I would like to explore the role of Fraternities and Sororities; what they do right, wrong, the stigmas surrounding them, and whether they play a role in building college students up, or tearing them down.
In the context of socioeconomic "pathways" that college students fall into, I would like to explore weather Greek organizations perpetuate an "elitist" culture (Through selectivity and monetary commitments), or help the average student by promoting personal exploration and growth. Moreover I would like to examine hazing vs non-hazing Fraternities in this context, as well as social and professional Fraternities and their pros and cons.
This is a good topic. I wrote a comment on Gabe's blog that might help you too:
ReplyDeleteYou should look closely at the way Armstrong & Hamilton approach the subject of sororities in "Paying for the Party." I especially admire the complication they introduce to the analysis, showing that the advantages gained from Greek participation are often determined by pre-existing social class affiliation. So not everyone benefits equally from participation either. Their argument about the function of the "party pathway," and the way that some Greek organizations seem to be at least a weigh station along that line, is also interesting and obviously a function of social class. So examining participation vs non-participation seems a little limited. I'd recommend instead exploring the economic perspective outlined by Armstrong and Hamilton's work more fully: what are the economic benefits of membership? How does "social capital" translate to capital? You can draw on what they have written and see what other sources are out there.
I recommend you read around before committing to a specific topic. "Inside Greek U." is a good place to start. I also recommend looking into the idea of "social capital," which is a useful analytic term for discussing the function of frats (as A & H suggest) and which was coined by Pierre Bourdieu. Look at the work of Bourdieu or commentators on his work.
The first time I taught this class, way back in 2010, I had a student do more or less this topic. His final list of resources might be somewhat useful, though I think it could have been a much stronger project:
http://thelight1031.blogspot.com/
I think Armstrong and Hamilton actually offer a wonderful starting point, and you should also look at their works cited for direction toward other resources.