Sexual assault on The College campus
UNST 421-515 / CRN65615 / 6 credits / Spring 2009 / TR 12:00 – 1:50 pm/ NH 258
Assignments:
The Reflection Journal:
Processing Scholarship, Practice, Experience
One tool to assist you in making meaning of your class sessions, team and community practice, and personal experience in this Capstone is the reflection journal. In this journal, you will engage with the ideas presented in our course content, explore the connections between the theoretical and the practical issues you discover through your community work, and process the intersections of your personal experience with your team and community work.
Reading the journals you and your classmates prepare gives me insight into how I might frame our ongoing course experience. It also opens the door to a one-on-one written dialogue that you and I will share in these next 10 weeks.
Content: Your weekly journal entry is due each Tuesday starting the second week of the term, with Reflection 10 completed during our final class session. In your syllabus I have given you a set of framing questions to address in the following week’s journal entry. You may choose to address some or all of the questions, and you may also add your own curiosities beyond the scope of the questions. In addition, you may include suggestions for new and/or different approaches for our class or voice concerns you have regarding the class.
When and how to write: To prepare to write your journal entry, I suggest that you sit with and think about the framing questions (or other questions of your choice) for a good while. Live with the questions, and let them live in you. Then sit and write your way into your response. If you are fully engaged with the questions, you may not know where your writing will take you, and that’s a good thing in a reflection. Each reflection should take you someplace you didn’t know you were headed, as you discover the meaning this experience has for you as an individual. Write the reflection only you can write.
Please type all journals. Journals should be double spaced with 12 point, Journals should range from 350-500 words
Evaluation: Entries are worth 10 points each. If you turn in the on time and have clearly engaged with the questions (mine or your own), you will receive full points for it. Each individually prepared journal will be returned to you no later than the following week.
Late entries: Because your journal entries help me frame our class experience as it evolves and is revealed in your writing, I’ll deduct a point per day that any journal entry is late. Please contact me if you need to make special arrangements for turning in your entry.
Confidentiality: I will keep the contents of individual journals turned in to me completely confidential. No other person will read or hear about your writing, unless you choose to show or tell.
Choose an object/icon/image/photo/expression that represents you (or some part of you) in the world and somehow intersects with this course (as you currently understand it) at this time. Consider your likes and dislikes, from where and from whom you originate, your characteristic ways of being and doing, your lived experiences, your passions, your interests, what wakes you up in the morning and keeps you awake and alive throughout the day…
After spending sufficient time considering what item you might choose to represent you, make some notes for yourself in response to one or more of these prompts:
How did you begin to approach this reflection assignment? What objects/icons/images/photos/expressions were included in your set of possibilities? How did you ultimately choose this expression?
What is the history of this expression with you (and you with it)? How does this expression represent something about who you are and what you bring into our class community and into your work with your community partner (as you currently understand it)?
What is something you bring into our class community and into your work with your community partner that is not represented in this expression? How does that something symbolize who you are and what you bring into this experience?
If you had done this assignment a year ago, do you think you would have chosen this same expression? Why or why not? If you were to do this assignment a year from now, do you imagine you would choose the same expression? Why or why not? How do you suppose your experience as a Capstone student working with your particular community partner might impact your answer to this question?
For Thursday’s class, bring the object/icon/image/photowith you/expression with you, and be prepared to share some aspect of its significance in an in-class go-around. I encourage you to make and use notes in order to distill your sharing into a 3-5 minute oral reflection on who you are and how you bring yourself into this experience.
Please include TWO sections
Section ONE: A 2-4 page paper describing the following:
- Your group’s established roles, norms and rules
- How will you make decisions?
- How will you handle conflict?
- Agreements around communication, attendance etc.
- A brief description of the plan your group is formulating. If it is still in flux, discuss the options on the table and the factors at play in your decision making
- A description of what you bring to the group. This might be knowledge or skills from classes or experience in the community. It might be that you have an asset like a truck or community connections or access to computer software or perhaps the work fits with your career goals. Really consider what you have to offer here.
Section TWO:
(Each group member must attach her/his own copy) Attach a table including the name of your group, the names of the members in your group, each person’s e-mail & phone number, whether or not they check e-mail regularly, role in the group if you choose to assign permanent roles (such as note taker, facilitator etc…), and any other information you think would be helpful to have as a quick reference.
On a separate sheet of paper please answer the following questions. Answers should be typed and proof-read.
- Who is your target population? (Who are you trying to affect?)
- What are your methods or tactics? (What are you going to do?)
- Why did you choose these tactics? What makes them appropriate for this target population? How did your group decide on these tactics? Did you consider others?
Please fill out the following tables. Answers should be legible and clearly written.
Goals of group project:Example: Will distribute 1000 flyers. / How goal will be measured:
Example: Will count the number of flyers we distribute.
1
2
3
Task / Timeline/ Due Date / Person Responsible
Debate: I don’t know, what do you think? - 5-7-09
Purpose:
- To explore more deeply current laws regarding sexual assault
- To challenge and support various ramifications of current laws on community, survivors, and offenders.
You will be randomly selected for a debate team. You will be debating either for or against Oregon’s Measure 11 or Megan’s Law. It will be the responsibility of each team member to research arguments for your team. As a team you will choose who will debate, who will keep time, and who will take notes. Your points will be based on the research notes you took due to me on the day of the debate as well as your participation.
PSU Women’s ResourceCenter
Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2009& April Events
April 8th: Double Feature Film Night
Join us to watch and discuss two Carol Leigh films about the sex industry and sex workers: “Outlaw Poverty, Not Prostitutes" and "Sex Workers Take Back the Night"
7-8:30pm @ the WRC
April 16th:“Drunk Sex” – a production by Act for Action
Is it rape or just drunk sex? Who decides? Join Act for Action in finding solutions to sexual assault on campus. Free event sponsored by the Tri-County Sexual Assault Task Force.
4:00-6:00 pm, SMU 238
April 23rd :Bike Back the Night – hosted by Portland Women’s Crisis Line
PWCL invites you to bring your wheels, bring a friend and Bike Back the Night!
Check in: 4:30 pm Col Sumner Park (18thSE Taylor),
Ride begins at 6 p.m. sharp
April 23rd: Take Back the Night
March and Rally To end sexual violence: Featuring Spoken Word, Survivor Speak-out, Queer Hip-Hop and local band Felicia & The Dinosaur
7:00pm @ PSUPark Blocks
April 28th:Feminist Perspectives in Pop Culture Lecture Series
Featuring The Guerilla Girls!
7:00pm @ the Smith Memorial Ballroom. Tix @ PSU box office
For more info on all events see or call 503-725-5672
Discussion of novel- Due May 28th
Purpose:
- To hear a first-hand account of sexual assault and how it impacts people’s lives.
- To reflect on how the novel affected you and how the memoir applies to society, systems, and teachings from class.
Please write 5-10 discussion questions on the novel, due May 28th. You will get up to 15 points for your questions. I will be looking for thoughtfully written questions which demonstrate that you have read the entire novel. You will receive up to 10 points for participating in the group discussion on May 28th. Please refer to the following guidelines for writing good discussion questions.
Creating Discussion Questions
- Good discussion questions are not answered by "yes" or "no." Instead they lead to higher order thinking (analysis, synthesis, comparison, evaluation) about the work and the issues it raises.
- Good discussion questions call for more than simply recalling facts or guessing what the teacher already wants to know, but are open-ended, leading to a variety of responses. Good questions recognize that readers will have different perspectives and interpretations and such questions attempt to engage readers in dialogue with each other.
- Good discussion questions depend on a careful reading of the text. They often cite particular scenes or passages and ask people to look at them closely and draw connections between these passages and the rest of the work.
- Good discussion questions are simply and clearly stated. They do not need to be repeated or reworded to be understood.
- Good discussion questions are useful to the students. Good questions can help to clarify passages or issues students may find difficult. They help students understand cultural differences that influence their reading. They invite personal responses and connections.
- Good discussion questions make (and challenge) connections between the text and other works, and the themes and issues of the course.
Purpose:
- To assess your success based on goals set at the beginning of the term.
- Explain the process of assessing the target population. Discuss any difficulties deciding on the target population or deciding how to reach them.
- Explain how you met or did not meet each of your goals. Use examples from your project to support your argument.
- What tactics/methods did you use and how successful were they? Would you suggest using these tactics/methods to another group?
- How your team’s service project added to the overall mission of ending sexual assault and how does your service project relates to the other team’s projects.
- What advice would you give to another class working on a similar project?
Purpose:
- To present to the full group your team’s service project
- To learn from one another’s methods, strategies, and experiences
At this time, please turn in any materials you have developed. Master or electronic copies are ideal. Your group will get an incomplete grade if all materials are not turned in.
Isenstein / Sexual Assault on Campus / Spring 2009 1