Tiny Beloit College (enrollment: 1300), located in the Wisconsin town of the same name, typically doesn't grab news headlines. However, every August, Beloit gains some publicity for its annual Mindset List, a compilation of cultural milestones and artifacts with which most college freshmen would not be familiar.
While the Beloit College Mindset List typically provokes laughter and nostalgia from those who have long left their first year of college behind, the Mindset List can also be a useful tool for teachers. By knowing what cultural phenomena freshman would and would not be aware of, college instructors can better relate to their students, both in the classroom and in designing culturally-based assignments.
A Brief History of the Mindset List
Ron Nief, Emeritus Director of Public Affairs at Beloit, conceived the Mindset List in 1998 and now shares the responsibility for its annual creation with Tom McBride, Professor of English. The two also travel the country giving presentations on the list to various groups.
While originally designed as a humorous way for instructors to get to know their incoming freshmen, the Beloit Mindset List is now a popular culture phenomenon of its own, discussed on network news programs, published in educational magazines, and syndicated throughout the country in newspapers.
Humor and the Mindset List
A key component of the Beloit Mindset List is humor. Rather than simply listing cultural, technological, and/or scientific phenomena that either have or haven't been in existence for the typical college freshman's life span, Nief and McBride spice up the list with a wit that reaches across generations.
For example, the List usually contains a mention of several people or things who have "always been dead" to the current crop of college freshmen; the list for the Class of 2013 noting that "For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead." Other humorous examples from the current list include "Kevin Costner has always been Dancing with Wolves, especially on cable," and "The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables."
Uses of the Beloit College Mindset List
Other than reminding teachers of the passage of time, the Beloit College Mindset list can help instructors understand why their freshman students are who they are. For example, the list frequently points to examples of how college students are no longer digital immigrants in the way they once were ("Text has always been hyper," is an example from the current list), and how certain cultural conditions are a way of life for them in ways not shared by those even just a few years older (lack of awareness of a world without HIV/AIDS, no Apartheid in South Africa).
The list can also spark interesting discussions between teachers and students, and can lead to possible assignment topics. In the list of deceased people above, for example, students may not even be aware of who some (or all) of the people/things are, provoking a possible research assignment in the appropriate classroom.
Young or old, the Beloit College Mindset List makes for an interesting read thanks to its humor and its situating of historical events and milestones in the context of the current class of college freshmen. Each year, the list sparks some laughs for teachers and shines a spotlight on a small college in southern Wisconsin.
Amy Martin - Amy Martin is a freelance writer who holds a Ph.D. in English Studies from Illinois State University. She taught literature and writing ...
