DISCUSSION 2: Identity, Power, and Visual Literacy through the lens of Roger Shimomura

– Discussion 2: Group 1

As mentioned in Discussion Submissions and Replies: Guidelines for Constructive Dialog, a heavy emphasis is placed on a submit and respond format using Discussion Boards and students are expected to respond in a timely and critical manner that reflects the vocabulary and information presented in class.

PLEASE NOTE: A successful discussion depends on everyone’s participation, DO NOT wait until the last minute to post because your peers will be depending on you for content.

To earn full credit in discussion assignments, your submission must show a engagement with course concepts, a strong attempt to complete all parts of the assignment in a thoughtful and professional manner, and participation in giving/receiving respectful and constructive replies.

Goals of this discussion
Foster community through discourse- we develop and understand identity through communicating.
Practice visual literacy skills through analyzing a work of art.
Put critical frameworks into practice by applying the vocabulary and content from the readings.
Participate in dialogical learning with peers surrounding topics of social identity and power.
Connect current events and popular culture to an understanding of how humans are socialized to perceive difference.

Part 1: Submit Initial Analysis

1 initial post, 250 words total.
Users must post before seeing replies.
Include references from the texts and coursework.
You will be provided with an image under the discussion prompt and assigned to groups of 5-6 for this assignment.

1. Provide an initial analysis about the artwork by addressing your interpretation of the following (250 words total for entire submission):

Subject Matter: Refers to the persons, objects , places, and events in a work of art. What does the art depict or what am I looking at? For this exercise, keep this part brief.
Content: The emotional or intellectual message of an artwork. What is the essential meaning, significance, or aesthetic value? What does it communicate and how is it intended to make us feel?
Context:  The set of circumstances or facts that surround the creation of the work of art. In other words, when, where, and for what purpose was the work made? What issues or experiences prompted the artist to make the work they made?
2. Back up your statements with references from the textbooks and the week’s coursework- as emerging cultural researchers this is your evidence for your claims. It also demonstrates your engagement with the course materials. I will be looking for this criteria during assessment. Consider using the MLA Handbook to help with organizing your references and/or providing in-text citations.

Your weekly assignments are a place for you to demonstrate your understanding of the concepts presented in the readings and weekly coursework. In some ways, it can be considered a sort of “learning journal” where you will be provided questions that encourage you to consider how the concepts we are studying are experienced within your own life and experiences. Please feel free to open up and share in these assignments as the content reflects a dialog between yourself and the instructor alone.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Reflecting on Power
350 word min.
3 references with page numbers.

Difference Matters. Chapter 2: Reflection Matters – Page 38, question #8
Narrate a personal example of resistance in an organizational context.

Instructions
In the form of a brief story explain what happened and why (use references from the text to provide support for what power narratives may have been at play.) Or, if you do not have a story from your life, you may obtain a story from someone you know, or from the media (i.e. a movie, work of art, piece of literature, video game, or television show).
Include at least 3 references with page numbers from the assigned readings that support or help illustrate your narrative. You are not limited to the Difference Matters text for your resources, however, it should be considered your primary source for this assignment.

Tips

Emphasize communication processes that the individuals enacted.
Do your best to identify any dominant and/or non-dominant groups or narratives at play.
Utilize vocabulary found in the text/s for the week.
Feel free to embed images or links if necessary.
Review the list of dominant ideologies in Chapter 2 and select any that may apply to your story.
Use the MLA Handbook to help with organizing your references and/or providing in-text citations.

Food for thought… Roger Shimomura once encountered an incident in one of his organizations- his job as a painting professor at Kansas University. While he was working in his office late one night, a custodian confronted him about trespassing in a professor’s office. He didn’t even bother listening to Shimomura’s explanation because the custodian had already concluded that Shimomura was an older international student who couldn’t speak English (despite being born and raised in Seattle). Shimomura had the police called on him for working in his office simply because he “didn’t look like the other professors” at the university who were predominantly white. This is one of many incidents that prompted Shimomura’s focus on creating art with themes of “resistance.”