During my sophomore year of college I took Sociology with Gladys Kuoksa. She had a cat named Serendipity. If a nuclear bomb ever exploded she planned to grab her cat and a bottle of Scotch and sit in the hallway of her apartment to wait for her eventual doom. She told us of her plans on the second or third day of class. She also made us carry lemons around for a week. After a week she asked us to get rid of those lemons. I couldn’t. I carried my lemon around for two more weeks. I discarded it by tossing it in the bushes near St. Mary’s Hall whereupon it rolled out from the bushes and back to me. I always figured the lemon assignment was some sort of grand sociology experiment that Gladys had going, a way to see just what she could get a bunch of college sophomores to do.
Gladys got us thinking and talking on a daily basis. She even got us to carry on with class when she wasn’t there. One Tuesday or Thursday, I can’t remember which, I walked into class and moved my desk toward the circle that was beginning to form. There was no sign of Gladys, but since her office was right down the hall we figured she’d be coming along any minute. Before long one minute became five, then seven and then there was a discussion regarding how long we had to wait for her before we could leave. Was it 8 minutes or 12? Lisa Lerner interrupted, “But I really want to talk about the reading!” Surprisingly so did the rest of us and in an instant the conversation shifted from when can we leave to the assigned readings. Gladys never did show up that day, but she would have been happy to see her group of 14 carry on without her. Of course, I always had a sneaking suspicion that she was there, down the hall behind the closed door of her office listening to the students that she had created.
Build relationships. I keep hearing that it’s the best way to get students involved in their education.
To be continued and completed tomorrow....
Mary,
ReplyDeleteWhen did you go to St. Mary's? I had Gladys too for Sociology and of all the teachers I had there (I attended from 1983-1987), I remember Gladys as one of the most influential professors in regards to helping me to learn to think, and ask good questions.
One day, early in the term when we were new to her and her to us, she walked into class. We were sitting there looking at her and she at us for a bit. Then she said, "could you please raise your hand if you think you are different from everyone else around you?" Most of the class raised their hands.
"Okay," she said, "please stand up if you are wearing Nikes." Several people stood up. "If you are wearing Levis jeans, please stand up." Several more people stood up. She asked one additional question, which escapes me, and by that time, most of the class was standing.
She gave us a small smile and said, "think about it." You know what, 26 years later I'm STILL thinking about it! :-)
Regards,
David Flanagan
SMCM Class of 1987
David,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the note...I was at SMC from 1980-1984, so perhaps we crossed paths somewhere along the line.
I majored in English but still count that Sociology class as one of my favorites.