Course Syllabus

CHID 260A: Winter 2022: Rethinking Diversity

 

Instructor: Dr. Anu Taranath. Please call me Dr. Anu. You can find out more about me and

my work at my personal website  or my English department profile. 

Class Time:  Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:30-5:20pm. This is a hybrid course that meets both

in-person and virtual. Our classroom is Fisheries Science Building 108. 

Office Hours:

Mondays from 2:00-3:30pm. My office hours will be virtual, so please send me an email at anu@uw.edu to let me know you're coming to office hours. 

Email: anu@uw.edu

Please note: I'm pretty old school. I don’t check email on my phone and need to be in front of my laptop to access email. I have a lot going on outside of this class, and sometimes take a day or so to respond to non-urgent messages. Rest assured though, I do respond to all student notes, and I’ll definitely write you back. :)

 

Course Description:

There’s quite a lot of talk around equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice, but do you sometimes wonder what these terms actually mean? This class focuses on identity and social differences in a friendly and generous atmosphere that will not shame you for not knowing. We will investigate the meanings and implications of race, gender, class, sexuality and other social differences, and discuss how ideas about “difference” and “diversity” play out in society, our campus, and our own lives. Our course texts will be a combination of scholarly essays, films, creative non-fiction, short stories and novels. This is an introductory course, designed to welcome students of all majors and intellectual interests. Our one requirement: a willingness to engage in productive, generative and collegial conversations. CHID 260A counts for the UW’s Diversity Credit.

 

Required Texts:

Anna In-Between—E. Nunez

Tell Me Who You Are--Guo & Vulchi

Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World-- A. Taranath

Brown: What Being Brown in the World Means Today-- K. Al-Solaylee

assorted readings on Canvas

 

Course expectations:

• All readings & assignments completed on assigned days; attendance and participation in virtual and in-person classes, good faith effort with assignments, course work to be turned in on time; engagement and respectfulness toward classmates, colleagues and course ideas. Late papers generally frowned upon unless you've communicated with me or something dramatic is happening in your life. In that case, please do reach out!
• If you are absent from a virtual class, first watch the class video. If you are absent from an in-person class, check with your Podmates to find out what you have missed. Once you do either of these first steps you can then contact me for additional information.
• I will be posting reading prompts, short questions, and other course information via Canvas announcements, so configure your email and notifications appropriately.

 

Assignments and Grade Distribution:

• • First Look Epistemology--2%
  • TIPS Letters—25%
  • Midterm—20%
  • Final Portfolio—20%
  • Connected to Class—3%
  • Podwork—15%
  • Class Engagement, Short Writings, and Participation—15%

 

I use the following grading system and scale:

https://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Grading_Sys.html

https://www.uwb.edu/nhs/student-resources/grading-scale

 

Class Engagement and Participation:

• The format of the class is discussion-based, whether in person or virtually over zoom; therefore, a significant portion of your final grade depends on your collaborative contributions to the course. On the most basic level of course contribution and participation, you should come to class on time and stay for the duration, having completed the readings and having given it some thought in preparation for participating in discussion.

There are multiple opportunities to participate and engage with one another, both in person and online, including: 

• • attending virtual office hours
  • engaging with peers through any or all forms of class discussion, in-person or virtual; 
  • maintaining a participation journal;
  • posing and/or responding to questions in the online chat during virtual classes and/or the canvas discussion board;
  • demonstrating effort toward creating a presence in our classroom community
  • adding a profile pic in Canvas; 
  • having video on during Zoom discussions; 
  • offering support to other students; 
  • arriving in class on time and prepared, etc.
  • collaborative engagement with class colleagues;
  • overall good faith effort to contribute to a positive and engaging classroom space.

________________________________________________________________

Schedule of Readings & Assignments, subject to revision

 

week 1—

Tues Jan 4: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom Link

introduction to course themes, philosophies, pedagogies, expectations.

Thurs Jan 6: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom Link

Read for class:

1. Tell Me Who You Are (Introduction, 1-10);
2. Anna In-Between (Chapters 1-4, through page 53),

Friday Jan 7:

First Look paper due by midnight.

 

 

week 2—

Monday Jan 10:

TIPS Letter #1 due by midnight

Tues Jan 11: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom Link

Read for class:

1. 1. Anna In-Between (Chapters 4-17, pages 54-187);
   2. Vulnerable Observer.pdf 

Thurs Jan 13: ONLINE OR IN-PERSON POD MEETINGS

Read for class 4 short articles:

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/opinion/sunday/are-college-lectures-unfair.html 

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/deeply-embarrassed-white-people-talk-awkwardly-about-race/Content?oid=9747101 

https://medium.com/the-establishment/white-people-i-dont-want-you-to-understand-me-better-i-want-you-to-understand-yourselves-a6fbedd42ddf

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/opinion/sunday/what-the-rich-wont-tell-you.html?mcubz=1

Friday Jan 14th midnight: submit Podmates Meeting #1 Notes

 

week 3—

Monday Jan 17:

TIPS Letter #2 due by midnight.

Tues Jan 18: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom link

Read for class: Anna In-Between (Chapters 18-end, 188-315);

Thurs Jan 20: ONLINE CLASS

Read for class:

1. Tell Me Who You Are (Intro & Chapter 1, through page 50)
2. Beyond Guilt Trips (Prologue, Chapters 1-2, through page 58)

 

week 4—

Monday Jan 23:

TIPS Letter #3 due by midnight.

Tues Jan 25: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom Link

Read for class:

1. Beyond Guilt Trips (Chapter 3-5, through page 112)
2. Tell Me Who You Are (Chapters 2 and 3, through page 120)

Thurs Jan 27: ONLINE CLASS

Read for class: Beyond Guilt Trips (Chapter 6-7)

 

week 5—

Monday Jan 31:

TIPS Letter #4 due by midnight.

Tues Feb 1: IN-PERSON CLASS

Read for class: Tell Me Who You Are (Chapters 4, 5 and 6)

Thurs Feb 3: IN-PERSON CLASS

Read for class: Beyond Guilt Trips (Chapters 8, 9 and Epilogue)

Fri Feb 4 midnight: submit your in-class notes on your Podmates Discussion Board

 

week 6—

Tues Feb 8: ONLINE CLASS & PODMATES MEETING

Read Frances Lee's work,

1. "Why I've Started to Fear My Fellow Social Justice Advocates" and
2. "Excommunicate Me from the Church of Social Justice"
3. Watch this TED talk: "Don't Call People Out, Call Them In" 

Thurs Feb 10: ONLINE OR IN-PERSON POD MEETINGS

Sat Feb 12th midnight:

Midterm due

 

week 7—

Mon Feb 14 midnight: Midterm Podmates Assessment Due

Tues Feb 15: ONLINE CLASS, Class Zoom Link

Read for class: Read for class: Brown (Introduction)

Thurs Feb 17: IN-PERSON CLASS

Read for class: Brown (Chapters 2 and 3)

Fri Feb 18 midnight: submit your in-class notes on your Podmates Discussion Board

 

week 8—

Monday Feb 21:

TIPS Letter # 5 due by midnight.

Tues Feb 22: IN-PERSON CLASS

1. watch this video
2. read for class: Brown (Read ONE Chapter, either Chapter  4, 5, 6 or 7, See Canvas for which group you are in)

Thurs Feb 24: ONLINE CLASS

No new reading assignment. Film screenings in class.

Friday Feb 25: Connected to Class due by midnight.

 

week 9—

Tues March 1: ONLINE CLASS

Read for class: Brown (Chapter 10)

Pod Discussion

Thurs March 3: IN-PERSON CLASS

Read for class: Tell Me Who You Are (Chapters 7 and 8)

 

week 10—

 Tues March 8: IN-PERSON CLASS

Read for class: Tell Me Who You Are (Chapters 9 and 10)

Pod Time

Wed March 9 midnight: submit your in-class notes on your Podmates Discussion Board

Thurs March 10: ONLINE OR IN-PERSON Pod meetings

 

Finals Week:  Wed March 16: Final Portfolio (which includes the Final Paper, TIPS Letter #6, and Assessment) all due by midnight

 

CLASS SET UP AND CONFIGURATIONS

This term we will learn together in two ways:

• Full class discussions will be comprised of all 40-ish of us. 
• Pods are comprised of 4-5 students. You will be working in Pods frequently this term. Pods will work on Midterms and Finals with one another.

Each of these two configurations will help us learn and grapple with the material in different and complementary ways. My teaching experience has shown me that students understand concepts more deeply when they have a chance to discuss something they have heard from me and fellow students with each other. Pod discussions are meant to nurture this kind of learning, and give you the opportunity to process, unpack and reinforce the offerings from our synchronous class time, as well as practice communication, collaboration and co-creation with each other.

 

ASSIGNMENTS

 

First Look Epistemology, due Friday Jan 7th midnight.

How is it you have come to know what you know what “diversity” might be? How does who you are effect what you know about this topic? This is a Working Paper, which implies a provisional, incomplete nature, and will be evaluated on its thoughtfulness and self-investigation. Suggested length 400-450 words/1.5-1.75 pages, double spaced, due Fri Jan 7th by midnight, uploaded to Canvas.

 

Connected to Class, due on or before Feb 25 midnight.

Attend a free lecture, film screening, performance, presentation or other online or in-person opportunity that focuses on “diversity issues? that is held either on or off campus this quarter. To make sure the event you plan to attend will count for this assignment, run your idea by your Podmates first. Write a report that briefly describes the event and explores the connections to our class readings and discussions. Suggested length 500 words/1.5 pages. Floating due date: anytime before Friday Feb 25 midnight. 

 

TIPS LETTERS

You will write one weekly TIPS Letter about the readings and themes we are discussing. The TIPS Letters is an assignment that asks you to write short letters to a range of recipients. TIPS is an acronym for

T: Things, I: Ideas, P: People, and S: Self. (Take a look here and here and especially the customer reviews for more on the original TIPS book and letters.)

You will write 7 TIPS Letters this term. Each week, I will specify which one you write, either a T, I, P or S letter. TIPS Letters will:

• be 400-500ish words each
• be due by Monday midnight
• most will speak to the readings coming up that Tuesday
• the last TIPS letter will be included in your Final Portfolio

I will be looking at your TIPS Letters and will often comment on them, though they won’t be graded in the traditional sense. If you complete all seven TIPS Letters and put good faith effort into all of them, you will receive full credit for this assignment. I’ll read your letters for the big takeaways/questions that come up to bring up in our class discussions.

 

MIDTERM PAPER

Toward the middle of the quarter, Dr. Anu will share a list of prompts and themes that have threaded our class work and readings. From this list we will select 4 prompts. Each Pod will answer each of the 4 prompts with one single-spaced page of analysis, exposition, and engagement. Pod members will decide for themselves how to configure the work equitably amongst group members. Each and every member of the Pod will receive the same Midterm Paper grade based on their collective submission (except in unusual cases).  Midterms due Saturday Feb 12th, midnight. 

Midterms will include a Pod Assessment.

 

FINAL PORTFOLIO:

1. The Final will be similar to the Midterm, where each Pod will answer 4 prompts in a single-spaced response. Each and every member of the Pod will receive the same Final paper grade based on their collective submission (except in unusual cases). Finals due by midnight, Wednesday March 16. 
2. You will write an "S" TIPS Letter, a letter to Self. This letter will be addressed to you, and reflect on your learning this term and engagement with the material. Suggested length 500 words. 
3. Pod Assessment

 

UW Mask and Face Covering Policy

Students are required to follow the University’s COVID-19 Face Covering Policy at all times when on-site at the University, including any posted requirements in specific buildings or spaces. If a student refuses to comply with the policy, the student can be sent home (to an on or off-campus residence). Student Conduct offices are available for consultations on potential violations of student conduct if needed. University personnel who have concerns that a student or group of students are not complying with this policy should speak with their supervisor, a representative of the academic unit, or report it to the Environmental Health & Safety Department. 

 

GRADING SYSTEM AND PHILOSOPHY

This course invites you to work in collaboration with me and your peers to determine what excellence means for both you and for our class. We will work toward this definition, calibrate our assignments toward this, and discuss what excellence looks like in different situations.

I grade differently than I was graded, and teach differently than I was taught. We are in a system in which grades are necessary, but that doesn’t mean they are always the right way to gauge our learning. Consider that in most learning situations outside of school, grades are rarely given. For example: in a personal enrichment yoga, dance or cooking class, grades are not part of the equation. Without any grades, students get better at yoga, dance, and cooking by putting in the time and effort and curiosity to learn. Students still learn without the pressure of grades, and perhaps might even learn more and have more fun during the process.

Now think about the kind of pressure grades put on you versus the pressure you feel in the enrichment course. Think about how you relate to your peers in a graded class versus a personal enrichment class. Some questions arise: How do grades affect learning in classrooms? What social dynamics does the presence of grades create? Who benefits from this, and what does this reflect about the work being done?

Using conventional grading structures to compute course grades often lead students to think more about their grade than about their learning. They worry about pleasing Teacher, and focus their assignments on figuring out what Teacher wants to hear. Additionally, conventional grading may cause you to play it safe and be reluctant to take risks with your writing or ideas.

There’s something of an equity issue involved in this as well. I’m guessing that we’ve all been in classes where someone comes to class already writing well and/or familiar with the concepts we are discussing. This person might be tempted to slack off because they are confident that they can pull a B+ or A-, not because they’ve learned much, but just because they’ve had a lot of practice writing essays, and they know how to parrot and please Teacher. On the other hand, we’ve all seen—or been!—the student who puts in lots of work and is super engaged, but gets a lower grade because they took risks in their writing, or because they came into the class with less familiarity with the themes, or have had less opportunity to develop their reading/writing abilities. In such cases, traditional grading structures will reward the first student and disadvantage the second student, even though the latter may have learned and stretched more than the former.

 I think a course grade should reflect your learning and work in a course, and not what you were already able to do when you entered the course. For these reasons, I use a grading system that prioritizes your learning, labor, and collaborative skills. In our class (like the yoga studio), I’ll provide you with evaluative feedback from time to time, pointing out where you have done well and where I suggest improvement. You will have many opportunities to rewrite assignments and improve your submissions. In this class, you will also learn with and from your peers by discussing together what excellence means in our class, and by helping each other and even relying on each other for feedback, guidance and ideas.

In this course, we will try to create a community of curiosity and compassion. This may sound naïve, but considering the state of our divided country, this goal seems essential to practice! We will function as collaborators with various skills, abilities, experiences, and talents that we offer the group, rather than adversaries working against each other for grades or approval by Teacher.

If you are facing challenges that prevent you from doing the work that would enable you to get a 3.0 in this class, please get in touch with me so that we can work to make arrangements that will be fair and equitable to you and to other students, and that still meet the university’s regulations on attendance, conduct, and workload in classes. Let’s try to work something out, but you have to first communicate with me and let me know what’s going on. :) Thank you all!