Intergroup Dialogue - Race and Ethnicity IG5

Paper ideas

2007-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

Affirmative action/preferential hiring

Race and the criminal justice system (prison, profiling)

Race and education (public schools, white majority norms, no child left behind)

Race, ethnicity and identity in regards to multiraciality/multi-ethnicity

Interracial/interethnic friendship/dating/marriage/families

Race and feminism (or sexism)

Race and real-estate/segregated living populations

Race and sport

Race and technology/the internet (I dare you, this is my realm of study!)

Race and healthcare

Race and sexual health/HIV

Race and homosexuality

And there are so many more. Let us know if you have questions!

Paper Length

2007-05-07T06:57:00.001-07:00

It has just been brought to my attention that we forgot to give you all a page limit. The paper should be no less than 4 pages but no more than 8, double-spaced. Happy Writing.

Due Date!

2007-05-02T08:31:00.001-07:00

Oh yeah, forgot to say when it’s due. Get the final paper in to us via Email by the 5:00 PM on Wednesday the 9th. That is by 5:00 PM next Wednesday. I wanted to give you a lot of time – don’t waste it!

Final Project

2007-05-02T08:24:00.001-07:00

The final assignment will be an opportunity to demonstrate your abilities to articulate your own perspective on an issue of your choice, recognize and make sense of the perspectives of others, and to inquire into a topic that is related to those we have already explored in class.

Sharing Your Own Perspective on an Issue (4 points)

Think about the a chosen race/ethnicity related (potentially conroversial) topic and the corresponding questions below, and share you full response to that question/topic, based on the information you currently possess without doing any additional research or inquiry into the matter. You should certainly do some careful thinking and reflection on the issue, and have that reflected in the first part of your paper.

Specifically, what is your bottom line, what are the reasons you are using that result in your coming to your conclusion in regards to the topic, and what are the values operating most in your perspective? How might various aspects of your own social identity, such as your race/ethnicity, etc., inform your perspective? What are one or two questions that, if you could answer them, would make you feel more confident of in your conclusion? Make sure that if you use any terms or phrases that are unclear or ambiguous, you clarify those by defining or explaining them.

Diversity of Perspectives (9 points)

Next, seek out articles, editorials, video clips (such as C-span), etc. that represent three other perspectives addressing the issue you’ve chosen, and describe those perspectives, using the framework above. No more than one of these can be derived from an interview you conduct. (Jeff’s Ed: I suggest finding reputable sources from the library databases – check out http://jag85.com/soc380/#s1 section 5 scouring for articles)

What is the bottom line of each of the other three perspectives concerning this issue? What are the main reasons they are relying upon to get to their conclusion, and what might you say are the values informing their perspective? You might need to speculate on this latter part, so make your most informed guess, and justify your decision. What else, other than their preferences, (such as aspects of their social identity – race, class, gender, national origin, belief system/faith, political orientation, etc.) might be informing their perspective? If they are using abstract terms or concepts in their perspectives how are they defining them?

Find a diversity of perspectives, which could mean finding some stories that end up in the same place as you, but by different reasons, as well as stories that are truly divergent (even radically different) form your own.

Note: When sharing the reasoning of others, as in this part of the final project, it is imperative that we acknowledge that each perspective is held by someone who is as fully human as we are, and that they have come to their conclusions as thoughtful, intelligent, and rational beings. Further, no alternative perspective is a saint because they agree, no a demon because they disagree with our own perspective. IN light of these provisions, make sure that you think critically of every alternative perspective you examine, identifying what makes sense (from their frame of reference) as well as where their perspective is less clear or persuasive.

Analysis and Reflection (3 points)

Finally, explore how your earlier perspective has been informed or affected by your research into the perspectives of others. What surprised you about those other perspectives? How have the helped you to clarify your own perspective on the issue, and how have they raised questions for you concerning your own thoughts and beliefs about the issue?

References

Include details about the references you are using to generate your understanding of alternative perspectives. These references must be clear enough to allow us to find and review them if we choose. Contact information of anyone you interview must be provided in this section, including a phone number.

Last Extra-Credit

2007-05-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Qualitative Inquiry 2007 Conference will be taking place this week in the Union. My understanding is that it’s free but you should be registered, however most conferences don’t aggressively check up on this – if it’s like all of the others I’ve been to in the past you can slip into plenary sessions without doing anything. If you like, go to either of these two sessions (or both if you haven’t done any EC yet) this Friday and write about it:

1068, Friday 1:00-2:20 PM Union 314A – Spirituality, Indigenous Models of Truth, Endarkened Epistemologies: A Dialogue
1082, Friday 2:30-3:50 PM Union 314B – Critical Whiteness Studies (Lewis is speaking at this one, she’s a wonderful author!)

More information about the conference can be found here: http://www.qi2007.org/docs/QI2007proof0412.pdf
You will want to dress up in at least moderately nice clothing to blend in. Act professional and nobody will ask any questions.

More Extra-Credit

2007-04-25T20:03:00.000-07:00

The Asian Pacific American Coalition is having it's last "Seen and Heard" event. This will focus on taboos within the Asian American community such as mental health issues, rape, STDs/STIs, and many others.

When: Thursday April 26
Time: 7pm
Where: Illini Union Room 314A

Thanks to Carol Khou!

Extra-Credit

2007-04-25T16:33:00.000-07:00

Late notice I know but it's the end of the year and therefore the end of all activities! I've found you one last opportunity for Extra-Credit:

Larry Emerson is giving a talk. It takes place:
Thursday - 4PM - 180 Bevier Hall and
Friday - 4 PM - Anita Purves Nature Center

If you know of any other events please email me and let me know - I might add them to the extra-credit round-up.

Journal Assignment 6

2007-04-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody,

So since we're a day late on this assignment it's smaller. Last week's dialogue was a tremendous example of real-world employment of the questioning technique, analysis, and dialogue method, Andre and I both felt the class was superb.

For your journals we'd like you to identify a specific relational dynamic in your life (say a friend or group of friends, family, a class, significant other or ex-significant other, authority figure, etc...) where you feel dialogue could help the relationship. Once you've thought of a group, take a moment to self-reflect about your feelings in regards to this group (points of contention, ways you compliment one another, power differences, etc...) and conjure up a series of questions that you'd like to ask the other person to better understand their perspective and improve relations between each other.

Don't just be vague and be like "I hate my dad and so I'd ask him why he's such an ass" - use your skills from dialogue - think about your positionality (self-reflect), your relationship to them (interpersonal rapport, history), and what you don't understand about them. Try to perspective take to aid you in your question design (aka word questions in a context that would make sense to them). Think about clarification questions and dialogue deepening questions! Give at least 3 really good questions you'd like to ask them and the thought pattern that leads you two them.

I know that's a lot of explaining for a pretty short simple assignment, but I wanted to make sure I was clear. Let us know if you have questions!!

Last Minute Readings

2007-04-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, read through as much of these as you can before class Monday!

The Illegal Immigrant Tax Payer

Is Third World Immigration a Threat to America's Way of Life?

After Ports Fracas, Congress Tackles Immigration

Immigration Costs Move to Fore

Journal 5

2007-04-17T23:49:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sorry about the late post, I'm still waiting on readings from the higher-ups. In the meantime:

Part one:
Remember the question generation activity we did in class (clarifying questions and questions that deepen the issue/bring more people to be involved)? Yeah, think about that and tell us what kind of questions could someone ask in response to these two statements:
1) The Chief is Racist.
2) The BOT was wrong to retire the Chief.

Part two:
Free-write on how they felt last class went - specifically the messages sent, impact of interactions between each other, and how you felt dialogue was or was not used in the space.

Readings to follow soon!

Readings this week!

2007-04-10T11:47:00.001-07:00

Start with these:

Native American House; Current Mascot News.

Chief Illiniwek Media Watch.

Chief Illinewek Dialogue Report; Section VIII, Arguments Advanced.

Take a look at the STOP Coalitition site:
www.iresist.org

And some of the endless series of DI articles:
The DI website search results

Journal #4

2007-04-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Part 1
Several of your classmates talked about "INTENT" and how if one is not intendig to cause harm then all should be forgiven. IMUS used the same word when he was apologizing for calling the Rutgers women's basketball players "Nappy Headed Hoes". [link] He stated that his intent was to be funny. At what point do we begin to hold people accountable for their actions despite what their intent may be. How does intent help or harm Race Relations at the U of I as well as in America in general?

Part 2
We'd like to hear about your perspectives on the Chief.
What is your perspective concerning the Chief?
What is your bottom line, in terms of how the issue has been handled? (How well has the Chief as the UofI mascot issue been addressed?)
What are the reasons you are using to come to this conclusion?
What do you know that leads you to believe your perspective is correct?
What in the assigned readings informs your thinking on this issue?

Include reference to one or more of the readings!

Remember to employ the question generation we've been talking about, and consider consulting the values exercise we did last class.

Hot Topic: Race Relations On Campus

2007-04-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Hot Topic "Race Relations on Campus"

Gmelch, Sharon. Racism in the colorblind academy.

Sorokin, E. Study rips college minority programs.

Texas Tech student announces "United White person's college fund."

Williams, Lena. Little things in the school: Why all the Black kids sit together.

Recommended:

Native American House; Current Mascot News.

Chief Illiniwek Media Watch.

Chief Illinewek Dialogue Report; Section VIII, Arguments Advanced.

Journal Assignment 3

2007-04-03T18:45:00.000-07:00

Part 1
During the privilege walk exercise, how did it feel to take steps backward and forward? Did you want some of your steps to be bigger than others? How did it feel to think about these issues? Were you more privileged than you had assumed, if so what are your reactions to this?

Part 2
This week we will be discussing Race Relations on Campus, we would like for you to ellaborate on the following questions:

What is the state of race relations at the U of I? What data (sources) are you using to discuss race relations at the U of I?

Some of you have done a good job at talking about the readings in your journal but from this point foward we will be expecting you to supplement your thoughts with the readings for the week. How do the readings relate (theories, concepts, scenarios, etc...) to race relations on campus?

Journal Assignment 2

2007-03-27T21:48:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, sorry about the late release. Because you're hearing about it so late I'm going to extend the posting deadline until 8:00 PM this Friday. Remember to post to your blog, don't Email us!

Part 1:
In class we participated in a Salient Circle exercise (Dr. Joycelyn Landrum-Brown 1998) where we asked you to think about which lenses you use most often when trying to make sense of the world.

First, share your overall reactions to that exercise as a way of helping you to notice how you view the world. How did it affect your view of yourself? Do you feel it was adequate and accurate?

Next, if someone passed you on the street and didn't know you, what might they think is your primary way of looking at the world? What signals do you give off as a way of communicating your lens of how you see the world?

Part 2:
Choose ONE of the following:

For those of you that have comments and feedback from me, go ahead and respond to them and explore where the questions I asked take you!

Think about ways you would, could, or should apply the question generation techniques in your life. That is to say, times outside of dialogue where asking clarifying questions or questions that bring others into the conversation (or connect it to larger social circumstances) might be helpful. Just to name a few - relationships, discussions with friends, religious events, etc...

Talk about one of the articles that really interested you and connect it to what we've been talking about in class. Go free-form but make sure it fits the journal norms (perspective taking, self-reflection, critical thinking, etc...)

Readings This Week

2007-03-26T23:17:00.000-07:00

Have at it!

Exploring Commonalities and Differences: Power and Privilege

Pincus, F.L. Discrimination comes in many forms: individual, institutional, and structural.

McIntosh, P. White privilege and male privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women's studies.

Fishbein, H. Peer prejudice and discrimination

Kivel, P. Retaining benefits, avoiding responsibility

Absent from March 26th Class

2007-03-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

I want to let you all know that I will be out for our second class. I enjoyed our first class together and look forward to getting to know all of you over the next couple of weeks.

Quick Announcements

2007-03-13T20:56:00.000-07:00

You can sign up for and find information about Boxes and Walls here:

Boxes and Walls Signup!

Also, remember to Email BOTH Andre and myself with your blog location and add BOTH of us for access. Thanks!!

First Journal Assignment!

2007-03-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

Greetings all,

We hope you enjoyed our first race/ethnicity dialogue class as much as we did, and are looking forward to next week’s class as well.

For the journal assignment, due by email to us by March 16 at 5pm, we would like you to do three things.

First, for each of the following classes, indicate which of the hot topics listed you would most like to explore that week—and give that topic a score of 1—and then identify the next most interesting topic—and give your second choice a score of “2”.

Class 4:

Racial Profiling

Race, Culture, & the Media

Race Relations on Campus

Cass 5:

Race & College Admissions

Race & Criminal Justice System Fairness

School Indian Mascots

Class 6:

Affirmative Action

Immigration

Second, we would like you to write a 2-page testimonial about your racial or ethnic identity. Include in your testimonial response to the following questions:

If someone were to ask, how would you identify yourself to describe your racial or ethnic identity? What group or groups would you say you belong to, and why?

How has this changed for you over time? How do you think the terms you use differ from those of your parents or grandparents to describe yourself?

What do you think influences the way you think about your own racial and ethnic identity? (For this last question, review the Cycle of Socialization article by Harro for ideas.)

Third, go to http://www.blogger.com/start develop a blog for our class. Add Jeff and I to have access to read your blogs.

First week's readings

2007-03-12T01:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the first week's readings - work on them over break! I bet you'll find them helpful in being a participant during dialogue next class.

Class 2: Exploring Identities; Exploring Stereotypes

Bidol, P. Interactive communication.

McCormick, D. W. Listening with empathy: Taking the other person’s perspective.

Tatum, B. D. The complexity of identity: “Who am I?”

Martinez, E. Seeing more than Black and White.”

Harro, B. The cycle of socialization.

Welcome!

2007-03-12T01:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the EOL 199 Race and Ethnicity Intergroup Dialogue Blog. This blog will function as a course resource and learning tool for the semester. The blog will fulfill several functions:

Announcements and general class information

Weekly journal question assignments

Eventually an intermediary step to employing dialogic technique outside of our classroom

Collaboration, community building, and resource linking

The course syllabus and blog setup instructions are available here for download.

2007 Demographics

2007-03-12T01:30:00.000-07:00

For reference, the 2007 demographics report from our Division of Management Information.