Blog 12 Outline

Is College a Liminal Period/state and how does it serve as a rite of passage to the society?

I. Admission/Beginning

i. Leaving the home, breaking free from adults

ii. What should I expect/ why should I go to college?

1. marriage-to secure a good mate

2. education-to be seen as a higher rank in society (provides opportunity to be better

then our parents

II. Ambiguous/Liminal Period

i. I am not a child, not an adult

1. What responsibilities do I have to myself? to my family?

ii. Unique (or not so unique) rituals during college years/what are the tasks

1. set out by family (ie: dad joins fraternity, son joins same fraternity)

iii. What is expected during this time?

iv. Rebels

1. Time to do "whatever I want"

2. Are people more liberal during college

III. Re-assimilation/Graduation

i. How does it 'change' you?

1. Are you really changed

2. Does it really make you an adult?

ii. Graduation marks a rite of passage into society

1. Who says this is what makes you a good person/potential mate

2. Why does McCandles rebel against mainstream society to prove that college does

necessarily make you an adult.

Blog 11: My case

My case addresses the mysteries of the thoughts and motivation of college students. It questions whether or not college is a positive transformation from childhood to adulthood. College can be seen as a liminal period between childhood, and adulthood where expectations of those in college can fall into both those of children and adults. However, some argue that college is simply buying more time to be a child, except without all the rules that are present prior to the college years. Without many rules and laws to follow, this allows college students to define their own autonomy and explore different cultures and experiences. In an ideal society, students would want to go to school and focus soley on thier studies. However, as I am doing this blog in the computer lab I can see many cell phones sitting on top of notebooks, and many screens that display facebook rather than a paper. Could many of my fellow classmates only be attending college because it is expected in society to finish college to be seen as an adult. Therefore college can be seen as an aid or inhibit one from becoming an adult.

Blog 10: The Debate

The debate that is framing around my paper addresses the function college plays in the passage to adulthood. Some, such as Michael Moffatt argue that college role in determining one’s actions such as defining the autonomy of a student. Also, he shows that college students have a different attitude when there is a lack of influence from parents, and there is an increase of influence from peers. This lack of influence may be a negative effect on college students. The Columbia University article supports facts that substance abuse and drinking alcohol is a society rite of passage. In college, it is acceptable to drink and smoke everyday, however many college undergraduates support the saying "its only alcoholism after graduation." This example of undergraduate cynical ism supports the prolonging of growing up. Is college infact a rite of passage created by society, or is it a time when college students embrace the change? Theses issues frame the question whether or not college is a beneficial rite of passage into adulthood, and how the actions of college undergraduates helps them grow up.

Blog 9: Help!

I think the most challenging part of my paper is framing my argument and putting it into words. I think I found some good key terms such as "liminality", "autonomy", and "rites of passage". Although I think I am headed in the right direction, but I believe I am far from drawing conclusions and making a viable argument. I am having trouble drawing conclusions and the conclusions that I do find are confusing. Also, I am unsure what exactly I am going to do for a primary source. I believe I am going to do interviews. I am also going to look into those movies/books you suggested.

Blog 8: Conversation

The social structure of college poses many questions such as "How does college produce a sense of self-satisfaction," "How does the college atmosphere create a pseudo-environment in which people can find their 'real' self," and "How does college function as a liminal period in which students are more focused on a quest for identity, rather than perfecting and learning skills that will be applied in the work force." This suggests that a defining reason in college selection and choices reflects a self-fulfilling prophecy. Arnold van Gennep discusses stages and social structure in his book "The Rites of Passage." Although he focuses on religious rites of passage he points out that "So great is the incompatibility between the profane and the sacred worlds that a man cannot pass from one to the other without going through an intermediate stage" (Gennep 1). He also states that "as we move from higher to lower levels of civilization, the differences among these grouped become accentuated and their autonomy increases." When applied to young adulthood, the intermediate stage between being a child and adult is occupied by the time in college. Because attending and completing four years of college is a self-fulfilling rite of passage. It is liminal because at this timeframe, the college student is perplexed between two stages of life. Students have four years to use as a blank slate to define who they are. This changing of worlds can be brought into converstaion with Michael Moffatt because he stresses the different "zones of autonomy" of the college student. He also stresses the importance of authority that is weighed over a college student. Furthermore, while assessing a psychological view, Education is an atmosphere full of potential. However, Frank G. Goble points out that one is not fully aware of their strenghts and talents. He is building this concept off of Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. This can be applied to college and brought back into conversation with Moffatt and Gennep because college is a rite of passage, and the needs of attending college are for fulfilling the self prophecies.