twitter chatter my students have engaged in this semester. Still, I’m sure they’re tired of hearing me encourage them to think more critically about their participation in popular culture and critical theory. I’m interested in comments from readers regarding teaching and assessment design. Please share an idea that has worked for you.

I expect I might get creative inspiration at the conference I’m attending this week, the Organization for the Study of Communication, Language and Gender. OSCLG is a great cohort of folks from all types of institutions and research persuasions. A couple colleagues and I are presenting a roundtable discussion on AMC’s Mad Men. In addition to looking at representations of femininity, masculinity and sexuality, we also plan to discuss how we have used the series as a learning tool in our courses. While I’m not teaching gender this semester, I’ve used Mad Men in the past to ignite conversation from my students regarding gender roles and expectations in the workplace. Although the show is set in 1960s Manhattan, it provides a great outlet for comparing what has changed and what has not. Students share not only stories they know of their parents and grandparents but also their own, current examples of latent and sometimes obvious discrimination. More than anything, though, the Mad Men viewing leads to vibrant discussion of the ongoing rigid gender expectations in much of society. My main point in this conference presentation will focus on the politics of identity hiding. Everyone seems to have a secret on Mad Men. From Betty to Sal, the pressure to be a good wife or husband is sometimes to much to endure. That’s enough of a teaser. I plan to record our round table and see if it works as a podcast post here. (On that note, I know I haven’t posted my talks on blogging in the classroom. It’s been hard to find time to edit in addition to teaching and trying to get some research done. Soon, I hope). Time to put the laptop away and prepare for landing.