Transcription
Hey everyone, hope that you're doing well and staying safe. So, this week again, we're talking about power. Now, if you just started this lecture and you haven't gone the other one, please stop what you're doing and go and watch the other video first. It's going to make this a lot more understandable.
Right, going through this material on that video, I talked about the difference between little "p" power and capital "P" power. Again, those are not definitions, those are just ways I use to differentiate the categories. So, this chapter, this discussion from class, is interpersonal power and influence. Right, that's what we talked about in the lecture, that's what the slides were, that's what the textbook talks about, the relationship with power within relationships. So, the power I have over you as a student, an instructor, a boss and an employee, parents, siblings, partners, etc. Um, but like I said on that video, that is not the only type of power that exists.
So, power exists in institutions and cultures and societies and norms and customs as well, and that power communicates how we should behave and act a lot of times. So, this one, excuse me, is a little bit more insidious. A lot of times, it's more difficult to identify because it's something that's just entrenched within society. And so, what I want to do is explore this a lot more. And the way to do that, I have decided, is with the analysis paper.
So, this is the second one of the semester. So, if you're looking at this now and if you've read it already, it seems a lot more complex than it is. So, I'm going to take the time to use this video to kind of explain the assignment and what, what I'm expecting of you. So, like last time, this is should have three pages of content, but this time it will have outside research that you should include as well. So, if you have trouble with that, please let me know.
So, we're going to talk about how scholars understand power. So, power is so nuanced and so complex. Many different people have different theories about how power works in different contexts. Um, so, for communication studies, which is obviously what my major is, um, different scholars understand power in a certain way through communication. If you are a psych major, again, power is at play in different ways. So, power exists in almost every discipline, every discipline that you could think of that you could potentially be a member of or is your major, um, someone has probably talked about power and the power structure within some form of society. And so, I want to leave this focused on power, but also open-ended because I want you to truly enjoy this process.
And so, I'm going to give you a little bit of feedback about why I'm doing this assignment. In addition to, um, talking about power, when I was in school, I was not a big fan of like doing the research and writing papers. It was not my thing. When it's just, uh, very to be honest, was kind of boring and monotonous to figure out like, oh, here's a theory, let's talk about blah, blah, blah. And that's how a lot of colleges structured, especially undergraduate classes. It's just like, this is the theory, memorize it, regurgitate or write more about it, research it. And it's not that interesting. I mean, we do that in this class, that's almost expected of this process. I found that I started to really enjoy scholarship more once I focused more on the scholars themselves and less on the research that they conducted. Obviously, that is important, but it wasn't the main idea. And so, I think where my mind was expanded a little bit, at least, was that instead of just being like, um, this theory is something that I want to understand, it's like, who created that theory and why? Like, what is the context surrounding it? Like, these theories don't just appear, artificial intelligence doesn't just create a theory, right? So, a human with real-life experiences and ideas and thoughts and interactions and perceptions of the world creates a theory based on this understanding, the research they've conducted, etc. And I think once you start to understand the person and who they are, it's easier to gravitate towards that type of research and especially that type of discipline. So, if you're like, oh, this person sounds really interesting based on this theory, I'm going to look up more of their theories and read more of their texts. And then you start to accumulate your knowledge of those theories in your discipline. And I find that to be much more enriching. And so, that's a part of this assignment as well, because I want you to to kind of try different focus of research. So, instead of just straight up telling me a theory, I want you to tell me about a person who created a theory.
So, hopefully, this is engaging. You do not have to pick someone in communication studies. You can, and I have listed some examples. If you have have no idea where to go to, I can give you some examples of scholars that I have worked with in my past, not personally, but obviously have researched. But I encourage you to pick someone within your realm of interest. And if you don't have anybody or you don't know, you could obviously use mine, but I would again encourage you to go through your ideas about what you want to do, your major, and do some a little bit more research on that because I think that'll make this a little bit more enriching as well.
Okay, so you can pick a person, live or dead. And I use scholar lightly. Um, I'm not saying like they have to have a PhD from an Ivy League. It's, it's, um, loosely based because I know not all like technical scholars, um, are the only ones who write information. But it should be someone who is vetted, who is credible, and has, um, research that is published. Okay, so it should not just be some random diatribe from some idiot vlogger on YouTube. It should be someone with some significance in their community, in their discipline. Okay.
So, I'm going to give you an example from a book from comm studies. So, critical scholars can be described as those who investigate how power, oppression, and privilege are the products of certain forms of communication throughout society. Critical scholars are particularly interested in how messages reinforce oppression in society. Critical theorists are particularly interested in uncovering oppressive social conditions and power arrangements in order to promote emancipation or a freer and more fulfilling society. So, this is critical scholars in communication. So, critical scholars is not just critical scholars who are in comm. So, you can be a critical scholar, and that idea of a critical scholar is that they're investigating power and oppression and privilege, etc. But critical scholars are looking at that through the lens of communication. So, critical scholars are not only found in communication. That's an example of how some type of scholarship is focused on power and oppression. Okay. And again, this should not be one-on-one power. We've already talked about that, right? We've already talked about that. You've had a lecture, you've read the textbook, all that stuff. So, we're not talking about one-on-one power. We're talking about systems of power. Like the criminal justice system is a good example. You're not talking about how one officer oppressed one person. You're saying the system is oppressive of people of color, for example. And so, that system, right, can lead to individual examples, but I'm not focused on those individual examples here because that would be interpersonal power and privilege. Okay. So, again, choose a scholar that you connect with and some sort of research that they have written.
Okay, so you're going to have three pages of content, like last time. Uh, make sure you're using in-text citations and you're using APA format. So, you should have a reference, a works cited page after your conclusion. If you have no idea where to go to do that, you can obviously talk to me and I'll help you. If you Google Purdue APA, there's a really good, really detailed free source as to how you can cite sources. So, this would be what your, uh, speeches, or sorry, your paper itself would look like. So, intro, three body paragraphs, conclusion, work cited. So, intro and conclusion, I feel like you know how to do that. If you don't, let me know. A body, this is where the majority of your content will be. One paragraph outlining some background of the scholar. So, this is where we talk about the person. So, I'm interested not just in research, but the human behind that research. Okay, so talk about the scholar. Don't make it boring and just tell us where they went to school. Discuss the background to their research, how they found themselves writing this type of scholarship, notable life experiences, etc. Don't give us something we can needlessly find on Wikipedia. So, don't just say this person was born on this day in this time in this state and they went to school here. Like, who cares unless it's related to their scholarship? Then write it. So, if those life experiences are related to what they wrote about later and that formed their basis of understanding of power, then write it. But don't just give me boring information. One paragraph where you choose at least one theory, book, piece of research that you would like to address. How can this theory expand our understanding of communication in general? Why is this a notable theory to have for us to have knowledge on? So, even though you can choose a scholar outside of communication, it's still, that understanding can influence our understanding of communication. So, a lot of these disciplines are interrelated. So, you can say that this theory and this discipline is something that helps us understand communication in general, right? So, you should be able to translate that at least. So, when I say at least one theory, book, piece of research, don't go crazy. Uh, don't pick a scholar and like, they have this hundred books that I want to talk about. You can't, there's not physically enough space to write about. So, if you want to do a book, you can, um, but I would like this to be very detailed and not very surface level. So, my suggestion is to go with something that you can dive deeply in and is not surface level. So, instead of picking an entire book and trying to do everything, you may want to pick one theory out of that book, for example. But I leave that up to you. Um, one paragraph discussing how the scholar and/or their research impacts you as a student, person. Why did you choose it? What is meaningful about the scholar to you? And again, show me the connection. Why do you think this person is interesting? Why did you read their work and be like, this is cool? Or why did you look up their life and be like, fascinating, I find connection to that? So, tell me why there should be a reason why you're picking this person other than I had to do it for the assignment. So, again, pick someone whom you want to write more about, who you would like to learn more about to expand your knowledge on whatever subject you have chosen. Okay, conclusion and works cited.
So, these are some examples. Those I connect to, um, but these are not only examples you can choose from. Most of these are comm scholars, but obviously, they have, um, they have impact in different disciplines. So, you won't just see them there as well. B. H. Boyer, Paulo Freire, Kenneth Burke, Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Gloria Anzaldúa. I mean, I could add to this list. As I'm reading literature now, these are just some examples that I would went through in grad school. Um, Michelle Alexander is a good example I just read. So, there's a lot of, um, especially now we're talking about anti-racism literature, so Coates or Kendi and stuff like that. So, those types of people would be considered scholars in this case. So, even if they're not a traditional academic, you know, if they have published work that discusses this and some notoriety in their field, write it. Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands, like why would you pick that person? What about this person's life gravitated you towards them? Or what about their scholarship gravitated you towards them? Um, and again, talk about something interesting. So, Paulo Freire, he lived in Brazil and there was, um, civil unrest, and he noticed that there is a lot of discrepancy in the education system in that country. And that led him to expand on his understanding of communication within education. So, he wrote the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and that's what led him to those, um, ideas and theories. So, that life experience, again, main point one would be what led to the theory. And so, if you don't want to talk about Pedagogy of the Oppressed because it's a well, it's not a massive book, but there's a lot of content in there for you to discuss. You could say, like, I want to talk about a banking model versus problem-posing education. That would be an example of what you could do to go into more detail and how that, uh, is focused on power. So, again, don't lose sight of the fact this is about power. Okay. So, when you talk about theory, book, piece of research, again, make sure you're always thinking about how this is related to power. So, it should be about communication, but also about institutional power as well. So, a lot of students kind of lose sight of that because they get sucked into the nitty-gritty of the work and the scholar, but don't lose sight of the fact that we're talking about power. Okay.
So, all of these documents here are available to you on campus. I just wanted to give you some more feedback and obviously let me know if you have questions or concerns. Now, this is an example paper. There are three examples on Canvas that you can look at. Um, and this student wrote about Roxane Gay and the book Bad Feminist. So, again, don't go crazy. This seems a lot more difficult than it is. Students usually fall into one of two categories. One, they're like, boom, um, I just read the assignment guidelines and I know I want to talk about. I read them in another class or I've just heard about them recently and I want to learn more. And then other students flounder for a while. They're like, I don't know what to do, who to go, where do I look, what do I find? So, if you're on that end of the spectrum, then come and talk to me, talk to your peers, um, look at some of the examples I gave you. You don't have to choose them, but that could help guide you into similar authors who talk about similar things that you gravitate more towards. So, don't freak out. Um, just, you know, communicate with me or take some time to do some research and you should be okay. So, again, this is their example. I'm not going to read it to you. You can do that as well, but you should have at least three pages of content again, and you should be citing sources, uh, in your text, and you should also have a works cited page when you are done. So, this is a more heavily research-based assignment because we've progressed in the semester. You have more, uh, content, a little bit more complexity than your first.
Okay, now I'm also going to offer you an extra credit assignment. So, some of you have asked for this. Um, some of you have had, let's say, like a poor exam or the presentation didn't go as well as you want, or you missed a couple discussions, and it's not a reflection on you, it's just some circumstances happen. So, I want to give you some opportunity to do some extra credit. Okay. So, this is in tandem with your analysis paper. You would submit this at the exact same time. So, I'm going to repeat that. If you choose to do this extra credit, it is due with the analysis paper. So, there's not a next submission link. So, what you would do is on your analysis paper, um, after the works cited, you would submit your annotated bibliography. Now, if you never heard an annotated bibliography, what it is, is just a very detailed list of sources. And those in that, uh, detailed list, you cite them correctly like an APA format. And then you do three things: you summarize, assess, and reflect on them. So, although this is not the most exciting work, it is a really good way to truly understand the articles that you're pulling. So, not just for this class, but any, any type of research you do for another class, it does help you, um, understand in detail the articles that you have selected, whether they're credible and useful, and how you can implement them effectively in your work, presentation, etc., whatever you happen to be doing in that class. So, I'm not going to read this to you again. You have this information as well, but it's worth a total of 25 points. So, technically, if you submit this with the analysis paper and you get full credit on that, you can get 175 out of 150 on your analysis paper. Now, you don't have to do this. This is obviously extra credit for those of you who want to bump up your scores or if you're concerned with the quality of your analysis paper and you want, you know, a little bit of extra. You don't have to do all of them as well. So, what I'm going to do is give you five points per source that you annotate. Um, yeah, so five points per article that you annotate. So, if you only want to do one, you can and get five points. Again, this is not just you do it, you get credit. Like, you have to do a good job. But you can do one for five points, you can do three for 15 points, you can do five for 25 points. So, 25 points is the max. And if you think about the assignment guidelines, everyone has to cite three sources anyway. So, if you just annotate those sources in this type of fashion, then you can get 15 extra points. So, at minimum, I would do that. You know, it's a good starting point. But if you want them, you know, you want bank for your buck, then do all five. There's an example on Canvas as well. This is just an example of a past student's one. So, the bibliography, so you have the reference in full APA citation, then you have a summary paragraph, then an assessment paragraph, and then a reflection paragraph. So, this whole thing would be worth five points. So, if you only submitted this after your paper, it'd be worth five points. So, the student did one, two, three, four, and five. So, oh, actually way more than five, but they only got 25 points. Um, they went a little bit crazy, but that's okay. So, you, you can get 25 points max. And again, this is not submitted separately. Um, this is submitted with your analysis paper. So, you have the paper, start to finish, works cited, annotated bibliography. Just attach it to the bottom and submit that on the day the assignment is due. So, I'm making this extra credit stuff its own module, just so you can differentiate it. So, it's going to come right after the week 12 module. So, you can see that the extra credit module, it won't have a submission, like I said, but it'll have the guidelines and it will have an example for you to look at. If you have any questions, again, try not to get stressed out. This, although, yeah, it is a complex assignment, it's not meant to be tricky. Um, I've laid out what the main points are going to be, so it should be fairly straightforward. The biggest hurdle you'll find is maybe selecting the person that you want to analyze and just making sure that you understand the difference between interpersonal power and institutional power. So, again, in, in a personal power is just one-on-one power that exists within a one-on-one relationship. Institutional power is society's power. So, you could say, um, interpersonal power, if you have a relationship and it's a man and a woman, and in the society, gender roles have structured it so that the man has more power in that relationship. Interpersonal power, because of that, that person may be viewed as having more power. But the gender roles in that society or that culture have influenced the communication within that group. So, the institutional power is gender roles in that society, right? Um, let's say, uh, the court system is another example, law enforcement, the justice system, the prison industrial complex. Um, in medicine, you see these types of things, and education, right? Most of my research in grad school is education. So, that's why I had B. H. Boyer, Paulo Freire. They talk about how power exists in educational systems, and that power can actually oppress those without power or can privilege those from the elite status. So, there's a lot of avenues of approach. Just make sure that distinction is clear between little "p" and interpersonal power and capital "P" institutional power. If that is not clear, please let me know and I could give you some more feedback. Um, but I wanted to do this video so you had a little bit more clarity than just reading the assignment guidelines by yourself. So, if you have any questions, concerns, please let me know. And again, if you are freaking out and you haven't watched the video lecture from this week, do that and then let me know. All right, have a good rest of your week.