Instructor:
Jason A. Laker, Ph.D., Associate V.P. & Dean of Student Affairs, Queen's University

Description:
Male students exhibit some of the most challenging and frustrating behaviors we face. Their consequences are profound for fellow students, staff, faculty, and the campus climate generally. Students who commit violence, vandalism, hate-motivated acts, sexual assaults, disruptive alcohol-fueled behavior, and virtually every other category of violation are almost always male. Yet, our profession rarely takes the time to note this and ask why this is so. What has prevented us from examining issues relating to male students from a gendered perspective? Effective practice demands that we meet students where they are developmentally. Yet, while most Student Affairs practitioners have been exposed to a variety of student development theories, men's gender identity development is rarely among them. How can we attain success with male students in the context of disciplinary casework (among other locations) without first understanding their gender role socialization and its connection to behavior and attitudes? In this course we will explore men's gender socialization and develop concrete applications for enhanced work and success with male students.

Course Outline:
Week One: Introduction to Men's Gender Identity Development-Theories, Research, and Case Studies

Week Two: Focusing on Specific Issues and Contexts from a Gender-Aware perspective-alcohol, bias-motivated acts, violence; Understanding challenges and opportunities of men's groups-fraternities, athletic teams, residence floors

Week Three: Gendered Applications with Male Students-disciplinary meetings, working with men's groups, building trust with men, developing professional and student staff competencies

Learning Outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand components of men's gender role socialization
• Utilize men's gender knowledge as a lens for approaching work with male students
• Identify gendered aspects of men's experiences and behaviors
• Advocate for male students' development balancing challenge, support, and accountability
• Increase their capacity for mentoring, retaining, and graduating male students
• Understand relationships between success with male students and improved climate for marginalized groups generally, and women especially

Participant Expectations:
Participants should plan to spend approximately 3 to 4 hours per week in this course. This will include time to read materials, complete on-line exercises and surveys and participate in asynchronous on-line discussions. Participants will need to log on for course content that will be posted weekly. In addition participants will need to respond to questions posted on the discussion board each week. As the discussion board is asynchronous, students may check in and post at their convenience. This learning tool will be an important part of participant's learning experience.

Instructor Bio:
Dr. Jason Laker is currently the CSAO at one of the top five research universities in Canada, having moved from his native U.S. in 2006 to take up the post. He is also appointed to the Women's Studies faculty where he teaches several courses, including one on Masculinities. Prior to this, Jason was the Dean of Campus Life and adjunct instructor of Gender and Women's Studies at the St. John's University in Minnesota, one of only a few all-male universities in the United States. He also served as an adjunct instructor at Saint Cloud State University (SCSU) where he taught undergraduate general and honors courses about community engagement, gender, race, and ethnicity and graduate-level courses in the Student Development graduate program - and is a recipient of SCSU's Honors Teacher of the Year award by vote of students following his development and teaching of their first ever course on Men and Masculinities. He has also worked at the University of Arizona, University of Delaware, and Fort Lewis College in Colorado.

Jason's dissertation, which received the ASJA Dissertation-of-the-Year award and the ACPA Standing Committee for Men Research Award, related to the socialization of Student Affairs professionals and their perceptions of male students. He has presented over 50 sessions and/or keynote talks about male students at international, national, regional, and local professional conferences. In June 2007, Jason began service as the Scholar-Practitioner in Residence for NASPA's Men & Masculinities Knowledge Community. He has also held consulting engagements at several universities, providing training and presentations about various aspects of male students' experiences and issues.

Dr. Laker holds a B.S. in Organizational Communication from Central Michigan University, an M.A. in Community Counseling from Adams State College (Alamosa, CO), and a Ph.D. with a major in Higher Education Administration and Organization and a minor in Student Affairs from the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona.