I also am a strong supporter of emotional support animals and therapy animals. I think originally people assumed that emotional support animals, in particular, were used as an excuse to bring your pet to class. More and more though medical professionals are “prescribing” animals as emotional supports for people with various medical conditions. Study after study has demonstrated that, in general, animals relieve stress and increase endorphins. Unfortunately, there will always be someone who is negatively impacted by the presence of emotional support and therapy animals (via fear, allergies, etc).

I think animals that provide emotional support are helpful and can help students focus and relieve stress. Although dogs barking or whimpering in class can distract students I think we need to be more considerate in the benefit that they bring to students. Maybe we need to alter our thinking more to accept that some students need a therapy dog to perform daily tasks.

Before you mentioned it in your post, my first thought was that in those fields–undergraduate degrees seem to be the expectation. I think there is also an emphasis on work experience. A student who has interned or worked in the field may be more valued than someone who went to get a graduate degree.

Sarah, I like your statement “Overall, I think our readings, taken together, offer framework for us to think about masculinity and criminal justice policy.” Race was the dominant theme I tried to connect throughout the reading, so I like your insight on masculinity. I think Alexander was trying to show readers that in America, whiteness and masculinity are most often associated with power. For Alexander, she wants to show that politics, although helpful, is not enough to change raical attitudes in America. I think she is trying to do a comparison, to show that social movements, like the one necessary to revolutionize racial change, start with those who are not in the political elite. Like stated on page 15, the Civil Rights movement would not have taken off the way it did without the help of grassroots activism.

WOW!! This is such a creative way to blog and indeed a stellar example of being innovative in the classroom! Great job!

Thanks!

Cheers, Lehi

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Lectures are becoming an oldfashioned and ineffective approach to teach. Classes at Minerva are a good example of active learning. This is the approach that we should follow in this digital era. We have to be very creatives in order to engage students in the class!