Hardcover, 208 pages
English language
Published Aug. 4, 2005 by Cornell University Press.
Hardcover, 208 pages
English language
Published Aug. 4, 2005 by Cornell University Press.
After fifteen years of teaching anthropology at a large university, Rebekah Nathan had become baffled by her own students. Their strange behavioreating meals at their desks, not completing reading assignments, remaining silent through class discussionsmade her feel as if she were dealing with a completely foreign culture. So Nathan decided to do what anthropologists do when confused by a different culture: Go live with them. She enrolled as a freshman, moved into the dorm, ate in the dining hall, and took a full load of courses. And she came to understand that being a student is a pretty difficult job, too. Her discoveries about contemporary undergraduate culture are surprising and her observations are invaluable, making My Freshman Year essential reading for students, parents, faculty, and anyone interested in educational policy.