Assignment:
Reflection Paper
Possible story stems:
In class we've discussed how race is "socially constructed and socially real" in the words of Jodi Newman. That is, there are aspects of race that go beyond biology and skin color (for instance, our ethnicities, or foods, or housing stories). Similarly, what has been your experience of learning that sexual identity is both personal and social?
1. When and how did you learn about sexual identity as a person's own identity shaping their own choices for themselves? When and how did you learn your own sexual identity as something that is personal to you that shapes your own decisions for yourself?
2. When and how did you learn about sexual identity as a social identity shaping how a person is seen or wants to be seen by others? When and how did you learn your own sexual identity as something that is social where other people will see and choose to treat you differently based on how they read you? And where you might change how you behave to have people treat you differently?
You will prepare for each week's sessions by reading or watching a number of resources we provide you with (linked in each assignment and also available in the Files section of Canvas). Some of those resources will be required (denoted by being bolded and asterisked), and the remaining resources can be selected from the other posted resources. If you would like to read all of the resources, please feel free to, and these are certainly worth considering for your final paper.
Engaging in these resources will prepare you to participate in our class activities, which rely on you being familiar with the topics, concepts, and languages from the resources. We will sometimes provide you with additional video resources during our class sessions, and you may also return to the pre-class resources to continue your learning. You may also be inspired to find more resources for yourself or to make connections from our course materials to other courses or resources from your life.
After each week's sessions, write a response paper where you share a story or stories from your life that engage with the pre-class resources and the in-class activities. You must connect your story to and cite at least 3 resources from the pre-class and in-class resources and include a reference list at the end of your response paper. Your entire response should be between 500 and 750 words total.
This assignment reflects our commitment to balancing resources from the shelves (what has been published for others) and resources from our selves (our own experiences and understanding of our own lives). Elements of a story include context (when and where are you and who else is there), and drama (i.e. action, uncertainty, change, and feelings). Your story/stories should comprise of 60-75% of your assignment. Your stories must do the work of bridging past to present to future.
? What is it that you are recalling from the past (whether your distant past or your experience in this class)?
? How is what happened in your story impacting you now? How are you feeling right now about what you are recalling and sharing?
? And what are you going to do with this story? How might this story to change? What's the next right thing for you to do? What does it mean for this story to be a part of your justice - what you makes you feel whole, and well, and in just relationship with others?
The other 25-40% is explaining how your story connects with the shelf resources. For each prep & post, you need to cite and connect to at least three of the ten assigned resources.Use our EDUC 251 APA guidelines to include in-text citations and a reference list at the end of your document. As you cite your references, please consider: what specific aspects of the resources are you connecting with? How do these connections leave you feeling? What do these connections or tensions tell you about the broader world? Do NOT summarize the resources as we have already read/watched all of them. We are most interested in your story and how you are connecting it to our course content.
If you don't think that you have any stories to tell related to these resources, please share why you believe you don't have any stories. Is it because your families, communities, or schools never talked about these topics? If so, why do you think that is? Is it because you have never thought about these topics in terms of diversity, equity, and social justice? What would it mean to begin developing stories that support you developing this understanding?
Again, these prep & post reflections should be 500-750 words including references and uploaded as a Microsoft Word document or PDF. (All UW students have access to Google docs through your UW email account. You can then download your Google doc as a Word document or PDF.) We require this so that our teaching team can offer you in-text feedback on each assignment. To view these comments after your assignments have been graded please click on the "View Feedback" button on Canvas.
References
Pre-Class Resources
? Arana, G. (2012). My so-called ex-gay life. Prospect.org.
? Baldwin, J. (2001). Here be dragons. In R.P. Byrd & B. Guy-Sheftall (Eds.), Traps: African-American men on gender and sexuality (pp. 207-218). Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press.
? Beck, K. (2013 December 8). Passing for white and straight: How my looks hide my identity. Salon.com.
? Lerum, K. (2015 May 26). Cisgender femmeNist reflections on trans* justice: Moving from adoration to action. TheFeministWire.com.
? Pascoe, C.J. (2007). Dude you're a fag: Masculinity and sexuality in high school (pps. 1-24). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
? Peng, Y. (2015). A Man Fights Gay Conversion Clinics In China. AJ+.
? Rivas, J. (2015 February 23). The surprising history of gay marriage in the Navajo nation. Fusion.net.
? Kim Tallbear (2016) Making Love and Relations Beyond Settler Sexualities.
? Tatum, E. (2015 March 29). 10 examples of straight privilege. EverydayFeminism.com.
? TSER (2016). LGBTQ+ Definitions. TransStudents.org.
? Yoshino, K. (2006 January 15). The pressure to cover. NYTimes.com.
In-Class Resources
? Gendler, A. (2014.) The history of marriage. Ted Ed.
? Jones, O. (2016). The Orlando massacre terrorist will fail. Here's why. Guardian.
? Sheng, J. (2015). Don't ask, don't tell and creativity's role in driving social change.
? Welcoming Schools. (2011). What do you know? Human Rights Campaign.
? Whalen, K. & Escobar, C. (2016). Bay area LGBTQ artists reflect on safe queer spaces. KQED Arts.