A potential research topic that I would like to explore is the effect of Greek letter societies on the community and well-being of the students associated with them.
Another potential research topic I would like to discuss would be about how as college is becoming increasingly privatized and tuition is rising, many low-income or first generation students are choosing majors that are more feasible in order to get a good job after college. Could the pressures to success eventually lead them to take their lives? As I was speaking to a close friend, we were talking this morning about how we would want to take so many other classes, but we don't have the time. It's unfair because college is a time to explore and get to see other fields and learn what you want to, yet we both could not afford to freely choose and instead have to adhere to the requirements for our prospective majors and future.
There is a lot here to digest. Many students have written about Greek life from various angles, but it is unclear what you mean about their effect on the community: are you talking about their traditions of community services or are you talking about the party pathway and related things? If you pursue that topic, start to look at some specific sources so I have a sense of how you want to pursue the topic.
ReplyDeleteThe topic of college pressures is good, and the Rebekah Nathan reading is one that speaks to that issue, at least as regards the way it limits the possibility of transformation in college, as students increasingly pursue narrow pathways with pre-defined careers as the end-point. One angle on that topic is choosing a major, which a number of students have written on.
And student suicide or mental health issues, to which you allude, is also a viable topic.
Try to make the second post soon so that you can see which of these might interest you most.
The following report may be helpful:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ncd.gov/publications/2017/mental-health-college-campuses-investments-accommodations-needed-address-student