Campus Conversations is a collection of original essays written by UAB faculty staff about a social issue relevant to the UAB Discussion Book. The first issue of Campus Conversations features seven essays which provide a personal and discipline-specific perspective on the ethical issues of class and social mobility raised by Rick Bragg’s All Over but the Shoutin’.
Freshmen received a copy when they participated in the small group discussions that took place the day before fall term began. Copies are being distributed to all faculty and to all university units that request copies. Faculty who wish to use Campus Conversations in a course should email the number of copies needed, the course in which it will be used, and the date needed to jsizemor@uab.edu. The university encourages academic and non-academic units to sponsor dialogue inside and outside of the classroom about the issues of personal and social responsibility raised by these essays.
Campus Conversations: Essays on Class and Social Mobility Inspired by the 2007 UAB Discussion Book
Foreword by Philip K. Way, Ph.D., Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs
“The Shoutin’ is a Little Dimmer” by William C. Cockerham, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology, School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
“The Roots of Health” by Max Michael, M.D., Dean of the School of Public Health, and Huw F. Thomas, B.D.S., M.S., Ph.D., Dean of the School of Dentistry
“Yesterday’s Privilege, Today’s Prerequisite: The Ongoing Struggle to Insure College Access for Academically Qualified Students through Federal Financial Aid” by DeeDee Barnes Bruns, B. S., M.L.A., Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management
“The Role of Human Communication in Social Mobility” by Virginia Peck Richmond, Ph.D., Professor and Chairperson, Department of Communication Studies, School of Arts and Humanities
“Restoring Dignity in America: Reflections on All Over but the Shoutin’” by Sarah Culver, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Finance, Economics & Quantitative Methods, School of Business
“Life’s Lessons: The Influence of Educators” by Charles Calhoun, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Assistant Dean, School of Education
“On Human Social Class and Measures of our Biotic Environment: an Alabama Naturalist’s Perspective” by James B. McClintock, Ph.D., Endowed University Professor, Department of Biology, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics