[Air-L] texts, readers

[Barry Wellman]

1. The discussion re textbooks hits home an important difference between
grad students -- let's look critically at multiple points of view and
different pieces of evidence -- and undergrads -- tell us what the right
answer is.

2. Having said that, I find that my third-year students ("juniors" and
"seniors' to the 'Mericans) are happy with a set of article readings
(online), as long as (a) there ain't too many (3/week seems ok) and (b) my
ppt lectures serve as the integrating "textbook".

3. Looking back to 1962, I had a similar experience when I entered my
senior year at Lafayette, a good undergrad US college. It was only in the
honors history seminar that I received pre-grad school training about not
looking for "the right answer" but evaluating different points of view and
evidence. So everything old may be new again.

4. I AM intrigued by the list members who say students are less excited
and knowledgeable about the Internet. OT1H, my course enrollment was up
this year (but that may be because folks had a schedule opening). OTOH,
students were generally less excited and less knowledgeable. I hadn't
thought about it before, but my hunch is that the list members were right
in saying the Internet has become blase -- reminds me of when I couldn't
talk about the telephone as being important in the 1970s-1980s when it
hugely was. (And perhaps still is.)

5. Anyway, I know of 3 nice books in our area that are coming along:

a. Paul Levinson

b. Nancy Baym (she's been tweeting about it)

c. Lee Rainie & me.

Ad astra!

 Barry Wellman
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  S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC               NetLab Director
  Department of Sociology                  725 Spadina Avenue, Room 388
  University of Toronto   Toronto Canada M5S 2J4   twitter:barrywellman
  http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman             fax:+1-416-978-3963
  Updating history:      http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
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