Wyffels, Wanda

TEACHING BACKGROUND I have taught at NCC for many years now. I taught Principles of Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Social Problems, and a course entitled American Ethnicity that I developed, in the classroom. I got on board with internet courses as soon as NCC approved it and started out teaching Principles of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology as tele-webs. Given that the tele portion for Principles of Sociology was so out-dated (a lot has changed since 1991), the college decided to teach it strictly as an internet course, so here we are.

Prior to teaching at NCC, I taught various courses in the Sociology Department at Temple University, such as Introduction to Sociology, American Ethnicity, Men and Women in American Society, and Statistics Lab for Graduate Students.

I've also taught courses at Moravian, Muhlenberg, and Lafayette College.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND My educational journey began with 1 course a semester at Luzerne County Community College. I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Sociology and Psychology from Wilkes University. I worked for a year and decided to go back to school. I received my Master of Arts degree in Sociology from Temple University and continued going to school there to work on my Doctorate. I am what's referred to as ABD, meaning I completed all my coursework and the exams for my Doctorate.

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY My goal with this course is to take the blinders off your eyes about sociological topics. Let's face it, most of us wear blinders when it comes to whomever you would call "other people" prior to developing knowledge about them. We tend to see them through our own eyes or the eyes of people we know without using facts and analyzing what their lives are like for them. As this course moves on though, you will start to see things as never before. You will notice things such as the lack of competent elderly and equal marriages on television and understand why that is. You will, week after week, learn information that will make your blinders disappear. You won't be able to go back to where you are when you started the course. You will shed old ideas and prejudices about "the other." In a nutshell, you will develop your sociological imagination and become enlightened amateur sociologists by the end of the semester.

In order to accomplish this, certainly traditional means such as reading the textbook, notes/power points, and websites, as well as synthesizing and analyzing this info in assignments are employed. However, I believe it can't stop there. Hands-on applied active learning is also used in the course. You will be leaving the comfort of your books and computer to engage in the world around you. Driving or walking through neighborhoods, watching TV, asking people questions, listening to music or looking at billboards or reading comic strips, and even going grocery shopping are ways you will put your sociology knowledge to work for you. In the process, you will be shedding those blinders and see social forces which affect people from all walks of life, even you.

PERSONAL INFO I live in Philadelphia, PA with my husband of 35 years, Rodney. We bought our house in July 2006 so much of our time is spent tinkering around home, especially gardening. Our daughter Shannon, Brendan, and our 9 year old granddaughter Persey (her full name is Persephone, like the goddess of Spring) live with us, so we spend lots of time with them as well. When I'm not gardening or hangin' with Persey, I'm working on a book about racial issues, my area of expertise as a sociologist