Classroom
Military Engagement
The war in Iraq was more than the major news of the spring semester for Jack Mitchell, a professor of journalism and mass communication. It was also an opportunity.
Mitchell, who teaches Introduction to Mass Communication, used reports from the front to help illustrate course themes — for example, by studying the effects of the Pentagon's policy of embedding reporters to advance public relations.
"It's a very happy time in a perverse way," says Mitchell. "We use examples from the current situation to discuss the interaction between public relations and the news media. We would do the section of the course anyway, but it gives us wonderful examples that everyone is familiar with."
Like Mitchell, other professors found that the war, and the diplomatic wrangling that preceded it, created a unique dynamic in their classrooms during spring. Students and faculty in many courses seized on the developing news in Iraq to enliven classroom debates and put fresh perspective on lectures.
Getting beyond the divisive politics of the issue, however, was not always easy, particularly given that campus rallies both for and against the war were frequent before and during the campaign. The challenge for professors was to bring war into the classroom in an objective, academic framework.
Mitchell, who teaches Introduction to Mass Communication, used reports from the front to help illustrate course themes — for example, by studying the effects of the Pentagon's policy of embedding reporters to advance public relations.
"It's a very happy time in a perverse way," says Mitchell. "We use examples from the current situation to discuss the interaction between public relations and the news media. We would do the section of the course anyway, but it gives us wonderful examples that everyone is familiar with."
Like Mitchell, other professors found that the war, and the diplomatic wrangling that preceded it, created a unique dynamic in their classrooms during spring. Students and faculty in many courses seized on the developing news in Iraq to enliven classroom debates and put fresh perspective on lectures.
Getting beyond the divisive politics of the issue, however, was not always easy, particularly given that campus rallies both for and against the war were frequent before and during the campaign. The challenge for professors was to bring war into the classroom in an objective, academic framework.
"The main thing is to make sure students don't oversimplify war," says David Leheny, a professor of political science, who tries not to "allow students' pre-existing views to affect their judgment about what the war's effect on terrorism will be."
Leheny, who is teaching a course on terrorism and non-state violence this summer, says he hopes to show students the complexities of war and terrorism on multiple levels so that students can better develop their own opinions.
Professors find textbooks often fall short in times when current events constantly redefine the body of knowledge. Many of the models used by international relations scholars, for example, were strained by the unprecedented diplomatic gridlock at the United Nations prior to the war.
"We learn a lot of theories about the causes of war," says Jon Pevehouse, a professor of political science. "What I've been able to do, along with the class, is ask, 'Do we think this theory does a good job explaining what's going on right now?' In that way, we can show how the theory may or may not be relevant."
Pevehouse says that, by looking at the war through an academic lens, many professors were able to disarm students' prejudices and help them get a more well-rounded understanding of the conflict.
"I wanted to challenge them, but I didn't want to disrespect their views," Pevehouse says. "It's been, hopefully, interesting for the students. It's been interesting for me, because we think about theories to explain the world around us."
— Alexander Conant '02
Leheny, who is teaching a course on terrorism and non-state violence this summer, says he hopes to show students the complexities of war and terrorism on multiple levels so that students can better develop their own opinions.
Professors find textbooks often fall short in times when current events constantly redefine the body of knowledge. Many of the models used by international relations scholars, for example, were strained by the unprecedented diplomatic gridlock at the United Nations prior to the war.
"We learn a lot of theories about the causes of war," says Jon Pevehouse, a professor of political science. "What I've been able to do, along with the class, is ask, 'Do we think this theory does a good job explaining what's going on right now?' In that way, we can show how the theory may or may not be relevant."
Pevehouse says that, by looking at the war through an academic lens, many professors were able to disarm students' prejudices and help them get a more well-rounded understanding of the conflict.
"I wanted to challenge them, but I didn't want to disrespect their views," Pevehouse says. "It's been, hopefully, interesting for the students. It's been interesting for me, because we think about theories to explain the world around us."
— Alexander Conant '02
Wild and Wooly
Student projects take many forms at UW-Madison, and during the past decade, I've seen a lot of unusual things happen in the name of learning. But, until this spring, I had never seen a class assignment that involved castrating a sheep.
That, however, is one of the final (and least fondly anticipated) challenges that faces the students of Animal Science 430: Sheep Production.
Professor David Thomas '71 says the course is one of the few on campus that offers undergraduates regular, hands-on work with farm animals. And trust me, this is hands on. Students in the course spend two hours a week in lectures and another two tending to a small flock of sheep, on loan from the university's research farm in Arlington, Wisconsin. A chief attraction of the course is that students get to participate in the birth of new lambs.
That, however, is one of the final (and least fondly anticipated) challenges that faces the students of Animal Science 430: Sheep Production.
Professor David Thomas '71 says the course is one of the few on campus that offers undergraduates regular, hands-on work with farm animals. And trust me, this is hands on. Students in the course spend two hours a week in lectures and another two tending to a small flock of sheep, on loan from the university's research farm in Arlington, Wisconsin. A chief attraction of the course is that students get to participate in the birth of new lambs.
That's what I thought I would see when I arrived at the Livestock Lab in early April. I imagined huddles of nurturing students, cooing over cute, wobbly-legged bundles of wool. But when I met Randy Gottfredson, a research program manager who runs the labs, his face was ominous. "Looks like we're going to be docking tails and castrating today," he said while shaking my hand. Funny, he didn't mention that on the phone.
No one can fault Gottfredson and Thomas for being incomplete. Their course is designed to give students thorough exposure to everything that it takes to manage a sheep production business. The undergraduate catalog describes it as "a scientific approach, applying the most recent research in breeding, feeding, managing, and marketing to achieve an efficient enterprise."
Thomas, who gives the lectures, is the university's resident sheep expert and works directly with sheep producers around Wisconsin. He and Gottfredson, a former livestock producer with expertise in sheep reproduction, are part of perhaps the most active university sheep research program in the United States. In addition to assisting producers who raise the animals for wool or meat, the researchers have helped raise the profile of dairy sheep farming, a small but growing industry in the state. Their work has helped make Wisconsin, with more than two thousand sheep producers, a hotbed of woolly activity.
No one can fault Gottfredson and Thomas for being incomplete. Their course is designed to give students thorough exposure to everything that it takes to manage a sheep production business. The undergraduate catalog describes it as "a scientific approach, applying the most recent research in breeding, feeding, managing, and marketing to achieve an efficient enterprise."
Thomas, who gives the lectures, is the university's resident sheep expert and works directly with sheep producers around Wisconsin. He and Gottfredson, a former livestock producer with expertise in sheep reproduction, are part of perhaps the most active university sheep research program in the United States. In addition to assisting producers who raise the animals for wool or meat, the researchers have helped raise the profile of dairy sheep farming, a small but growing industry in the state. Their work has helped make Wisconsin, with more than two thousand sheep producers, a hotbed of woolly activity.
The course has a long history — Thomas himself took it in the 1960s — but it's evolved during the past decade, as the amount and quality of time students spend with the animals have grown. The lectures cover topics such as nutrition, genetics, and the economics of sheep production. In the lab, those lessons come alive, as students master applied skills such as shearing sheep of their wool and male lambs of ... how to put this delicately? ... their ramhood.
Virtually no students look forward to the latter task, which comes toward the end of the semester, after the class has nurtured ewes through pregnancy and birth. During the two-hour lab, students learn how to administer immunization shots to newborn lambs and cut off their tails to improve hygiene and prevent disease. Finally, they perform castration of the males, both to prevent pregnancies and to improve the quality of meat in lambs that will eventually be sold.
No one is required to perform the procedures. But most students at least try, recognizing that they are a part of the reality of farm operation. "It's definitely a little tense," says senior Corrine Krebs after she has docked the tail of the lamb in her arms. "But you know it has to be done. You have to get yourself over that feeling."
Virtually no students look forward to the latter task, which comes toward the end of the semester, after the class has nurtured ewes through pregnancy and birth. During the two-hour lab, students learn how to administer immunization shots to newborn lambs and cut off their tails to improve hygiene and prevent disease. Finally, they perform castration of the males, both to prevent pregnancies and to improve the quality of meat in lambs that will eventually be sold.
No one is required to perform the procedures. But most students at least try, recognizing that they are a part of the reality of farm operation. "It's definitely a little tense," says senior Corrine Krebs after she has docked the tail of the lamb in her arms. "But you know it has to be done. You have to get yourself over that feeling."
Krebs was one of seven students, all female, who took the course during spring semester, but only one has aspirations of sheep farming. Most plan careers that connect indirectly to agriculture. But Krebs, a double major in animal science and landscape architecture who plans to design agricultural facilities, says the experience is still a critical part of her education. "Knowing more about production will help me to design facilities that are workable for the farmer," she says.
Thomas says that students who plan to work in agriculture or with animals embrace the opportunities they get to work face-to-snout. Although the university offers courses dealing with dairy and beef cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry, many students prefer working with sheep, which are manageable in size and demeanor. "They're cute and not very intimidating," he says. "We can't keep students away from them."
That's especially true as the semester progresses, and pregnant ewes get ready to yield their offspring. During lambing season, students spend many extra hours in the lab, monitoring the sheep and helping deliver as many as forty new lambs each semester. Having that sort of close contact with the animals is "the nicest part of the class," says Krebs, who was on hand when one of the sheep gave birth. "It's something you don't get to do in many other classes."
Thomas says that students who plan to work in agriculture or with animals embrace the opportunities they get to work face-to-snout. Although the university offers courses dealing with dairy and beef cattle, horses, pigs, and poultry, many students prefer working with sheep, which are manageable in size and demeanor. "They're cute and not very intimidating," he says. "We can't keep students away from them."
That's especially true as the semester progresses, and pregnant ewes get ready to yield their offspring. During lambing season, students spend many extra hours in the lab, monitoring the sheep and helping deliver as many as forty new lambs each semester. Having that sort of close contact with the animals is "the nicest part of the class," says Krebs, who was on hand when one of the sheep gave birth. "It's something you don't get to do in many other classes."
Another student, Sarah Westberg x'03, who is considering a career in animal research, enjoyed the course enough to apply for and accept a summer internship with a sheep producer in Vermont. "It's a lot of fun," she says about the course. As she talks, she cradles a newborn lamb no larger than a Chihuahua. "Except for today," she adds, "when you just feel so bad for them."
There's no question that the lab following birth is one of the harsher introductions to sheep management for the students — and certainly for the lambs. Yet as the students do their work, there is little complaining, either from them or the animals. The ewes hardly make a sound when students remove lambs from their pens — a sign, says Gottfredson, that they trust the students. By the end of the lab, with their offspring safely returned, most seem content to chew hay.
To Thomas, the experience illustrates that students take their responsibility for the flock seriously. "They are very meticulous in how they take care of them," he says. "You can see how much they care."
- Michael Penn
There's no question that the lab following birth is one of the harsher introductions to sheep management for the students — and certainly for the lambs. Yet as the students do their work, there is little complaining, either from them or the animals. The ewes hardly make a sound when students remove lambs from their pens — a sign, says Gottfredson, that they trust the students. By the end of the lab, with their offspring safely returned, most seem content to chew hay.
To Thomas, the experience illustrates that students take their responsibility for the flock seriously. "They are very meticulous in how they take care of them," he says. "You can see how much they care."
- Michael Penn
Extra Credit
In UW-Madison's new graduate-level program in transportation, all roads don't lead to roads. Course work goes beyond the technical lessons of engineering to address social, political, and environmental contexts surrounding transportation problems and solutions. Students in the new certificate program, sponsored by the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, will examine modes of transportation by water, air, road, and rail.
Sixteen students took part in a new spring seminar designed to bridge racial, ethnic, and social gaps. Called Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, or SEED, the once-a-week meetings were modeled on a seminar developed twenty years ago at Wellesley College to challenge students' notions of power, privilege, and social identity through readings and open discussion. Offered as an independent study course in history, women's studies, and Afro-American history, the course may become a part of the curriculum.
Students presented work on everything from drunk-driving regulations to cell imaging to homelessness to the health of Wisconsin's apple crop at the Undergraduate Symposium, an annual showcase of exemplary student research projects. Begun four years ago to show off the initiative of students across the disciplines, the event featured nearly two hundred projects this year, an all-time high.
Sixteen students took part in a new spring seminar designed to bridge racial, ethnic, and social gaps. Called Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity, or SEED, the once-a-week meetings were modeled on a seminar developed twenty years ago at Wellesley College to challenge students' notions of power, privilege, and social identity through readings and open discussion. Offered as an independent study course in history, women's studies, and Afro-American history, the course may become a part of the curriculum.
Students presented work on everything from drunk-driving regulations to cell imaging to homelessness to the health of Wisconsin's apple crop at the Undergraduate Symposium, an annual showcase of exemplary student research projects. Begun four years ago to show off the initiative of students across the disciplines, the event featured nearly two hundred projects this year, an all-time high.
Class Note
Bike Peddling
Management and Human Resources 423:
Strategic Management
The first few weeks of this course unfold much like any other undergraduate-level business course, with intensive case studies and readings. But after midterms, Professor Mason Carpenter launches a simulation that models the global bicycle industry inside a classroom. Students divide into teams to form competing manufacturers and then try to position themselves to come out on top of the industry. Experts from Wisconsin companies such as Trek Bikes and Pacific Cycles help the students get a handle on the industry, which Carpenter says he chose because "it's global, dynamic, involves multiple channels and technologies, and has close ties to Madison and Wisconsin."
— Staff
Management and Human Resources 423:
Strategic Management
The first few weeks of this course unfold much like any other undergraduate-level business course, with intensive case studies and readings. But after midterms, Professor Mason Carpenter launches a simulation that models the global bicycle industry inside a classroom. Students divide into teams to form competing manufacturers and then try to position themselves to come out on top of the industry. Experts from Wisconsin companies such as Trek Bikes and Pacific Cycles help the students get a handle on the industry, which Carpenter says he chose because "it's global, dynamic, involves multiple channels and technologies, and has close ties to Madison and Wisconsin."
— Staff
