merrikay boylan wrote:
> As part of my class requirements, my students write a paper regarding
> their own ethnic background, its beliefs and values about marriage,
> children, divorce, sexuality, etc. and their own agreement or
> disagreement with these ideas. I have received wonderful papers about
> Ireland, Africa, England, Korea, Sweden, etc., etc. I keep wondering
> how I can have 150 students share this great info with each other
> without total chaos. Some ethnic groups have only one class member,
> some many more. Presenting in front of a group of course is difficult
> for many, so if there is only one student in the group??? I am thinking
> of an end of the year celebration with food, etc. Some teachers use
> posters or? Any ideas or suggestions? I have ethical concerns also
> about grading students in a manner that would somewhat force them to go
> public with their ethnicity. Any suggestions appreciated.
Why have them only research their own background? Why not give them a choice of
exploring
their own traditions or one different than their own? This would overcome the issue
of
"forcing" individuals to "go public" with their ethnicity.
Additionally, this would avoid the difficulty for those whose ethnicity may be less
than
clear. For example, students whose family tree may be very checkered or for students
who
may have been adopted.
Another concern is that one would need to know what part of a country and what group
they
belonged to within that country to adequately explore their own background. This
applies
to what we may perceive as relatively homogeneous countries such as Germany or England
and
magnifies considerably when we start discussing multinational continents such as
Africa.
In terms of presentation and disemination of information, a cultural event is always
fun
with differing foods and attires.
A web site is another idea. I had my students develop a web page for my history of
women
in psychology course (also included anthropology and sociology). A similar sort of
page
could be created and then would not only serve as a resourse for students but others
as
well. For cultures not described in class, links could be provided. Thus, students
would
be active in exploring a variety of cultures.
My students so enjoyed their endeavor that even though the class ended last May,
students
are still adding papers to the site. Lillien Martin was just added this week!
Best wishes,
linda
****************************************
linda m. woolf, ph.d.
associate professor - psychology
Web Page: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's (and woman's) best friend. . . .
Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
- Groucho Marx
****************************
Webster University
470 East Lockwood
St. Louis, Missouri 63119
