stu johnston and paul gardner, group leaders and 10 male faculty and staff

Mentoring, Advising and Masculinities A Sense of Vocation

In Samuel Osherson’s book “Finding Our Fathers”, he describes his observations of his father going off to work:

My father went to work, I went to school; we were on parallel tracks.  I would drag myself to the school bus stop even as he was pulling out of the driveway to commute to the Bronx.”  “Becoming a man felt like accepting an odious burden of endless work and mindlessness.  How I would have liked to talk to my father about that fate, but couldn’t or wouldn’t! He was so busy, so tired, so depressed, taking care of us all, bearing up so well in the arduous male world, for which my high school was merely the training ground.  Isn’t that the point, though? The biggest lesson I learned from my father was that, day after day, he endured.  You took what life gave you and you grit it out.  You were able to get the job done.” “Many men learn from their fathers that to be in the work world means to suffer, indeed manhood itself is a kind of dreadful obligation.  With our mentors we will try both to live up to that demand and to be excused from it.”( pg 73-75).

Many of our male students come from homes where both parents work outside the home, which has allowed a different view of being a woman, but much of traditional masculinity beliefs are still in place.  Some of our male students are beginning to look for a different vision of work, vocation and masculinity.  These students will likely direct their questions and concerns to faculty and staff, if those mentors are able to understand the shifting roles men and women play in our culture.  It is the hope that with readings focused on the relationship of fathers and sons, masculinities, as well as frank discussions with faculty and staff regarding contact with male students, we can begin to articulate a new vision of work, vocation and masculinities.

The group, comprised of men, from various disciplines and departments at Luther College, have expressed interest in joining together during the spring semester of the 2006 academic year.  Our plan is to read 3 books during the spring semester, meet monthly with structured questions and to discuss and reflect our thoughts regarding the books each month.

Our two primary goals are:

A Discussion of Mentoring

How do we actively mentor our male students?  What have been some of our positive outcomes with male students, and how did we get there together?  Through readings and discussion, we will explore how best to mentor our male students to new way of understanding work and vocation.

Increased Understanding of Masculinities

Because of shifting gender roles, much has changed as our male students have gone through the public education system, and are now faced with much more uncertainty then before.  As a college, we need to have a better understanding of what it means to be a man in today’s society, so we can better mentor our male students.

Book List (tentative)

• Sheehan, Andrew.  Chasing the Hawk: Looking for My Father, Finding Myself.
• Kemp, Kenny.  Dad Was a Carpenter: A Father, A Son, and the Blueprints for a Meaningful Life.
• Connell, R.W.  The Men and the Boys.

Outcomes:

• That we will have a better understanding of masculinities and what it means to be a man, as opposed to what has been constructed for us.

• We as a group will become better mentors to our male students.  Through not only the readings, but also the experience of interacting with other male staff, we will feel more comfortable speaking of issues related to masculinities and vocation with our students.

• Because of relationships developed within the group, there will be greater support between faculty and staff and potentially stronger collaboration with students we mentor together.

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