A Matter of Perspective
迈克尔·弗拉特教授帮助学生走出自己的经历,从社会学家的角度审视社会正义问题
Racism. Prejudice. Privilege.
每一个词都有很重要的含义——尽管很难就其含义达成一致.
Take prejudice, 例如,英国最大赌博365网站社会学教授迈克尔·弗拉特将其描述为“被大量误解”的几个概念之一.”
“No one wants to be told that they’re prejudiced,” he said. “But in reality, ‘prejudice’ simply means ‘pre-judgment.’ We all make pre-judgments in our social interactions. The danger comes when we let our pre-judgments affect how we treat others.”
Like many in his field, 弗拉特认为,像社会学家一样思考可以帮助我们走出自我,从别人的角度看问题. 分析我们基于自己的经验和信仰对社会做出的假设可以让人大开眼界.
“The social groups we belong to shape us in invisible ways,” he said. “For me, 帮助人们将他们的个人经历和当下的公共问题联系起来永远不会过时.”
An Unexpected Career Path
The Akron native wasn’t always so sure what he was meant to do, however.
After moving to Cleveland at 19, 弗拉特在服务行业工作以支付大学学费——一次上一两节课. Eventually, after seven years at Cleveland State University without declaring a major, 他发现自己已经达到了社会学文学学士的要求.
他说:“我没有学术计划,老实说,我甚至不知道该去找导师。. “It took me a while to discover that I was a sociologist at heart.”
While pursuing his master’s and doctorate degrees, Flatt taught sociology, 作为克利夫兰州立大学生物伦理学和健康科学课程的兼职讲师, 凯斯西储大学和三c大学的大都会和西部校区.
Aware that securing a full-time teaching position can be challenging, he devised a backup plan: an apprenticeship as a funeral director. “我一直对围绕死亡的仪式和社会互动很感兴趣,” he explained.
In the end, 他对教授不同人群的各种主题的热情和才能使他在2016年被任命为三一学院西校区的全职教授.
Taking a Stand
Since then, 弗拉特已经确立了自己在社会正义问题上的知识和建议资源. In addition to serving as faculty adviser to the campus’ Lambda Gender-Sexuality Alliance, 他与学院管理部门合作,确保LGBTQ+包容性的政策和实践,作为员工主导的校长 Sexual Orientation and Gender Equality (SOGE) Council.
Flatt is a founding member of Tri-C’s Institute on Poverty and Urban Education, for which he currently serves as research director. 他也是学院新成立的种族正义联盟的顾问委员会成员.
他说:“我很自豪能在一家员工对外部世界有投资的机构工作。. “只有我们都愿意表明立场,我们才能看到有意义的变化.”
A New Perspective
Flatt inspires that same drive toward meaningful change in his students. 他的课程旨在帮助他们识别无意识地引导他们的行为和塑造他们的信念的社会约束-最终突破这些约束以获得新的视角.
“教授社会学最好的事情之一就是你可以深入研究种族等话题, gender, sexual orientation, religion and politics,” Flatt said. “我的目标是帮助学生建立必要的批判性思维技能,以理性地捍卫自己的观点, thoughtful ways.”
尼克·加拉伊达走进弗拉特的教室,是克利夫兰印第安人酋长瓦胡标志的坚定捍卫者,离开时写了一篇评论专栏, posted on cleveland.com in January 2017, that called for its retirement.
另一位前学生安东·克里格(Anton Krieger)受到启发,参加了北罗亚尔顿市议会的竞选.
“知道我的一门课鼓励人们采取行动,帮助他们看到他们有能力改变周围的世界,这是我所希望的最大成功,” Flatt said.
Building Community
五年前,弗拉特和他的合伙人埃里克(Eric)在克利夫兰的韦斯顿(Westown)社区买了一栋房子. Staying in the city proper was a non-negotiable, as they wanted to join a community that reflects the area’s diversity. 对于他们和他们的两只吉娃娃,胡里奥和露西尔来说,这是一个理想的环境.
Along with several Tri-C colleagues, 弗拉特把一部分空闲时间奉献给了大克利夫兰食品银行和麦当劳之家等组织, 帮助确保东北俄亥俄人获得他们需要的服务. 他重视志愿服务在各行各业的人们之间建立起来的亲密关系.
“这提醒我们,我们与邻国的共同点比我们想象的要多,”他说.
Listen and Learn
从社会学的角度看待当今的问题可以帮助我们理解周围发生的事情. In particular, 倾听与我们有不同生活经历的人的声音,可以让我们看到我们从未意识到的不平等.
“Listening to others may sound simple, 但以开放的心态和信任感来做这件事,会迫使我们挑战我们可能甚至不知道自己拥有的偏见,” Flatt said.
“As a teacher, one of the most rewarding things I can hear is, ‘I never thought of it that way before.’ To me, that’s student success.”
November 19, 2020
Beth Cieslik, 216-987-4538 beth.cieslik@operationresults.com