Power and Race Prompt Examples

In 300-500 words, use dance as a lens to explain how inequalities in US power dynamics are produced and sustained by ideas about race and ethnicity. Your essay must be about a topic covered between the beginning of the semester and now and should use:

• A topic sentence (What are you about to tell us?)
• Primary Evidence: movement description – What are they doing?
• Analysis of primary evidence: movement analysis – What is the movement doing? What effect does it have?
• Social, Historical, and/or Political context – What is going on in the world? Why does this relate to the movement or what does the movement mean within the larger context?
• Secondary Evidence: quoted or paraphrased material from our readings that you cite in MLA format in the text and in a Works Cited section at the end of your essay.
• Analysis of cited material – in your own words, how does the cited material relate to your primary evidence and/or support your argument?
• A concluding sentence (your argument).

[Course Name] Writing Assignment Prompt

Compare and contrast how boarding schools in Sápmi and North America were a tool used to destroy indigenous culture, language, and way of life.

Explain this power dynamic and how it perpetuated (perpetuates?) ideas of race and ethnicity by comparing and contrasting the experiences from the indigenous perspective.

Checklist:

• Your response should be succinct, between 500-750 words in length.
• You can write this as a reflection, as such feel free to use the first person and phrases such as “I think”
• Cite your sources! But you are writing for me so you can just say in the lecture by Sean Sherman…or… In the film Sami Blood… (you don’t need anything more, you do not need a bibliography for this assignment). But you do need to be more specific than In a lecture… or in one of the films…
• You must cite both films (Sami Blood and Our Spirits) and at least 2 of the Sami readings and 2 of the Native American readings.

Overview of sources

Sámi Sources:

Sami Blood film (remember, it is a dramatization)
Suffering through the Education System
The Norwegianization Policy (TiT 44-45)
Schools and Boarding Houses (TiT 62-63)

Native American Sources:

Our Spirits Don’t Speak English film (online, 1 in library as well)
Sean Sherman Lecture
A century of trauma at U.S. boarding schools for Native American children
Indian Boarding Schools’ Traumatic Legacy, And The Fight To Get Native Ancestors Back
How Boarding Schools Tried to ‘Kill the Indian’ Through Assimilation
Death by Civilization

BOTH: American Swedish Museum class field trip.

As part of your first paper…

1. Introduce the Structure & Agency model of families: What is it? What are the different parts and how are they related? Why is the model useful? (This will be a couple of solid paragraphs – likely a page.)
2. Apply the S&A model (This will be the bulk of your paper):
   • Describe how the model applies to Example 1 (structural context, family situation, agentic decision, and how it worked out)

Note: “Example 1” referred to a case study the students were given as part of the assignment. Students are learning to analyze culture and power as part of a larger analytic tool – the “structure and agency” model – as applied to families. A key component of this model includes cultural beliefs, norms, and values.

Prompt: According to Hooker, how do right-wing protests against the removal of Confederate monuments demonstrate white refusal and the lack of equivalence between Black loss and white loss?

Contextual note from the instructor: The prompt for this week was based on an assigned portion of democratic theorist Juliet Hooker’s book Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss. Over the week leading up to this Friday on which the writing assignment was due, students had read Chapter 1 of the book, “White Grievance and Anticipatory Loss,” in which Hooker argues that white supremacist culture in the United States features the refusal to acquiesce to legitimate political loss, and persistent mobilization behind “grievances” that are usually a response to mere anticipatory losses (losses that have not [yet] even come to pass, and may not be realistic). Hooker argues compellingly that longstanding white dominance in the U.S. has made it difficult for white citizens to accept a loss of privilege, because white citizenship has historically conferred both material and symbolic advantages. This has narrowed whites’ political imaginations, resulting in a zero-sum view of racial politics according to which the (real or apparent) political gains made by marginalized groups are consistently perceived as a threat to white political dominance, further serving as the ground for the articulation of white grievances.

This particular prompt asked students to reflect on Hooker’s discussion of protests against the removal of Confederate monuments as an expression of white refusal (for Hooker, white refusal and white grievance are concepts that are intimately linked together). Admittedly, this short writing assignment gets more at a delineation of white supremacist culture in the U.S., without completely contrasting it to the Black/anti-racist culture that Hooker goes on to describe in the book as one that privileges Black grief over white grievance. (A subsequent prompt addressed this second part, the following week.) However, Hooker does already bring these two cultures into relief in this section of the book, as she emphasizes the serious material loss required of Black Americans for even a minor symbolic loss to register as somewhat acceptable to whites. More specifically, focusing on the case of the mass shooting at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in South Carolina in 2015, Hooker argues that nine innocent Black citizens had to be brutally murdered by a self-avowed white supremacist in order for (some) Confederate sympathizers to accept that it might be time to take down Confederate symbols. This demonstrates the serious imbalance in power associated with these two groups, and the deeply entrenched racial inequalities that feed into it. “Horrific and undeniable Black losses were required to render a minor symbolic white loss (the removal of the Confederate flag) palatable” in this case, Hooker assesses, citing a conservative talk-show host who conceded to the removal of Confederate symbols after the Charleston massacre even as he insisted that they represented more than just racial hatred (72). The cultural difference between white supremacists and Black Americans, here, centers on a lack of equivalence between their losses: whereas white dominant culture generally refuses to accept even minor symbolic losses, except in extreme circumstances (and even then, only begrudgingly and with resistance), Black Americans have endured a long history of being forced to accept ongoing substantial material losses. Hooker claims that this exposes an “[un]sustainable balance sheet of loss” (72); “[a]s (some) whites mourn lost statues and lost causes, Blacks mourn their dead,” she writes (74).

Note: This prompt provides a good example of incorporating all four PAR ILOs into a single assignment, though artifact scoring focused on ILO 3 in this case.

CAREER ESSAY

This week we are discussing the concept of intersectionality and work culture. Intersectionality should be thought of as a constantly moving web of forces meaning that people experience power differences in unequal and fluid ways. It is also an important element, often left out, when considering what “options” various people have or what it might mean to discuss “a level playing field” when it comes to careers, advancement, opportunity, and income.

This essay is intended to help you think about important issues of intersectionality in or around a field you hope to pursue. Choose a work culture related to your career interests. This could be a field (e.g. Nursing) or a workplace setting (e.g. farms that use migrant labor or a therapist office). Do some research and draw upon your own understandings of the field. Perhaps consider chatting with a professor or a professional about this field more broadly.

Feminist scholars have demonstrated that race, gender, and class act together to reproduce inequalities throughout society and the labor market with real consequences for individuals, institutions, and the public. Your goal is to demonstrate how race and/or ethnicity and class contribute to inequality in contemporary US work culture and how these forms of inequality interact with social characteristics and/or institutions of gender.

Your essay should take the form of 4 paragraphs bookended by a formal introduction and conclusion. You will need to be clear and concise. This is a to the point essay. Please use the following rubric to structure your essay. (approx. 1500 words)

Introduction

Overarching setting of your example. Where this discussion is specifically relevant. Thesis statement (what is your point/claim). Why this matters to the world. – 4-5 Sentences.

Paragraph 1:

Explain what power dynamics are present in your example. Show how these inequalities are produced and maintained by ideas about race and ethnicity in the broader culture, the individuals involved, or both. – 200-250 words

Paragraph 2:

Identify some key places where cultural differences matter in your example. Show how these cultural differences are shaped by power, privilege, and inequality and with what consequences. – 200-250 words

Paragraph 3:

Identify a sociological or anthropological theoretical framework discussed in class* that is useful to explain how race, gender, and class inform social inequalities in labor processes, occupational structures, and inter-group relations in your example. Then, briefly analyze how this works in your example. – 200-250 words

Paragraph 4:

Reflect critically on how racism, ethnocentrism, power, privilege, and inequality shape the experiences of individuals in your example. Connect this to your own experience (How might this shape your ability to practice respect, recognition, courage, and/or cultural humility as you move into a career?). – 200- 250 words

Conclusion:

Why is this a good example of the theoretical idea illustrated? What are the consequences of this in your example? Why does this matter to people in this field? Why should this matter to the broader society? – 4-5 sentences

*Theories Discussed in Class

1. Intersectionality (All of the articles. This should be incorporated into everyone’s essay in some way)
2. Freedom and Binds (Intersecting Cultural Beliefs in Social Relations)
3. Racial Division of Reproductive Labor (“Dirty Work”) (Race and Class of Women’s Work)
4. Labor Process Theory (“Degradation”) (Race and Class of Women’s Work)
5. Feminism as a “Cultural Solvent” (A Dangerous Liaison)
6. Hegemonic Masculinity (Age, Sexuality and hegemonic masculinity)
7. Embodying Change (Age, Sexuality and hegemonic masculinity)

GROUP PROJECT – 15% – READ BELOW

You will be required to facilitate a class discussion based on the day’s readings and class material, as well as on a historical or current event (protest, movement, law, case study, performance/art, etc.) to which you can apply an intersectional feminist lens. As part of your project, you will write a 2–3-page analysis as a group offering in-depth analysis of this event you chose and its intersectional feminist lens application. In groups of 3 max. and one group of 4, you all will be the “teachers” for the day, leading a 25-minute class discussion:

• Readings: summarize the readings for that day of class. Always give background information about the authors and artists you are presenting on. Pick 1-2 passages that best describe what you got from the content of the reading and apply it to your presentation.
• Videos and/or links: whatever is due for that day as homework AND whatever is listed under the day for “in-class” material MUST be discussed in your presentation.
• Introduce yourselves and the topic(s) you will be presenting on
• Ask one reflection question to the class first thing, based on your readings and viewings for that day (this is the “hook” of your presentation)
• Present your discussion: PowerPoint slides, performance, video, interview-format where you interview each other, roundtable discussion, roles you each create (for example, one is the teacher, the other a coach, etc.), etc.
• This is where you put the critical thinking skills into practice. Use the language you are learning and if you are unsure of how to name something, please ask the professor!
• Include an activity for the class to engage further with the material you are presenting (participation-based, we can do breakout rooms too)
• Conclude with Q&A: 1-2 questions
• I, the instructor, will bring things together before class ends

**the 2-3 page analysis written as a group will be graded and uploaded to Moodle for the day the presentation takes place. The 2-3 pg. analysis should include:

• Detailed information about the current or historical event and the socio-political context of the event
• What theoretical tools, course material, concepts, etc. that we have learned in class help you understand what this moment/event/situation is doing?
• Not just what it is, but what it does in relation to intersectional feminisms

A SNAPSHOT OF MY SOCIO-CULTURAL LANDSCAPE (30%)

Write a three to five-page paper addressing the following sub-headings. You do not need to title each sub-heading because it is a brief paper.

Introduction:

In your textbook, Social Stratification, the content is organized according to the different social categories. Pick two or more of these categories as the focus of your paper. Clearly introduce the paper topic so that the reader gains a basic understanding of what will be discussed in the proceeding sections of the paper.

Discussion:

In this section, discuss the various social categories that you belong to and how they intersect and are interconnected. This is the section in which you will showcase your knowledge of social stratification as a concept in Sociology.

Here are some guiding questions that may provide both a space for reflection and a structure for you to construct your identity as you unpack your knowledge on social stratification.

For example:

• In my everyday life, what identities are present for me? What identities are absent for me? What do these presences and absences mean to my understanding of who I am? What are the presences and absences mean to my understanding of who other people are?
• In what socio-cultural identity groups are you a member? Explain some positive and negative consequences of being a member of this group. Explain thoroughly.
• How are your identities related to one another? How do they converge or come together (or do they)? Explain thoroughly.
• What do my identities reveal about my sense of self? My sense of others? (Here you may want to unpack issues of privilege and burdens, both earned and unearned). Explain thoroughly.
• In my experiences, what has caused my identities to shift and change? (Note: These are often incidents or remembrances of powerful “ah-ha” moments or difficult and painful events in your life experiences related to your own race, class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or the experiences of others where your perspectives on identities/culture were transformed).

Implications:

In this section, pull your paper together and tie the knots between the what/who you are, the how and why of who you are – discuss the implications of the preceding sections for Sociologists and for you. What should readers take away from reading your paper? What have you learned and how are you going to make use of your new knowledge? You may address your sphere of influence here and present your thoughts on the if and how of social change.

Conclusion:

Bring your paper to a close. Summarize in paragraph or two your intentions for the paper were and if you accomplished them or not. How are your present and future goals being changed shaped by knew found knowledge on social stratification?

References:

Include at least five or more total scholarly journal articles and or books. Cite all in-text references using APA style. List all the resources you used in this section in APA style.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HOW TO PROCEED

You are required to write a paper on their personal identity development. The purpose of this paper is to help you analyze your own personal development journey and discuss how this knowledge will enable you to better understand the developmental levels of other people of diverse backgrounds besides your own. This assignment requires you to focus on and reflect on developing a written narrative statement of the cultural, intellectual, experiential and theoretical nature of who you are (your identity) as an individual, and how you will begin to create contexts for equity and diversity in future.

You are hereby required to analyze your identity. Choose two or more social categories that you belong to and write about how compelling they are to you and why. We all have multiple identities and are affect by various systems of hierarchy differently depending on the social difference categories to which we belong. In this five-page analysis, discuss all the possible combinations of privilege and vulnerability that apply to you. Your socio-cultural landscape is the arena in which your identities are either nurtured or prohibited, your social difference categories are either natural or socially constructed and yet they can be both socially constructed and natural all at once. As you discuss your socio-cultural landscape, map out and locate yourself on this intricate Circle of Oppression and the other visuals provided below.

Feel free to come up with your own visuals as they apply to you and your understanding of intersectionality. Intersectionality is defined in the Oxford dictionary as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations (emphasis added), such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.” The word was coined by Kimberle Crenshaw in 1989.

Kimberle Crenshaw’s seminal book

Note: Power and Race ILO #3 Example 1 addresses all four ILOs, if you’re interested in seeing another example that addresses ILO 4. Additionally, PAR ILO #3 Example 3 incorporates personal reflection on students’ identities.

Prompt

Reflection: Obligatory. This course carries Ole Core Power and Race. One of their Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) states students can “reflect critically on how racism, ethnocentrism, power, privilege, and inequality shape their own individual experiences and the experiences of others.” What did you become aware of linking yourself and others regarding power, race, and language in your day-to-day experiences? Write a short reflection on your own position relative to power and privilege and how this shapes your perspective and relations to others. Use a specific example from the readings or presentations to compose your reflection.