Monmouth College adopts men’s studies minor in 2007 as means for teaching masculinity

By: Michelle Anstett
Editor-in-chief

In an effort to round out its offerings in gender studies, Monmouth College has decided to adopt a men’s studies minor beginning in the 2007-2008 school year.

The program, which will be placed alongside the women’s studies department, will seek to educate students about issues and concerns regarding masculinity and being male. A chair for this department has yet to be determined, but there has reportedly been a great deal of interest amongst the faculty in creating this program.

Courses proposed as offerings in this new department, which will require 18 credit hours in order for a student to receive a minor, include Standards of Masculinity, in which students will be introduced to current views and stereotypes of men and what commonly defines masculinity; Men in Modern Society, which will educate students on the ways in which the role of a male has changed in society in recent years; and Men in Film, which will look at the ways in which many of the Hollywood film stars from the early half of the 20th century helped shape the ways in which men defined themselves.

“It won’t just be lessons in burping and scratching,” said Rob Hale, chair of the English department and a strong supporter of the new program. “Although, that will be part of it. In reality, the program will be designed to help the young men of today realize their place in the world and to try and get past the stereotypes.”

Hale sat back in his chair, scratched his chest and drawled, “Sometimes, you just have to stand around in a circle beating your chest and chanting to reassert your masculinity.”

The new program would aim to help young men “take back” their place in society, teaching that being the breadwinners in a family is not as terrible as it has been viewed as being in the last few decades.

Field trips may even become an integral part of the minor, Hale said, as the students would need to learn important survival techniques and going on vision quests, traditional Native American rites of passage for young men.

“We believe there are very few things seen as rites of passage in today’s society for young men. Girls get to start wearing makeup as a rite of passage, but what do they boys get? Harkening back to a time in which being viewed by society as a man required going out into the woods for a few days and discovering one’s identity, the men’s studies program would seek to regain some rites of passage for today’s youth,” Hale added.

Students interested in taking part in this new program can check out the course listings, found online.

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