California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: February 18, 2000
Faculty on the Site.

We've been trying to find methods of teaching and of authenticating learning that would provide students in commuter colleges with some of the spirit of the traditional liberal arts education. As our classes expand to include 60, we find that seminar patterns of academic discourse are no longer adequate to our needs. And with the fast track, in which education and a degree become one of many urgent goals, the three hour period of quiet study is no longer a reality for many of us, never mind our students. We have found that we can adapt our lecture materials to the Internet, giving us all the class time for interactive projects and discussions. Our students respond by actually preparing the readings. They stay in almost constant e-mail touch with us. And they achieve small group bonding by choosing discussion groups freely. Both we and the students have found renewed energy and excitement in this project, and we spend a good deal of our time asking how we can make the process accessible to many.

We'd like to think we've avoided the "blaming the victim" fallacy, in that we do not see this as addressing the major issues of structural violence in the system. We see it instead as a way of providing support and understanding, recognition of the problem as we are experiencing it, and developing responses that do not escalate the violence, and provide us some measure of relief. We are also finding that in learning to articulate the problem of structural violence our students are gaining better control of their responses and are more able to distinguish structural violence from individualized intent to harm.