{"id":1458,"date":"2026-07-16T10:59:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:59:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/assessment-committee\/?page_id=1458"},"modified":"2026-07-16T11:00:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T16:00:54","slug":"power-and-race-prompt-examples","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.stolaf.edu\/assessment-committee\/power-and-race-prompt-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"Power and Race Prompt Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"
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ILO #1) Explain how inequalities in US power dynamics are produced and sustained by ideas about race and ethnicity.<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
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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<\/em> and should use:<\/p>\n

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  • A topic sentence (What are you about to tell us?)<\/li>\n
  • Primary Evidence: movement description \u2013 What are they doing?<\/li>\n
  • Analysis of primary evidence: movement analysis \u2013 What is the movement doing? What effect does it have?<\/li>\n
  • Social, Historical, and\/or Political context \u2013 What is going on in the world? Why does this relate to the movement or what does the movement mean within the larger context?<\/li>\n
  • Secondary Evidence: quoted or paraphrased material from our readings that you cite in MLA format in the text and in a Works Cited section<\/strong> at the end of your essay.<\/li>\n
  • Analysis of cited material \u2013 in your own words, how does the cited material relate to your primary evidence and\/or support your argument?<\/li>\n
  • A concluding sentence (your argument).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\n
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    [Course Name] Writing Assignment Prompt<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Compare and contrast how boarding schools in S\u00e1pmi and North America were a tool used to destroy indigenous culture, language, and way of life.<\/p>\n

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

    Checklist:<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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    • Your response should be succinct, between 500-750 words in length.<\/li>\n
    • You can write this as a reflection, as such feel free to use the first person and phrases such as \u201cI think\u201d<\/li>\n
    • Cite your sources! But you are writing for me so you can just say in the lecture by Sean Sherman\u2026or\u2026 In the film Sami Blood\u2026 (you don\u2019t need anything more, you do not need a bibliography for this assignment). But you do need to be more specific than In a lecture\u2026 or in one of the films\u2026<\/li>\n
    • 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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Overview of sources<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      S\u00e1mi Sources:<\/h4>\n

      Sami Blood film (remember, it is a dramatization)
      \nSuffering through the Education System
      \nThe Norwegianization Policy (TiT 44-45)
      \nSchools and Boarding Houses (TiT 62-63)<\/p>\n

      Native American Sources:<\/h4>\n

      Our Spirits Don\u2019t 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 \u2018Kill the Indian\u2019 Through Assimilation
      Death by Civilization<\/p>\n

      BOTH: American Swedish Museum class field trip.<\/h4>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t
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      ILO #2) Examine cultural differences and evaluate how these cultural differences are shaped by power, privilege, and inequality.<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
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      As part of your first paper\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      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 \u2013 likely a page.)<\/li>\n
      2. Apply the S&A model (This will be the bulk of your paper):\n
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        • Describe how the model applies to Example 1 (structural context, family situation, agentic decision, and how it worked out)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          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 \u2013 the \u201cstructure and agency\u201d model \u2013 as applied to families. A key component of this model includes cultural beliefs, norms, and values.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\n

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          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?<\/strong><\/p>\n

          Contextual note from the instructor: The prompt for this week was based on an assigned portion of democratic theorist Juliet Hooker\u2019s book Black Grief\/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss. <\/em>Over the week leading up to this Friday on which the writing assignment was due, students had read Chapter 1 of the book, \u201cWhite Grievance and Anticipatory Loss,\u201d 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 \u201cgrievances\u201d 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\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

          This particular prompt asked students to reflect on Hooker\u2019s 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. \u201cHorrific and undeniable Black losses were required to render a minor symbolic white loss (the removal of the Confederate flag) palatable\u201d 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 \u201c[un]sustainable balance sheet of loss\u201d (72); \u201c[a]s (some) whites mourn lost statues and lost causes, Blacks mourn their dead,\u201d she writes (74).<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t

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          ILO #3) Analyze race and ethnicity using concepts and tools of inquiry.<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
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          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.<\/p>\n

          CAREER ESSAY<\/strong><\/h2>\n

          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.<\/p>\n

          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.<\/p>\n

          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.<\/p>\n

          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)<\/p>\n

          Introduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          Overarching setting of your example. Where this discussion is specifically relevant. Thesis statement (what is your point\/claim). Why this matters to the world. \u2013 4-5 Sentences.<\/p>\n

          Paragraph 1:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          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. \u2013 200-250 words<\/p>\n

          Paragraph 2:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          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. \u2013 200-250 words<\/p>\n

          Paragraph 3:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          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. \u2013 200-250 words<\/p>\n

          Paragraph 4:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          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?). \u2013 200- 250 words<\/p>\n

          Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          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? \u2013 4-5 sentences<\/p>\n

          *Theories Discussed in Class<\/h3>\n
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          1. Intersectionality (All of the articles. This should be incorporated into everyone\u2019s essay in some way)<\/li>\n
          2. Freedom and Binds (Intersecting Cultural Beliefs in Social Relations)<\/li>\n
          3. Racial Division of Reproductive Labor (\u201cDirty Work\u201d) (Race and Class of Women\u2019s Work)<\/li>\n
          4. Labor Process Theory (\u201cDegradation\u201d) (Race and Class of Women\u2019s Work)<\/li>\n
          5. Feminism as a \u201cCultural Solvent\u201d (A Dangerous Liaison)<\/li>\n
          6. Hegemonic Masculinity (Age, Sexuality and hegemonic masculinity)<\/li>\n
          7. Embodying Change (Age, Sexuality and hegemonic masculinity)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/article>\n\n\t\t\t\n
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            GROUP PROJECT \u2013 15% – READ BELOW<\/strong><\/h2>\n

            You will be required to facilitate a class discussion based on the day\u2019s 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\u20133-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 \u201cteachers\u201d for the day, leading a 25-minute class discussion:<\/p>\n