Educating...for what?: Inquiry and Reflection

Higgins School of the Humanities/Difficult Dialogues: Video Recording from 11/16/2011 event featuring Cynthia Enloe and Frederick Luis Aldama titled "Inquiry and Reflection" Event Description: Freedom of inquiry (and the possibilities for discovery, insight and expanding knowledge that can flow from it) is fundamental to the experience of learning. Yet rarely do we pause to ask about inquiry itself, and to consider its practices. How do we best encourage authentic inquiry, in ourselves and in our students? To what do we give our attention, and why? What promotes the possibility of new discoveries and insights? Our guests for a conversation on inquiry are Frederick Luis Aldama of Ohio State University, a prolific scholar of wide-ranging interests, and Cynthia Enloe, research professor at Clark University, whose work is characterized by her subtle and provocative curiosity, and the asking of good questions.

Toward the Equitable Distribution of Enriching Educational Experiences: Faculty Engagement with Racial Minority Students

Peña, Bensimon, and Colyar (2006) noted: “Not only do African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans have lower graduation rates than [do] Whites and Asian Americans, they also experience inequalities in just about every indicator of academic success – from earned grade point average to placement on the dean’s list to graduation rates in competitive majors” (p. 48). While these and other racialized outcomes disparities cannot be attributed to a narrow set of explanatory factors, one thing is known for sure: College students who are actively engaged inside and outside the classroom are considerably more likely than are their disengaged peers to persist through baccalaureate degree attainment. Furthermore, engaged students typically accrue the desired outcomes that are central to liberal education. This is especially true for engagement in what Kuh (2008) refers to as “high-impact” educational experiences – study abroad programs, learning communities, undergraduate research programs, service learning opportunities, and summer internships, to name a few. Unfortunately, racial minority undergraduates are considerably less likely than are their White peers to enjoy the educational benefits associated with these experiences.