Frank.Ritter@psu.edu
2feb22
I worked with Fredrick Ryans (IST PhD graduate student, February 2020 to October 2020, co-advised with Lynette Yarger). I enjoyed working with him, and learned a lot from him. I also taught him in the Fall of 2019 in a graduate class. I found out that I needed to learn about his culture, which looked in some ways like my culture, was in many ways different. And, that he had different resources than I had, not more or less, but different, which I think is what defines culture.
I've not been taught systematically in this area. Like most areas I run into, I find that there is not enough theory and not enough practical advice, but often a lot of what appear to be unfounded exhorations. The exhorations are usually well-meaning, but fail to communicate the details necesssary for me to underatnd and to apply the actions requested. Thus, for example, when the pandemic hit, we created from the mantra wash, mask, distance, a two hour tutorial to teach the theory behind and provide a place to practice (proceduralize) skills to obstruct pandemics, which Fred helped with.
In the case of working with first generation colllege or first generation graduate students, this lack of details was also true. Working with Fred and since his passing, I've been collecting readings and other materials that helped me understand his situation, and may help others. These are loosely organized, but if you want to use them, there is enough that you can take some value from them. If I wanted to present an hour tutorial, there is more than enough material to make this a straightforward process.
I wanted to pass along a NYT article (attached) and book (The Privileged Poor) that speak to the challenges of disadvantaged students attending elite universities. The author, Anthony Abraham Jack, is an African American male from a family with limited resources. He is now an Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
"I was a low income college student. Classes weren't the hard part" Anthony Abraham Jack [paywalled]
He notes that students need extra financial support to get home on the holidays and to pay for reaosonable accomodaton during vacation / breaks.
Also general advice that such students should have available to them, from a good colleague:
https://faculty.ist.psu.edu/vhonavar/grad-advice.html
Chronicle of higher ed, retaining underserved students: strategies for the post-pandemic era
Thick by Cottom
Black history for white people, podcast. On spotify, iTunes. Patreon. Not a comfortable listen, but valuable.