Engaging students across a generation gap just got easier thanks to Beloit College’s Ron Nief, Tom McBride and Charles Westerberg. The trio has aggregated a quick-read list of what makes this year's incoming freshmen different from their peers.
Beloit College’s Mindset List for 2019 is designed to assist university faculty and staff in addressing the unique life experiences of the class of 2019, who are mostly born circa 1997. These include life-event references and relevant pop culture phenomena for the group, as well as historical facts these students won't remember due to their birth year. All of this can help well-meaning and enthusiastic educators from facing blank stares this fall.
Notable examples include:
- Among those who have never been alive in their lifetimes are Princess Diana, Notorious B.I.G., Jacques Cousteau, and Mother Teresa.
- Also born in 1997: Dolly the sheep, the McCaughey septuplets, and Michael “Prince” Jackson Jr.
- Google has always been there, in its founding words, “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible.”
- They have never licked a postage stamp.
- Email has become the new ‘formal’ communication, while texts and tweets remain enclaves for the casual.
- Kyoto has always symbolized inactivity about global climate change.
- Splenda has always been a sweet option in the U.S.
For more examples and an explanation of some unusual vocabulary, visit the full Beloit Mindset List for 2019 here.