The New York Sun has outed the author of the hottest academic monograph of the season, My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student. The story of how a middle-aged anthropologist returned to college as an undercover participant-observer, My Freshman Year has aroused a lot of interest in undergraduate culture, a lot of controversy about professional ethics, and a lot of interest in who the author--who published the book under the pseudonym "Rebekah Nathan"--really is. Now the cat's out of the bag. Her name is Cathy Small, and she teaches at Northern Arizona University (NAU was also the scene of her undercover research). Small has not confirmed the Sun's conclusion that she is the book's author. I just hope she realized that her secret was not going to be keepable, and that she is prepared for this.

Inevitable, indeed--I think she must have expected it.

I found the Sun article a bit curious, tho. It appears that they identified her solely on the basis of inferences from internal evidence in the book (her age, descriptions of geography, etc.). I don't have any reason to think they're wrong, but I'm a bit suprised that's a firm enough basis to publish her name. So either the evidence lines up really well, or they're just kinda sure, and looking to beat others to the punch.

Either way--thanks for the catch.

Calling NAU 'AnyU' is a pretty broad hint in itself: they're pronounced practically the same. Of course, some of us had never heard of NAU before.

I agree with Hiram, though I found the Sun article amusing that they would sleuth in that way. From what I gather about the book, her time as an undergraduate led her to modify her teaching and expectations, for the benefit of her students.

The most interesting part of the Sun piece is at the end:

"Despite "the rhetoric of student culture," she writes, students are not only studying less, they are also spending less time socializing than students a generation ago.

"The reason why, she offers, is that they're too busy holding wage-paying jobs"

So there may in fact be an impact from the generations-long escalation of tuition and fees.

Otherwise, I'm puzzled that the author would be shocked -- shocked -- to discover that NAU is a party school. As far as I can see, this is her whole point.

She could not have been too concerned about staying anonymous if she used her own school for her "field"work. No doubt someone would have recognized her at some point.

In fact, unless it is admitted in the work that this person was working at their own institution, I would say it is unlikely to be the case. It seems unwise.

For the benefit of her students?

Hardly.

She surveyed the landscape, concluded that kids have it way too tough, and then decided that more cossetting will help the situation.

I'm an undergraduate, and as a serious student, I don't see how Nathan's/Small's analysis will benefit anyone.

Haven't read it yet, but I can't imagine it being as "bad" as Generation X Goes to College. Based on the Sun story, I'm not so keen on all her points. However, I'll second her arguments on students working for $ more and socializing less.

Recall the rising cost of tuition on top of the increasing levels of general ed requirements on all undergraduate programs as well as the increasing number of course requirements within a discipline for certification and accreditation. At some schools like ours, the five-year plan is now the rule with the governing boards giving special permission to increase the number of total credit hours for specific degree programs. Many of my advisees are taking fewer credit hours per semester (while still putting in as much time into their academics as we did) so as to earn more butter, egg and bourbon money. They are even carefully weighing cost-benefit ratios for professional development including internships that would put them on the Federal register against how much they can earn in "civilian" non-degree related work while they go through school.