Recorded Dec. 1, 2011 in Mayser Gymnasium.
Watch a 2-minute highlights video of this event.
The event highlighted several student-faculty and student-staff collaborations at Franklin & Marshall College.
The accessibility and willingness of faculty and professional staff to collaborate with students is undoubtedly one of the factors that make F&M unique. These partnerships enable us to break down the barriers of traditional learning and move into collaborative learning.
In this Common Hour, pairs of dynamic faculty/professional staff and students will share their experiences of working and learning with one another. They will describe what they have accomplished with one another that they could have never done on their own.
Participants included:
- Common Hour Committee members: Annalisa Crannell, professor of mathematics; Elana Jaret ’12; Sarah Patterson ’13; Jeffrey Geltman ’14; and Alicia Kukoda ’14.
- Mary Boland ’01, head women’s volleyball coach; Kerry Rom ’13; and Meghan Hubert ’14
- Linda Aleci, associate professor of art history; Bonnie Halloran ’11; Alex Gao ’12
- Beth Throne, associate vice president for student and post-graduate development
- Sylvia A. Alajaji, assistant professor of music; and Maggie Gergen ’12
- Candace A. Grand Pre ’03, visiting assistant professor of geosciences
- Suzanna Richter, associate dean and house prefect; and Elena Lopez ’12
I am always happy when I see people collaborating. I especially like that when it is a transformation of previous models within education. I thought the relationships established between faculty and students was refreshing. At the same time it left me with some questions.
One of the speakers mentioned being equal with students. I don’t think that is helpful. There is always a power deferential between a faculty person and students. There are boundaries that can be maintained and at the same time good healthy relationship can develop.
I am also curious about what happens in the process of collaboration when there is disagreement. What happens when conflict arises?
I hesitated raising these thoughts because I do not want people to think I didn’t enjoy the talk. There was no time for people to ask questions so I thought I would put this down here and if anyone would like to respond I would appreciate it.
Thanks