The prompt is a strange one today as I feel it implies that I am deeply connected with my students and their writing and that out of their writing I can draw some kind of meaning beyond the superficial. What does it even mean to have a coherent worldview? This a vague phrase if there ever was one…

Complaining aside, what I have been able to gather from my students generally speaking is that they are very much where I was as a freshman. There is some concern or interest in the outside world, but it pales in comparison to the insulated lives they are in the midst of establishing at Western. They likely have no time or energy to know or care of Bellingham let alone the world. Their writing so far revolves around the things that are important here and now: social media, fashion, music, robots, video games and so on. So far for research proposals I have only two groups that are doing their research on social justice issues and the rest are on more disconnected issues that are immediately relevant to one of the partner’s lives.

I would have liked to see this prompt towards the end of the quarter as I feel I would have been able to give a much more succinct, interesting response.  Even though I have read through three projects and a multitude of assignments I do not feel like I know my students beyond a trivial level so far. This will change after midterm conferences and the heavy vetting of their research proposals but as of right now I am still in the dark…