Homework assignments will be posted on this space on Thursdays. I will go over the assignment in class as well.
Homework Assignment #10 (must be posted no later than May 1st at noon).
Along with your movie you need to post a paragraph describing the movie’s main points and the message you want viewers to take away with them after watching it.
Homework Assignment #9 (Due Tuesday April 15th at the beginning of class).
Blog Research Presentation
Tuesday you will be presenting your social justice issue to a group in the class. You will each have 12 minuets including time for questions from your group.
For your presentation you should:
- Begin by clearly describing the issue you have been researching and blogging about all semester.
- What is the main problem? Who does it affect? How? Are there variable affects on people due to 1) nation 2) race 3) gender or other factors (and/or combinations of these)
- What is the pertinent history of this issue (is it recent? is it connected to colonial or other structures, etc)?
- Make sure to give a thorough description of the specific social justice issues involved (i.e. What rights, resources and opportunities are denied? What structures of exploitation or abuses exist? )
- Give a clear explanation of the various points of view on this issue i.e not just “for” or “against” or “good”/ “bad”).
- Clearly state your position and WHY you came to that conclusion BASED on your research—give specific examples, facts, etc. That is, your opinion of WHY you take the stance you do MUST be backed up by evidence.
- Give a few examples of WHAT people are doing about the issue (protests, campaigns, political involvement, new legislation, etc)
Your presentation will be oral but of course you can use notes. You may also provide your group with a flyer or other type of visual aid if you like (this is not required).
You will also turn in a one-page, single-spaced, typed version of your presentation. If you have visual aids turn in a copy of these as well.
Homework Assignment #8 (Due Tuesday April 8th at the beginning of class).
First Read Chapters 1-2 (plus the introduction) of Brewing Justice. Then bring in one fair trade product (should have certified label on it) to class on Tuesday. Along with your product write one paragraph (typed single-spaced) describing the product, the “normal market” in which similar products that are not fair trade circulate (how much sold worldwide, average price, type of production process, social justice issues) and the fair trade market in which your product circulates (how much sold worldwide, average price, type of production process, social justice issues).
Be ready to share your product and your information with the class on Tuesday.
Homework Assignment #6-7 (worth double) Due April 1 (Tuesday) at the beginning of class
Final video storyboard
For your blog project you need to create a video that visually demonstrates the argument or point of your blog. Thus far you have been amassing information about your social justice topic. At this point in the semester you should have a pretty good idea about where you stand on your topic, its main set of contentions, the advocates for and against and the main sets of issues that fall under the umbrella of your topic.
For your homework this week you need to create a storyboard for your final video. A storyboard is like a rough draft on paper. You go step by step through the video. You should have a title, the main points, the visuals and music (or other audio) you will use a clear idea of what your goal is for the video. What message are you trying to get across? Who is your audience? How is the best way to make your point? What images will be the most effective?
You can either sketch in your visuals or cut out images–either way it needs to be CLEAR to ME what the visual is, what it represents and how you are using it. Use the template below to produce your storyboards (the first page shows you how to use the template–what areas to fill in with what specific information, pages 2 and 3 are two different versions of the template you can use either). Here is the template:digitalstorytellingstoryboard.doc
Homework Assignment #5 Due March 4 at the beginning of class
Water Footprint
Go to the Water footprint website here. Read through the “Introduction” and “Concept” pages. Then, on the left side of the main page go to “footprint calculator” and then to “individual water footprint extended calculator.”
- Calculate your water footprint.
- Visually represent your water footprint as well as the national water footprint of the US.
- Write two paragraphs explaining your water consumption pattern, its relation to the national footprint and how your own water consumption does or does not affect the emerging global water crisis as depicted in the movie “World Without Water.”
- In some way affix your visual representation to the page with your paragraph.
Homework Assignment #4 Due Feb 26 at the beginning of class
In the movie “This is What Democracy Looks Like” we saw protests in Seattle in 1999 aimed directly at the WTO meetings and indirectly at the policies and practices of global institutions that set the rules for the global economy. In the movie we saw “direct action” movements including non-violent protests, marches and sit-ins. In the movie “Eyes on the Prize” (ain’t scared of your jails) we take a look back at civil rights movements in the United States. The movie shows lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides and other forms of protest against racial discrimination in the US all aimed at changing laws and social practices.
For your homework this week you need to:
- write a 2-page (single-spaced) analysis of the two social justice movements depicted in these films.
- Discuss their similarities and differences, as well as how social justice movements have changed and what the potential lessons from the past are for future movements focused on redefining democracy.
- Use both of the films as well as discussions from class and material from Naomi Klein’s Fences and Windows in your essay.
- Your paper should have a clear thesis statement. A thesis statement argues for a position. In other words you have to take a stand and persuasively make your case using the films, class discussions and Klein’s book for your evidence. Generally thesis statements are the first sentence of an essay, if not they should certainly be in the first paragraph. Your reader (me) needs to know what you are arguing in order to evaluate the merits of your case.
- If you aren’t sure about how to write a thesis statement check out this website.
- You may also e-mail me a draft of your thesis statement if you would like me to read it before you turn in your essay on Tuesday.
Homework Assignment #3 Due Feb 12 at the beginning of class
In “Fences and Windows” Naomi Klein argues that practices and policies of the current form of globalization have created fences (real and virtual) that keep people shut of from basic services, human rights, and most significantly the spaces and means to make democracy a reality. She points to direct action organizing, participation by citizens in government, and transparency for corporations as some of the ways in which democracy can be restored in the new global system. In the movie “This is What Democracy Looks Like” we heard the protesters in Seattle chant “our streets” and challenge the attempted denial of their rights to assemble, protest and speak freely and openly about the WTO by staging protests and forging solidarities across differences.
For your homework this week you need to:
- Create a “This is What Democracy Looks Like” poster that visually depicts democracy in action. You should also have some text on the poster. Use images and words that highlight the issues discussed in Fences and Windows, in the movie and in our class discussions.
- You may use computer-generated images and photos, your own designs, cut outs from magazines and newspapers, whatever you like.
- You can create your own slogan to go along with the images if you like.
- Whatever you decide your poster needs to be evocative and persuasive.
- You will present your poster to the class on Tuesday so be ready to tell us about the poster and your ideas behind it.
Homework Assignment #2 Due Feb 5 at the beginning of class
Social Justice blog–pages assignment
Your blog should have “pages” or “tabs” that give people information about your social justice issue. You can have as many as you like, but you MUST have at least three and they MUST include “history” “how to get involved” and “facts” (or terms like this you can be creative if you’d like).
For your homework you need to:
Add text, images and if you want video to ALL of your pages. You need to have pertinent information, organized in a way that is easily accessible, and you should have links to other sites so people know where you got your information. You can get your information from any type of sources you like, books, websites other blogs. But you need to present an informed view and cite your sources.
Each page should have at least one paragraph of information—you could also use bullet points if you find it easier for listing facts etc.
Homework Assignment #1 Due Jan 22 at the beginning of class
Social Justice Blog online with the following:
- a title for your blog that reflects the issue
- multiple tabs (these are called “pages” in wordpress)
- widgets (these are applications on posted to the side of the blog such as “most recent post” “calendar” “search” and you can add a text box to say something about the blog
- at least TWO other blogs or sites on your blogroll that address the issue you are dealing with
- ONE PARAGRAPH as your first blog entry on the main page (you can add other information under your other tabs if you’d like as well as this point but it is not required, yet.)
- The paragraph should be an INTRODUCTION to the blog: what its purpose is (to examine X), what the issue you will be blogging about is (the social justice issue), basic information about the topic (who it effects, how, what the main points of contention are, who the players in the debate are, what the different opinions on the issue are, etc)
Once you have your blog ready THEN go to the class blog and paste in your blog address and a one sentence description of your blog topic under the Question: “what is your blog about”
Below is the evaluation terms for your Reading Question Assignments (you have 5 due throughout the semester)
- Question states clearly and with relevance to the reading (3 points)
- Response critically engages with the chapter’s materials (10 points)
- Grammar, coherent structure, required length, format (4 points)
- Response uses quotes from the materials to advance argument or clarify a point (5 points)
- Response engages the themes of the class (8 points)
My website is http://askodje.wordpress.com/ My blog is about the corruption of the United States government, and how lobbyists use their money as a means of obtaining their economic and political agendas.
My website is
http://illegalimmigration50.wordpress.com
My topic is going to be on illegal immigration and amnesty and the issues surrounding them.
Cory Pearson
My website is http://margaretpatry.wordpress.com/ . My blog focuses on the unjust human trafficking and forced prostitution taking place in Nigeria.
My website is http://eash22.wordpress.com/ My blog is about racism within Public school systems across the United States.
My website is: http://tunguyen08.wordpress.com/
My blog is about the corruption in Viet Nam’s.