On Seminars,Ritual,and Cowboys

Abstract

This nonlinear, mixed-genre essay shows that we can learn much about education by looking at the nonrational aspects of classrooms. Following discursive traditions associated with the social sciences, it presents two interaction patterns found in seminar-style classes at the undergraduate and masters level whose ritual aspects work to “magically” resolve a dilemma contained in the American commitment to individualism. It also suggests a connection to the apparent lack of intellectual vitality claimed to exist on many American campuses. At the same time, drawing on discursive traditions associated with the arts, this essay also complicates the processes of education showing just how complex and contradictory a seminar can be.

Damian sits slouched in his chair, hands folded in his lap, Timberlands thrust under the table, his body forming a slightly sagging diagonal line. On his head sits his more-than-dirty white hat, brim turned backwards, plastic strap pressed across his forehead. John Dewey's “The Child and the Curriculum” lies dutifully open on the table in front of him taking its place in the circle of texts that trace the perimeter of the table. Damian's face lacks emotion. In fact, it signals no information whatsoever. It is blank. Is his mind blank as well? I can assure you that it is not. His mind is actively presenting multiple words and images for his own contemplation. A film-loop projection of last night's argument with Sheila dominates the images. Endlessly he watches her rage-contorted face and hears her high shrill voice—though he has forgotten what her words were. Screw it) There's no pleasing some girls)

But his argument with Sheila is not the only thing entertaining his mind. For example, he can't stop humming that Goo Goo Doll's tune that he heard on MTV this morning. Nor can he put out of his mind John Rzeznik's tattoos. Damian has been contemplating getting a tattoo for several weeks now and he isn't sure if watching the Goo Goo Doll's increases his enthusiasm or his distaste with the idea.

And there isn't just contorted faces, guitar licks, and tattoos to occupy his mind. There is Tina. As always, Damian is sitting next to Tina. Tina was the very first person that Damian noticed when he had entered the classroom on the first day. Noticing Tina did not make Damian unique. Everyone noticed Tina. Tina is the kind of young woman who puts a lie to the idea that men today are obsessed with Kate Moss look-alikes. Tina's body overflows with sensuality. Damian enjoys telling his friends that Tina has a “generous” body and that she could have had a role in the movie Dirty Dancing. But it is her bleached, waterfall hair splashing out all over in irregular tempo that distracted anyone nearby. It is not just the guys who notice Tina; the women do too and not with approval. So the fact that Damian immediately noticed Tina upon entering the room on that first day does not separate him from his peers. What distinguishes him is that Damian did not hesitate to walk over and take the seat next to her. And since students nearly always return to the same seat every subsequent class, Damian sits next to Tina and her delicious distractions every class. So that besides high pitched screams, repetitive drumbeats, and tattooed arms, Damian's mind contemplates strategies for the seduction of Tina.

But you might wonder whether Damian is paying any attention to his class or if he is only thinking of irrelevancies. If so, you may be surprised to know that despite all the attention to women and song, Damian is also tracking the class action. Damian is a pretty good student. Well, OK, he is only an “A–B” student. But what is wrong with that? After all, he has known plenty of smart people who have been total losers as teachers. Like Mr. Compton his high school English teacher who never caught on to the ways in which the class would ask him questions about everything under the sun and avoid the topic of the day. But while you don't have to be a rocket scientist to get through ed school classes, Damian is determined to graduate in four years. His parents have made it clear that they are only paying for four years of college. He will have to pay for every additional semester himself and he already has twelve thousand dollars in student loans to pay back. For this reason, that part of Damian's mind not occupied with other more intriguing things has been following the class conversation. Class participation is calculated into the final grade and though he doesn't know exactly how it will be counted, Damian makes sure that he contributes at least one comment in every class. At this particular moment there is a pause in the conversation. Damian decides now would be the time to “contribute.”

“Professor Ulrich,” he asks, “What does Dewey mean when he talks about the progressives?”