Welcome to the Beloit College Mindset List for the entering college class of 2012 This is the 11th year that Beloit College has assembled these observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives—and formed the mindset—of students starting their post-secondary education this fall. The Mindset List is not a chronological listing of things that happened in 1990, the year they were born. It is instead an effort to identify the worldview of 18 year-olds in the fall of 2008. Of course, our students come from many backgrounds and different traditions and these generalizations may not apply to all. The list identifies the experiences and event horizons of students and is not meant to reflect on their preparatory education. It is also not deliberately designed to make readers feel really old! We welcome correspondence, suggestions, and requests regarding the Mindset List. Ron Nief, Director of Public Affairs See the Mindset list for the Class of 2012 |
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The Beloit College Mindset List was initially a witty way of saying "watch your references," and has turned into a globally reported and utilized guide to the intelligent but unprepared adolescent consciousness. It is requested by thousands of readers, reprinted in hundreds of print and electronic publications, and used for a wide variety of purposes. The name is now licensed to a higher education group in New Zealand that produces its own list each year.
About the Authors:
Tom McBride teaches Milton, Shakespeare, and critical theory. He has team-taught a variety of interdisciplinary courses with both classicists and anthropologists. His interests in comparative discourse have most recently led him to an extensive project on Darwinian approaches to the study of literature. With Professor Shawn Gillen, he is co-founder of the department's new program in Rhetoric and Discourse. He has published both critical essays and creative non-fiction in journals as diverse as Texas Studies in Language and Literature, The Baker Street Journal, and Two Cities. For four years, he was a popular commentator on language for Wisconsin Public Radio. On campus he is known for the twice-yearly Keefer Lectures on a variety of subjects. Most recently he has authored essays for britannica.com on Raymond Carver and Allan Bloom, and for open democracy.net on Saul Bellow. He is an editor of the Beloit College Mindset List.
Ron Nief has been director of public affairs at Beloit College in Wisconsin for the past ten years, following two decades at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has been communicating the work of higher education institutions for almost 40 years, starting with his alma mater, Boston College, in the late 1960s. He is the editor of several books and has written for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Christian Science Monitor, the Gannett Newspapers and National Public Radio's Marketplace. He is a recipient of a Silver Anvil Award from the Public Relations Society of America and a Distinguished Service Award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education District I. He created the Mindset List in 1998 and joins Tom McBride in many media appearances and talks throughout the year.
Seated at left is Tom McBride, Professor of English and Gayle and William Keefer Professor of the Humanities, and at right is Ron Nief, director of public affairs at Beloit College. Each year, they work together compiling suggestions and releasing the final version of the highly anticipated Beloit College Mindset List.
Recent Conference Presentations, Keynote Talks, and Workshops:
- The ACT National Compass Conference
- The American Library Association Annual Meeting
- The Missouri Library Association Annual Conference
- The Madison (Wis) Area Technical College Faculty
- The New England Library Network
- The NCHELP National Debt Management Conference, Orlando, Fla.
- The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI)
- Book clubs Civic and education groups
Comments:
"Thank you for your wonderful presentation on the Beloit College Mindset List for the Missouri Library Association annual conference. It was a wonderful mix of humor, nostalgia, philosophy and thought-provoking content — just right for a dinner speech. Many people who attended the dinner told me personally how much they enjoyed it."
"Overall, an interesting and inspiring program. I walked away with a better understanding of student library users and their expectations based on culture and circumstance. Librarians will do well to ponder the sometimes weighty, but often quite enlightening, realities of generational change and cultural evolution when reflecting on how to provide more effective services."
"Bringing non-librarians to librarians, especially faculty like you who appreciate libraries and librarians, is a much-needed boost to our morale."
"The President's Program [at the American Library Association] was a wonderful experience for me, a highlight of my year as President, and one I will always remember. Best wishes to you."
Thank you for an excellent [workshop] presentation... People here really enjoyed this opportunity to reflect on developmental trends and conditions impacting our society... My surmise is that there will be a call for a return visit next year."
For information, please contact:
Ron Nief - Director, Beloit College Office of Public Affairs
Email: niefr@beloit.edu
Phone: 608-363-2137
Tom McBride - Professor of English at Beloit College
Email: mcbridet@beloit.edu
Phone: 608-363-2307