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January 30th, 2012
Welcome to Week 3 of our course and to Lesson 3. You’ve just completed your first round of peer review, so you should be considering carefully the feedback you received and be thinking about how you might want to be revising your work in preparation for the course portfolio (due at the end of the semester.) But even as you think about revision, we will be moving forward with other thinking, writing, and research projects. This week, you will be working to find your focus on what is probably the largest of our writing/research projects this semester–”A Service/Activist’s Guide to an Issue.” You have a couple of weeks to get your draft together for this piece, but there is no time to waste, so get started right away. This week, I am also asking that you complete the first of your Self-Assessments for this course. This is an important contract item, so don’t overlook it. As we are all working on these tasks, let’s keep the conversation going in the Conversation Center. There’s lots to talk about–recent readings, ideas for your research, and so on. Don’t neglect the Conversation Center. The more we can all stay connected in this course, the better off we’ll be.
Here’s a list of tasks (with links) and deadlines you are facing this week:
February 4th, 2012
As you know, this semester our research and writing will be focused on service, civic engagement, and community action. During the first half of our semester, or so, I am working to arrange a number of service experiences for you to participate in. I will ask that everybody participate in at least one of these service opportunities during the first half of the semester. I understand that everyone is very busy, has other commitments, and will find it challenging to schedule this kind of work into their lives; however, I also know that this work is essential. So, I ask that you be as flexible as you can. Of course even with flexibility on your part, I understand that the particular opportunities I’ve arranged just might not work for you. If that is the case, it is up to you to arrange another service experience on your own that can fit your schedule. (I’ll will try to work with you to offer ideas where I can, but ultimately it would be your responsibility to find such an opportunity. They’re not hard to find. Just be sure to approve it with me first.) Fair enough? I think so.
I’ve already shared information with you about our first service opportunity, and many of you signed-up to attend this event. The next service opportunity I have arranged is through The Greater Chicago Food Depository–a critical Chicago service organization located about 25 minutes from Moraine’s campus. The GCFD began in 1978 to assist people in Chicagoland struggling with food insecurity and chronic hunger. They are a major hub in a food distribution network, distributing 69 million pounds of food, including more than 18 million pounds of produce, to 650 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters in Cook County. Nearly 142,000 men, women and children turn to the Food Depository’s network each week, and nearly 678,000 people turn to the network annually. I have arranged a visit for us to visit The Greater Chicago Food Depository to repack food for distribution to community food pantries in Cook County. The details of this scheduled event and how to sign-up if you want to are below. Please check it out. The Event DetailsDate: Thursday, March 1 Directions from Moraine Want to do it? Here’s how.If you’d like to participate in this event, e-mail to let me know right away. In the e-mail please mention the name of this trip and how many people you will be bringing with you, if any. I need an RSVP from by Noon on Wednesday, February 8, as the GCFD requires this.
Can’t make this event?Like I said, if you can’t make this event, I understand. I have or will arrange other service outings that might suit you better. More details will follow soon. IF the above opportunity works for your schedule, though, please sign-up for it rather than put this off. Keep in mind, you will need to complete one service learning experience before the end of week 8 even if it’s one that you find or design and implement on your own. It feels good to be of service, and it will provide us opportunity to learn and write about important issues. A Connected Writing AssignmentWhether you choose this service opportunity, another one that I have arranged, or one of your own finding or design, I will ask that you complete a connected writing assignment–a reflection of service, which is due week 9. The details of this assignment will be released soon. January 30th, 2012
You’ve been reading Why White Rice? in this course for a couple weeks now. If you haven’t already, you will soon notice that one recurring theme in the book is that if you hope to write something well–something that other people will read, that will have an impact on both you and others–you sure as hell better care about what you are writing. Chapter 3 of the book, which you are reading for this week, carries this message as well.
For writing to be effective, I believe you must care about it. But to go even further than that, I would say for anything you do in life to be effective–to be enjoyable, to make positive change, to be worth doing–you must care about it. (Sometimes you might not care initially, but you have to find a way to care about it if you want to do it well.) One one level, Tom Dow writes about his experience in finding a focus for his doctoral research in Chapter 3 of our book, but what he’s really talking about–on a deeper level–is finding something to care about. In your recent draft of your Live? Die? Kill? paper, you presumably wrote about things that are very important to you–important enough to live for, to die for, and maybe even to kill for. Hopefully, this initial writing experience has forced your thinking into places it doesn’t normally go. That’s a good thing. Soon, you will be learning about our next major writing challenge of the course, where I will ask you to dig deep into an social issue that is of great concern to you and to help others understand why, in fact, it is an issue and why they, too, should be concerned. This task will require–like anything worth doing–that you care about it deeply. G.A.S.: The Secret to Accomplishing Great ThingsEric DeVilez reminds us that G.A.S. is really at the heart of writing well (and I would add living well). If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back to chapter one of WWR?. This is true, but how do you get that G.A.S. mind-set? It’s hard sometimes. Best-selling author researcher Dan Pink has written and spoken a great deal about the importance of caring about what you are doing if you want to do it well. Check out the following video where he walks us through the surprising research on what motivates us and how motivation affects performance.
Interesting, don’t you think? I’ve found many of the points that Pink’s research shows to be true throughout my life. These ideas resonate deeply with me. In fact, in chapter 3 of You can access this required reading from this link: “Why Money Won’t Cut It and Why Extra Credit Makes You Stupid” or embedded below. (The file embedded below is a PDF file, so you will need a standard PDF reader installed on your computer. Chances are, you already have one. If not, you can download it here.) Right click on the document for navigation, zooming, and printing options.
Service/Activism-Learning ConnectionBy now you know that the work of this course will involve more than just writing and reading. It will involve doing. This semester, we are using a service/activism-learning approach to
So as we continue to move forward with this course, I will make opportunities available for you to get involved in hands-on fashion with matters of great importance in our communities and around the world. As we are doing these things, though, I will also ask that you begin figuring out what issues are of greatest concern to you. Where do you want to contribute? Our next major draft for this course, in fact, will ask you to dig deep into a social issue that is of great concern to you. Before the semester is done, you will be doing something to address this issue; we won’t just be talking about it. Activism or Service?In our next writing/research project you will think, read, and research on an issue that is important to you. Part of this will include turning intellectual work into real action. As the course progresses, you may see that I reference both “service” and “activism.” To help you understand these terms as I am using them, let me offer a little explanation. One way to possibly consider the relationship between service and activism is that the former tends to focus on individuals–on people–and the latter often focuses on structures. In other words, activism often works to address underlying causes of issues whereas service/volunteerism works to alleviate the immediate effects of such causes. So, a quick example–if we wanted to address homelessness through service as a volunteer, we might spend some time working in a homeless shelter. If we wanted to address it as an activist, we might attempt to address city planners responsible for the gentrification of neighborhoods that ultimately pushes poorer people out of their homes. Or, as another example, if you wanted to address the problem of litter on a city beach, as a volunteer you could organize a cleanup effort, but as an activist you might picket or petition local business who contribute most to the need for beach cleanup. I read recently an article which contained the following line that helped me understand relationship better: “Activist efforts seek to change the social climate and structures that make volunteerism necessary” (“Activism and Service Learning as Acts of Dissent,” Bickford and Reynolds 238). In the end, I believe both approaches are worthwhile and can be effective to making important differences in our world. Also, these efforts can (and perhaps should) occur in combination with one another. So think about how you will orient your efforts as we move forward in this course. January 30th, 2012
Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. — Samuel Johnson The Action Project at HandFor this major assignment, I’d like you to prepare a “Service/Activist’s Guide to an Issue.” The idea here is that you spend some time thinking about a social issue that is of real concern to you. (If nothing is coming to you, do a little reading, research, investigation, and thinking to find your focus.) Then, prepare a thoroughly researched document that presents the issue in-depth with the purpose of informing a person about the social issue you selected and moving them to action. You might think of this as a kind of “pamphlet” that could be used to convince and prepare someone to take action on this issue. So, this document you are preparing should be
1. Overview of the IssueFirst, it will be important to inform your reader of the broad issue. In this section, introduce the issue to your reader. This section, along with those that follow, should be well researched, so that your message is a credible one. As you inform your reader on the issue here, be sure to present the various perspectives on this subject so that your reader can understand any controversy. Why is it an issue? To whom is it an issue? What are the competing viewpoints? Consider both local and global perspectives when possible. Ultimately, your reader should understand why he or she should care about this issue. 2. Background ResearchWhile the first section of your “Service/Activist’s Guide” provides a broad overview on the issue, this section will go into more detail regarding background research. What factors have lead up to this issue? What is the important history surrounding it? Who has been involved with and/or affected by this issue? What progress and/or setbacks have those working on this issue experienced? Dig deep in this section. Show your research. 3. The Current Situation and ChallengesTo work effectively on a difficult issue–whether through service or activism–it is important for a person to know what the current situation is surrounding that issue. The previous two sections provided broad explanation of the matter and some deep background, but what about the current moment? What’s happening most recently on this issue? What’s in the news? What are the present struggles people are facing in working on this issue? Find out what’s current. (You will likely need to consider different kinds of sources to get the most recent information.) This will give your reader an understanding of what one would be getting into if he or she decided to take on this issue. 4. What’s Being Done?In this section, include information about what people and/or organizations are currently doing to address the issue. This section, like the others, requires some research. It should include the specific information about activist or service organizations that are targeting this issue. Be sure to highlight specifically any local organizations (or chapters of organizations) that are addressing this issue. Don’t underestimate the research you will have to conduct to write this section well. You should consider contacting some of these organizations to talk with a representative–maybe interview them, maybe visit their organization if this is an option. Really get to understand what they are all about. Also, as you write about the various organizations involved in this issue, be sure to make it clear to your reader what the mission of the organization is and how they go about doing their work. How extreme or moderate would you say the group is? For example, in the area of animal rights, PETA is sometimes considered rather aggressive in their methods, whereas the ASPCA is just as committed but does not have a reputation for being “extreme” in their tactics. 5. How Can You Get Involved? How Can You Help?Remember, this document you are writing should be designed to help inform others about the issue and persuade them to take action. This section should include that specific call to action. What can somebody do about the issue if they want to help? As an individual what specific actions can a person take? Who can a person contact to get involved in addressing this issue? Most known social issues have groups of people or organizations working on them. This section should include specific contact information for someone who wants to get involved with such an organization. It should also include ideas about specific actions one could take as an individual. Are there specific individual behaviors that one could change to help make a positive difference?
6. To Learn MoreIn this section, you should provide a short list (three to five) of quality sources that one could read to learn more about this issue and how to get involved. These sources are what one could use to learn more beyond what they are learning in this document, so the sources should not be ones you are using in the other sections of this piece; they are in addition to what’s already been referenced. You should write this section like an annotated bibliography. What’s an annotated bibliography, you ask? An annotated bibliography is very much like a works cited page at the end of a research paper, but without the research paper. Plus each bibliographic entry is accompanied by a brief critical annotation of about 200 words each. Keep in mind that an annotation is more than just a summary of what the source is about. It’s a critical evaluation of the source. So it should include a concise yet specific summary of the source, its focus, scope, and so on, but it should also evaluate the authority and background of the author, comment on the intended audience, possibly compare/contrast the work with another source you’ve cited or other well known sources on this subject, and explain how the work is valuable to further illuminating this issue of concern. The idea is to find useful, credible, powerful sources on the issue such that you can offer them to others also interested in learning more. 7. Works CitedThis overall “Service/Activist’s Guide to an Issue” is very much a multi-sourced research work. This means you’ve used several sources to put it together, and so, of course, you need to properly cite and document those sources. They should be cited with in-text notes in the body of the work, and the full source information needs to be documented in a “Works Cited” section. (This should be review from COM 101.) Use the MLA Handbook, your Fister trifold “Working With Sources” (that you bought for this class), and/or another up-to-date handbook to help you properly document your sources. A Note about FormattingAgain, remember, this document has a specific purpose for an intended audience. It should help someone understand this issue better. It should also move them to action and guide them on the path to getting involved. So, consider how you might format this piece to make it most usable. Certainly you will want to use clear headings to allow your reader to quickly and effectively navigate your document. But you might also find other ways to make it visually appealing and persuasive. Consider the possibility of adding images, embedding media, and so on. This is not necessarily required, but it could enhance the effectiveness of your piece. If you have questions, just ask. How this Assignment Will Be AssessedFirst of all remember that this assignment will not be fully assessed until you include it as a part of your final portfolio project; however, as an initial draft that will be reviewed by members of the class, completing it on time is essential to stay on track toward at least a B in this course. Refer to the grading contract on the syllabus for more information about the importance of meeting all deadlines, and for general information on what makes for exemplary writing in this course. The basic expectations that I have for average and acceptable work for this project are as follows. The work should:
Due DatesThis assignment is due Monday, February 13 by 8am. This piece should be categorized on your blog as “ready for review” by that time. Consult the course schedule for a complete and specific list of due dates. January 30th, 2012
Ok, here’s the first of several self-assessments you will be asked to complete in the course. Do an excellent job here. Be honest and thorough. Provide necessary evidence for your claims as you see fit. This self-assessment is a contract item. So to stay on a track for at least a B in this course, you need to complete this assessment to the best of your ability. This is due by 8am on Monday 2/6.
Note that you should take your time with this. It might, therefore, be a good idea to type this is a text editor (like Notepad) off-line and then paste the sections into the form below when you are ready. Otherwise, you will have to complete it in a single sitting. Just a thought. |
Post to the Conversation Center now. Click the image below.
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