From: sama-AT-intercity.it Date: Sun, 26 Apr 1998 20:31:11 +0200 Subject: Re: teaching undergrads Bourdieu >>>>> "Kent" == Kent Strock <deford-AT-omni.cc.purdue.edu> writes: Kent> I will be teaching a 300 level sociology course, called Kent> American Society in the fall and very much want to use Kent> Bourdieu. The problem is that purdue is not know for Kent> flexible and innovative thinkers and the normal difficulties Kent> in teaching his work are only made worse. I would Kent> appreciate any advice or information from people who may Kent> have used Bourdieu in an undergrad teaching situation. Kent> thank you, kent strock deford-AT-omni.cc.purdue.edu I never TEACHED any sociology course, but I attended several of them, some time ago - so I guess my opinion could be interesting for those on the other side ;-). I think that one of the most interesting works of Bourdieu, from a teaching point of view, is "La distinction", as, in my opinion, the concepts contained in that work can be quite easily be used for a comparative analysis of several other sociological subjects - for example, in the sociology course I last attended we used Bourdieu's perspective to observe why the opinions expressed by Nobel prizes are very often greatly esteemed, even if they refer to a "field" ;-) which is miles away from their own (for example, it's quite common here in Italy to hear Prof. Rubbia, a physician, express his opinions on Italy economic situation). We concluded that there were several factors at work, one of which was surely the might of the cultural capital which can extend its "grip" on many different areas. Then we analysed how the Nobel mechanism was an example of the conjuction of personal and of institutional charisma, and so we threw in Max Weber. To give another example, we did a parallel between "La Distinction" and "Lettera ad una professoressa" (A letter to a (female) teacher) which is a book written by don Milani, an italian priest who, in the '60s, said that giving a bad mark to a poor student (when he said "a poor student" he meant "a _really_ poor student" - we're talking about depressed areas, where the analphabetism could reach 60%-70% of the population) was not fair even if he actually deserved it, because the poor student lacked a "cultural capital" (!) which the rich student insted had from its own birth. And so on. As I think I already said, I think that another wonderful book, to be used in conjuction with any of Bourdieu's works, is "Reponses", which is a long interview in which Bourdieu explains and clarifies most of his concepts - such as "field", "capital", "habitus", and so on. Just my two cents. ;-) Regards, Andrea Glorioso P.S.: please forgive by bad english and my italian tendency to write long and convoluted sentences ;-). ********************************************************************** Contributions: bourdieu-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Commands: majordomo-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu Requests: bourdieu-approval-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu
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