academia

[Kenneth Brostrom]

>I think we should discuss what's wrong with (some of) us, ethics of our
>profession, not just what wrong with them (students).
>

This is certainly a fair observation, reflecting, I suppose, the old adage,
"You can't change other people, you can only change yourself."  This
vigorous and lengthy discussion about "them" (the students) and "us" (the
teachers) demonstrates once again how seriously we take what goes on in the
classroom.  But there is another party who bears responsibility for some of
the problems encountered not only by us, but by the humanities in general:
the administration.  Some of the truly unethical and bizarre departures
from academic rigor during the seventies were motivated in part by
enrollment-driven budgets in institutions lacking enormous endowments and
often dependent on state funding.  This pattern continues, especially in
institutions where corporate administrative models and values have
insinuated themselves into the decision-making process.

  Alina is right to raise the question of professional ethics, at least in
part because these administrative pressures often place us in an ethical
bind. One only needs to point to grade inflation in the humanities over the
past twenty-five years, generated largely by worry that tough but fair
grading will lead to falling enrollments, loss of budget, non-renewal of
tenure lines, and even program elimination.  Administrative actions all
over the country confirm that our worries are not ill-founded: my own
German and Slavic department has roughly one-third the tenured faculty it
had when I received tenure.  There were then five tenured people in the
Slavic area, and I am the lone "survivor."

  When I was an undergraduate many eons ago, a 'C' simply meant 'average.'
Now it is akin to a slap in the face.  At the University of Michigan spring
commencement this year, President Lee Bollinger reviewed what the
University was like 100 years ago, and what it might be like 100 years
hence.  Among other things he speculated that the grade of 'A' will have
five gradations.  We are frequently caught between the need to provide
students with objective assessments and our concern that genuine
objectivity will scare them away.  Or at least send them to more lenient
colleagues in other departments.  I don't pretend there is any easy
solution to these conflicts.  Often for me, a 'B-' on an essay (I make
students write often in this short form) is accompanied by copious
annotation, explaining in great detail, sentence by sentence, why this
assignment is not very good.  It's certainly a compromise, but perhaps the
student learns more than I did as an undergrad and grad student, when
almost every paper simply had a grade on it.  Period.

  But judging from my long reading of this list and my own experience, the
results are not all bad.  Many of you are very innovative and
creative--that's obvious.  This certainly was not true of my undergraduate
experience (at an "elite Ivy League school").  And these pressures have
forced us (if this is not too strong a word) to become much more hands-on
in our teaching (also not true of my undergraduate experience).  Surely our
students benefit from this intensive personal attention.  And they almost
always appreciate these demonstrations of genuine interest in their
academic growth.  Surely most of you have seen this in your student
evaluations. These students can be reached.  I had a terrific experience
last semester in my nineteenth-century Russian literature course.  And they
bring new strengths which can be utilized: I regularly teach a film course,
and am often astounded by their visual memories.  And our Russian program
is quite stable and even growing a bit: we have more Russian majors than
ever before in my experience (since the mid-seventies).  I am especially
indebted here to the energy and creativity of my young colleague, Laura
Kline, who has found multiple ways to help me in engaging and holding the
interest of Wayne State students--not in huge numbers, but enough to keep
us stable and out of danger.  And more recently, Rachel Harrell has
contributed similar energies to our program.  It can be done, and I am
confident that many of you are doing so successfully.

  The problems we have been discussing are real, although I doubt that
anyone is giving up.  But I would urge you to fight your administrations
with vigor and tenacity whenever they impose corporate values on the
academic process.  The value of what we do is incommensurate with that
bottom-line mentality.

Cheers!

Ken Brostrom

Kenneth Brostrom
Assoc. Prof. of Russian
Dept. of German and Slavic Studies
443 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202
Telephone: (313) 577-6238
FAX (313) 577-3266
E-mail: kenneth.brostrom at wayne.edu

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