Logan bridges military experience with gender studies
By Emily Schmidt
University Communications Student Assistant
studentpio@minotstateu.edu
MINOT, N.D. – Rhaspede Logan, an English education major at Minot State University, has been involved in the military for a majority of his life.
Having parents in the military, he has lived all around the world, including Georgia, Colorado, Germany, Maryland, Texas, and California before settling in Minot after he was stationed here in 1999.
“My job in the Air Force was performing mechanical maintenance and assembly on the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile weapon system,” he said. “These are basically the missiles that destroy the earth in every post-apocalyptic movie ever. If you've lived around Minot for any significant length of time, you've probably seen the huge convoys of military cops escorting the big white semi; I used to be the one driving that semi.”
After he retired from the Air Force in 2014, Logan worked on the oil fields for a year and a half before pursuing his passion for teaching and enrolling at Minot State in the spring of 2017.
“I spent two years as an instructor in the Air Force and it came very naturally to me. I knew afterwards that I wanted to teach once I was done with the Air Force,” he said.
 |
| This photo of Minot State English education major Rhaspede Logan hangs in the Career Center at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. |
In spring 2019, Logan took intro to gender/women's studies, a subject he had no experience with before, hoping to expand his understanding of women’s struggles.
“If you don’t know about a topic, it’s very easy to form incorrect opinions about that topic and believe that those opinions are factual,” he said. “When I thought about myself, I thought, I don’t know a lot about the women’s struggle, so I’m going to check it out. I went in there understanding that I have a bias, and I wanted to get rid of that and gain some knowledge so in the future, when I go out and talk about that subject, I’ll be well-armed.”
Sarah Aleshire, the coordinator of the gender studies degrees and the professor of this class, noticed this in Rhaspede.
“What Rhaspede brought to the class was a willingness to honestly self-reflect,” she said. “If our views of gender are rooted in our experiences, the other side of that has to do with our willingness to critically examine those roots even when, or maybe especially when, new ideas challenge our old ones. Rhaspede’s intellectual curiosity and interest in engaging with content make him a huge asset to a class like gender studies.”
Students in the class each come in with different experiences and a different perspective on topics. This acts as the basis of class discussion.
“It's this diversity of experience that helps make the discussions so engaging, and Rhaspede's background positions him at all these different intersections that add to the conversation,” said Aleshire. “I have had students with military experiences in the class before, but Rhaspede's insights into how growing up on military bases and then serving in the military affected his views of gender and hierarchies of power were enlightening.”
Since the military has been so prominent in his life, Logan tends to relate his experience to topics outside the military, including gender studies.
“I'm a military kid, and I grew into a military adult, so I can’t help but think of many things as objective on the battlefield,” he said. “The battlefield can be anywhere. In the battlefield of gender equality, education is how you're going to win that, and winning is equality.”
Going into the class, Logan feared the potential of a different kind of battlefield in the classroom: men versus women.
“I went into the class thinking, ok, I guess there’s the potential that this class could just be bashing men the whole semester,” he said. “But a lot of the class was dedicated to the man’s perspective and why men don’t understand why they’re getting in trouble. That was super, super helpful to me. There was all this really great information about the female struggle, but all this equally great information about the male struggle. It really helped me relate to what women are going through.”
On top of learning about the struggles of both men and women, the intro to gender/women’s studies class also involves the struggles of nonbinary people. This will be relevant information Logan can apply to his teaching.
“I’m in the education field. I could potentially have these students coming through my room, and if I have a bias and cannot empathize with them, how can I teach them?” he said. “I probably could still get content through to them, but there’s going to be a barrier.”
Likewise,Logan uses his new knowledge in his family life.
“I’m also a parent. I want to put my kid out there with as open a mind as possible,” he said. “I think that’s super important. If I can teach my kid, hey, just because a person is different than you, that doesn’t mean they’re lesser than you, I feel like that’s a win.”
Knowing this, Logan is grateful to have taken the class.
“I can’t recommend it enough,” he said. “It's so important. Half the population is a different gender from what you are, and you have to know how to navigate that.”
About Minot State University
Minot State University is a public university dedicated to excellence in education, scholarship, and community engagement achieved through
rigorous academic experiences, active learning environments, commitment to public service, and a vibrant campus life.
| Published: 12/16/19 |
