I picked up Community:The structure of belonging by Peter Block, at the suggestion of Dr. Frank Shushok, the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs at Virginia Tech. Dr. Shushok had referenced this book several times during the planning meetings for the Residential College at West Ambler Johnston and at one point indicated that he thought Dr. Stephens and I should read it and discuss it with him.
My initial thought after I read the book was that I did not much care for it. I thought that it was too abstract and that Block provided too few concrete examples to actually be useful. I was annoyed at the extensive use of the word "context," while the author actually failed to provide much context. I got the impression that Block perceived the decline of authentic community in the US, that he understood something must be done, and had a general idea, but nothing specific enough to write about. In some ways, the book reminded me of candidates during some interviews I have been part of, where there is an answer to a question that might lead one to believe the interviewee vaguely knows what he or she is talking about, but the answer is not specific enough to be certain.
In some regards, I still hold those opinions. However, after sitting with the book for a while and contemplating the message, I also think Block provides some important philosophical insights. Ironically, some of the most important takeaways for me are the titles of some of his chapters. This is not to say that the chapters themselves do not have content, they do. But really, one could find inspiration from the titles themselves. The ones that really spoke to me were "The Small Group Is the Unit of Transformation" and "Questions Are More Transforming Than Answer." These things might seem intuitive, but reading about them forced me to deeply reflect on the idea behind them. Additionally, the book poses some questions that I think will be very helpful when I convene the HRC RA staff together next year for fall training.
This book is definitely worth a read if you are interested in the idea of creating community. Just don't expect to have practical examples or step-by-steps. However, it is a great though piece.
Community: The Structure of Belonging
My initial thought after I read the book was that I did not much care for it. I thought that it was too abstract and that Block provided too few concrete examples to actually be useful. I was annoyed at the extensive use of the word "context," while the author actually failed to provide much context. I got the impression that Block perceived the decline of authentic community in the US, that he understood something must be done, and had a general idea, but nothing specific enough to write about. In some ways, the book reminded me of candidates during some interviews I have been part of, where there is an answer to a question that might lead one to believe the interviewee vaguely knows what he or she is talking about, but the answer is not specific enough to be certain.
In some regards, I still hold those opinions. However, after sitting with the book for a while and contemplating the message, I also think Block provides some important philosophical insights. Ironically, some of the most important takeaways for me are the titles of some of his chapters. This is not to say that the chapters themselves do not have content, they do. But really, one could find inspiration from the titles themselves. The ones that really spoke to me were "The Small Group Is the Unit of Transformation" and "Questions Are More Transforming Than Answer." These things might seem intuitive, but reading about them forced me to deeply reflect on the idea behind them. Additionally, the book poses some questions that I think will be very helpful when I convene the HRC RA staff together next year for fall training.
This book is definitely worth a read if you are interested in the idea of creating community. Just don't expect to have practical examples or step-by-steps. However, it is a great though piece.
Community: The Structure of Belonging
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