Northeastern State University

College of Liberal Arts

Department of Communication, Art, & Theatre

Tahlequah, OK 

 

Spring 2012 syllabus for

WGS 4003/COMM 4623/COMM 5623

Privilege & Marginalization

(last updated 12/18/11)

 

Professor: Amy Aldridge Sanford, PhD         

Office:  351 SH (Tahlequah Campus)                Ext.:  3608

E-mail: aldridga@nsuok.edu (This is the best way to contact me)        

Office Hours:  See Contact Info on webpage.

Facebook:  Amy Aldridge Sanford

                                                           

Class Meetings:  Blended MW 2-3:15; SH 109  (Face-to-face meetings 1/9; 2/8; 2/13; 2/15; 3/14; 4/2; 4/4; 4/18; 4/23; 5/2; and day of final).

 

Your professorÕs philosophy of education:  I am a facilitator of learning.  The participants in any given classroom enter with different paradigms and truths.  I aid in the exploration of those truths.  I do NOT believe that the instructor is THE holder of Truth; therefore we must all participate to co-construct knowledge and create synergy.  When a student starts to feel uncomfortable in his/her existing paradigm that means s/he is growing as a scholar.   My desire is that all of my students feel the joy of discomfort from time to time.

 

Grading Philosophy:  I prefer intrinsic motivations, and therefore, am not a fan of letter grades.  I believe this extrinsic reward is too often the only motivation for students to complete assignments.  A college education should be viewed as a privilege and an opportunity to become learned and scholarly.  However, until there is a better system, grades will be assigned in this class.  Work that meets the minimum requirements of an assignment, is completed on time and displays average involvement with the course content is deserving of a ÒC.Ó  Higher grades are awarded to work that goes above and beyond the minimum standards to produce papers and presentations that reflect superior intellectual effort, excellence in critical analysis and overall creativity in the approach towards any given assignment.  In other words, grades are earned in this class.  An ÒAÓ is attainable but will require far more than minimal effort.

 

Pre-requisites:  none.

 

Description of Course:  3 hours. This is a special topics course about personal privilege and the consequent marginalization of oppressed people. 

 

Course Purpose:  This course supports NSUÕs mission of empowering students to become Òsocially responsible global citizensÓ and the core value of Integrity, which centers on human dignity.

 

Learning Outcomes:  By the end of the course, the student willÉ

á      Recognize examples of privilege.

á      Identify consequences of marginalization.

á      Make connections between theory, research and everyday experiences.

 

Required Texts:     

Griffin, J.H.  (1960).  Black like me.  New York:  Penguin.  ISBN:  0-451-19203.

 

Jensen, R.  (2005).  The heart of whiteness:  Confronting race, racism, and white privilege.  San Francisco:  City Lights.  ISBN:  0-87286-449-9.

 

Rosenblum, K.E. and T.C. Travis.  (2012).  The meaning of difference:  American constructions of race, sex and gender, social class, sexual orientation, and disability.  Boston:  McGraw Hill.  ISBN:  9780078111648.

 

Attendance:

We meet face-to-face about 10 times; you should make absolutely every effort to be be there each time.  You will be allowed only 1 unexcused absence. For every unexcused absence over the limit, 2% will be deducted from your final grade.  Absences will be excused only under the following circumstances:

       Absence while under a doctorÕs care (written documentation required).

       Absence due to participation in an authorized college activity (advance notification and written documentation required).

       Absence due to attendance at legal proceedings requiring your presence (advance notification and written documentation required).

       Absence due to the death or serious illness of an immediate family member (written documentation required).

I consider an excused absence one in which the absence is beyond your control. (For example, the time of a check up or a dental appointmentcan be controlled).  I will not excuse an absence in which you have to take somebody else to the doctor, hospital, dentist, court, etc.  That is why I give you the three unexcused absences.  Use them wisely.  I think good attendance is very important.  Documentation is due by the last day of classes before finals week.   An excused notes will only excuse one day of absence unless a memo is attached explaining why multiple dates should be excused.

 

Administrative Withdraws: 

Students who enroll this course and have poor attendance and/or poor participation (as determined by the instructor) may be administratively withdrawn (involuntarily). Students who are administratively withdrawn will be responsible for payment and repaying any financial aid received for the course or courses that must be returned to the provider. If you are concerned about your absences, progress, or success in a particular course, meet with your instructor immediately.

 

Missed Classes and Late Assignments:

Your classmates are counting on you to get your work done on time. In many ways, their grades depend on it. Therefore, Reading Responses and Participation in Blackboard Discussion will NOT be accepted late. No matter the reason. If you donÕt get those done by the deadline, the grade is a zero. In other words, work ahead.

 

For all other assignments, one letter grade will be deducted for every day (including weekends) that the assignment is late. After four days, the assignment will not be accepted for credit.

 

Class Participation: You are expected to attend class regularly and be prepared so that you may intelligently discuss assigned material.  Proper preparation means reading the assigned chapters and completing daily assignments.  Warning:  This professor is well known for counting students absent when they are not prepared for class.

 

Food and Drink:  Feel free to bring food and drink to class.  Just be sure to dispose of it properly when you are finished.

 

Classroom Climate:  The success of this course is directly related to the sense of community that we will develop in this classroom.  Participation is essential to this process.  I encourage you to share your views and listen to those of others.  Debate and discussion are an important part of the learning process.  While there will no doubt be disagreements, I expect the members of this community (including myself) to challenge ideas in a manner that reflects respect and recognition of opposing viewpoints without attacking individuals. 

 

Visitors in the Classroom:  We may have visitors in our classroom from time to time.  Please make them feel welcome.  Encourage them to participate if they would like.  Let them know that we are happy to have more voices in our classroom.  

 

Advice for Online Students:  It is a good idea to work ahead.  The deadline is the LAST day work can be turned in; you can also turn in work before that date.  I did try to make all assignments due on Monday or Wednesday so that you can give yourself the time we would meet in class to work on your homework.  (With the exception of Discussion posts, which are due 5 days after the RRs are posted).  When you sit down to do your work, in particular responding on the discussion board, give yourself a nice block of time.  DonÕt rush your work.  ItÕll be pretty obvious to the rest of us and you wonÕt get as much from the class.

 

Outline of Course:  All of the following assignments and point totals are considered tentative and may change over the course of the semester due to your progress and interests. 

Topic/Face-to-Face Meeting Dates

Discussion

Artifact

Assignment due

 

1/9*

Course Policies

 

Privilege

McIntosh reading; Tim Wise video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2mjvFNOwmc

RR1 1/11;

D1 1/16

 

ÒDifferenceÓ pp 194-220, #6 Frankenberg

RR2 1/16;

D2 1/21

 

ÒThe Heart of WhitenessÓ, until p. 67

RR3 1/23;

D3 1/28

 

ÒThe Heart of WhitenessÓ, p. 67-end of book

RR4 1/30;

D4 2/4

Black Experiences

ÒDifferenceÓ pp 2-44

RR5 2/1;

D5 2/6

 

ÒDifferenceÓ #1 Smedley, #36 Gladwell

RR6 2/6;

D6 2/11

2/8*

ÒCrashÓ screening

Learning Contract due

2/13*

ÒCrashÓ (cont)

 

2/15*

Cast interview with Oprah

 

 

ÒBlack Like MeÓ until Nov. 16, 1959

RR7 2/15;

D7 2/20

 

ÒBlack Like MeÓ Nov. 16-Jan. 2, 1960

RR8 2/22;

D8 2/27

 

ÒBlack Like MeÓ Feb. 26, 1960-end of book

RR9 2/29;

D9 3/5

 

ÒDifferenceÓ #2 Davis, #38 Wise

RR10 3/7;

D10 3/12

3/14*

 

Assignment Due

Gender

Experiences

YouTube videos of AmyÕs lectures:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jDP2_PZqxQ&feature=feedu 


http://www.youtube.com/user/NSUVideo#p/u/16/E-CfN5hiums

Watch before reading for RR11

 

ÒDifferenceÓ #9 Kimmel; #25 Beneke

RR11 3/28;

D11 4/2

Experiencing Sexuality

4/2*

20/20 episode:  ÒMy Secret LifeÓ

 

Assignment due

4/4*

ÒThe Oprah Winfrey ShowÓ

 

 

Serano (electronic reading); ÒDifferenceÓ #10 Dreger

RR12 4/9

D12 4/14

Experiencing

Class

ÒDifferenceÓ #12 Zweig, #32 Larew

 

RR13 4/11

D13 4/16

 

#45 Kendall

ÒClass DismissedÓ YouTube clip

RR14 4/16

D14 4/21

4/18*

 Ò30 DaysÓ minimum wage episode

ÒMaxed OutÓ

 

4/23*

ÒMaxed OutÓ (cont)

 

Solutions

ÒDifferenceÓ #51 Cogan, #52 Johnson

RR15 4/25

D15 4/30

5/2*

 

Assignment due

Day of Final*

 

Assignment due

 

Grading:  see Learning Contract

 

Class Grievances:  I am willing to meet with you to discuss our class and/or particular assignments.  I ask that you please wait 24 hours after you have received a graded assignment to come see me.  Before we discuss your work, you are required to type out a document detailing what particular elements of your work you feel merit discussion. 

  

Plagiarism:  According to WebsterÕs New Universal Unabridged Dictionary (1983, 2nd Ed.), to plagiarize is Òto steal or pass of ideas or words of another as oneÕs ownÉto use created productions without crediting the sourceÉto commit literary theftÉto present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing sourceÓ (p.1371).  Students in this course will be responsible for authenticating any assignment submitted to the instructor.  If asked, you must be able to produce proof that the assignment you submitted is in fact your own work.  Therefore, it is recommended that you engage in a verifiable working process on assignments.  Keep copies of all drafts of your work, make photocopies of research materials, write summaries of research materials, keep logs or journals of your work on assignments and papers, learn to save drafts or versions of assignments under individual file names on computer diskettes, etc.  In addition to requiring a student to authenticate his/her work, the instructor may employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as engaging in internet searches, creating quizzes based on student work, requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally, etc.

 

Please go to http://offices.nsuok.edu/academicaffairs/SyllabiInformation.aspx for required information pertaining to:

 

Academic Misconduct

American Disabilities Act Compliance

Inclement Weather/Disaster Policy

Teach Act

Accessibility

Release of Confidential Information 

 

 Common courtesies:

      Please turn all cell phones/pagers on silent while you are in class.  Check your messages AFTER class and return the calls then.

      Do not pack up before I dismiss you.  You never know when I may say something important or give a last minute assignment.  YouÕre going to want to have that pen and paper handy.

 

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