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Student Hours

Jan 8, 2020

What are student hours for?

You will be familiar with the idea of ‘office hours’, those magical moments where a prof deigns to make themself available by sitting in their cell up along the quiet corridors of the 4th floor of Paterson. The idea behind this is laudable: a block of time where you know your prof is available, and you know where your prof will be.

Unfortunately, office hours are also some of the loneliest hours, because folks tend to be put off by two things -

  1. it can be intimidating to come up to the History department, which is always very quiet and to be frank can be an unwelcoming space;
  2. office hours have an aura about them as being about ‘problems’; something has gone terribly wrong.

So let’s address this. Office hours are in some ways about the prof’s convenience. Let’s reframe these as ‘student hours’. In which case, they become a block of time where you can drive the interaction. Why might you want to visit with me during ‘student hours’?

  1. I hold these in comfortable spaces like the Library Starbucks. I like the buzz of conversation, and hey, there’s coffee;
  2. we’re doing really fun and exciting work, and maybe you’d like to chat about that. Or maybe you’d like to talk about museums you’ve visited. Or… or… or…

In fact, inspired by my colleague Ben Carter, and cribbing liberally from his policies, here’s a non-exhaustive list of what student hours could be for:

  1. interesting stuff you’ve read or encountered in the course
  2. managing your time and energy across school and life
  3. life after CU, grad school, work
  4. archaeology or museums in the news
  5. things I wrote or said that need clarification or critique (this bit especially comes from Ben, who notes that every time a prof teaches, they are learning how to be a better teacher)
  6. something that was said in class that was unsettling or upsetting or problematic. Our class is an inclusive space, and if we’re failing at that, we need to be better.
  7. anything else on your mind.

Where can I find you?

I’ll be in the library starbucks on Wednesday mornings, at least by 11 am until 12, but probably earlier. Drop by. Protip Buy your coffee at the Tunnel Junction; it tastes the same but the queues are shorter.