In case you have yet to see the posters recently put up by the Men's Project, let me fill you in on a few statistics. Men commit 80 percent of suicides in the United States. Men are now slightly less than 44 percent of college undergraduates in the nation, even if Dartmouth does not represent this fact. Men compose 89 percent of the prison population and roughly 70 percent of alcoholics in the United States.
Men are in trouble. Men are falling behind in education and ahead in self-destruction. They are killing, raping and drinking at rates so high that it seems ludicrous that we accept it as some normal, inborn tendency that cannot be helped. Well, it can be helped. It is time we started the study of men here at Dartmouth and at universities across this nation.
Currently there are no classes dealing explicitly with the social, legal or health issues affecting men. Yes, many courses are centered on past actions of men, philosophies articulated by men and governments run by men, but nowhere is there a course that seeks to deconstruct masculinity and study the social issues that overwhelmingly affect men such as those mentioned above. Students interested in the study of men are forced to either battle for the topic to be included in courses that deal with gender, or to turn to a few of the amazing professors at Dartmouth who have gained a certain degree of expertise in the matter for an independent study.
People may think that the burden of offering such a course falls solely upon the Women's and Gender Studies Program. It does not, though that program's exclusion of courses based on the study of men and masculinity is most glaring. The responsibility for creating such courses rests on the shoulders of every department that could conceivably have a connection with the study of men.
I realize that barriers exist to the creation of such courses. Current professors may lack expertise. Professors with the expertise and interest may lack the time to take on another course. Some people may argue that there exists a lack of interest in such courses.
As to the lack of qualified professors to teach such courses I say that they should be hired, even in this time of cutbacks. It is important that we do not continue to allow temporary financial concerns to violate the overall commitment of this institution to innovative, quality education. If hiring new professors is not possible, then current professors have a responsibility to learn about recent research on men as to be able to teach a course on men and masculinity. It is negligent not to dedicate a major portion of the course to the study of men, especially if these professors already teach courses dealing with gender. The last solution is the one that would seem most attractive. Professors from a variety of departments and programs could unite to teach a course, even a general one, which focuses specifically and solely on men and masculinity. Psychology, biology, women's and gender Studies and English professors, for example, could all contribute to putting together materials and lectures that take a look at men and masculinity from the perspective of their various fields.
If you are a professor with the knowledge but not the time, I ask that you at least help advocate for the creation of such courses and work with your fellow faculty members to make sure that at least one is created.
Finally, for those people who deny that student interest exists, I say simply that you are wrong. Students have been taking independent studies that focus on the study of men. The Men's Project, with which I am closely affiliated, draws large numbers of men to discussions of men's issues. The interest is there.
I ask you students to let professors know, whether personally or via a letter to the editor, that such courses are necessary to the health and survival or men and the people who have suffered as a result of their actions. For you professors, I demand that you ensure that at least one single course is created that deals with men and masculinity in some manner. Get talking amongst yourselves. Collaborate on the creation of a new course. Love and respect men enough to study them and to fuel the recently begun process of addressing their problems and treating their unspoken pain. Love men and study men -- or continue to watch them die, kill, flunk and drink themselves into oblivion.
