Current Life Issues Affecting My Community And My Identity

I learned some important things from this course that I will allow to stick with me no matter my profession. Diversity is something I will always have to deal with regardless if it is race, gender, or gender orientation. Importantly this course has allowed me to grow as an individual and has shown me that it is okay to learn about other races and their background. Not only has it allowed me to be acceptable of everyone in fact, it has allowed me to be less judgmental amongst others.

Overall the book was a good read and touched on some various topics that are discussed in our class.

Being in this class gave me insight on the way that I learn. I’ve had my share of jobs along with schooling and various other learning experiences. Some good, some bad but I can honestly say that I never noticed the pattern on how I learn. Now I know I learn more by being more of a hands on person. Also utilizing my thinking and problem solving skills has helped with my growth. I also found it important to use my reflective observation too. Mostly combining different learning styles have helped me in life to understand the way I learn and the benefits that could come if I use my strengths to further my ambitions.

If I were to describe this course to a friend I would say this class is more than what anyone expects and is extremely eye-opening. It is not like a normal studies class, where it has boring content. It has content that is insightful and allows you to really think about the issues at hand. I would encourage a friend to take it because it is not only a fun class but very informative. I would prepare them for the reality of this class. This class does not just touch the surface of issues we have in society, but it goes much deeper.

Overall, I have been very impressed with how this course is going so far. I appreciate having a short presentation on the topic each week then having the opportunity to discuss the topic with other group members. I have learned a lot from the readings as well as from other group members. By having everyone share their ideas and thoughts, I feel that I have gotten more out of this course than I had expected. With everyone coming from different educational backgrounds and experiences, it has been interesting to be exposed to different ideas and perceptions on some of these topics. In addition, having group members question and challenge my ideas have promoted me to think more in-depth and explore more closely about the topics. As of right now, there seems to be no issues with my group. Everyone participates in weekly discussions as well as writing the summary. Ideas and opinions are shared in a respectful manner

Diversity and social justice is not something that I was familiar with prior taking this course, nor did I ever have enough knowledge of the deep and complicated social and economic structure in this county. It has been an eye opener course, I gained a lot of familiarity on the issues of race, culture and the other elements that but this county together. My prior awareness about the issues of sexism, ableism, and racism was limited and mostly were self-taught.

I am amazed at how the reading assignments in this class interest me. I gave up my leisure reading in order to have the time to attend this school, and I find myself losing my self in this reading, just like my "fun" books.

What I liked most about the class was hearing the “other side” of history. As we learn history is written by the victor, it is still very important to learn about both sides to make unbiased arguments and avoid intolerance of a people, culture, religion, etc. I also liked the scheme of 10 essays 10 points each. I actually liked it so much I credited the idea and suggested it to my English professor this semester. I also did like this project because we picked a topic of our choice and freely researched it. I also like the sense of community and critical thinking in the class . It was not like a regular college class where I do not even know the man to my left or the woman to my right, but instead a real community with less tension and less fear to attempt to think critically. What I disliked about the class was the reading. Although Zinn makes good arguments it is so blindingly obvious of his biases. It is important to question society and authority but I do not think Zinn goes about it the right way. Overall I liked the course. I feared it would be a liberally biased class, however, it was straight facts with no bashing of either side which allowed me to learn more and think

How has this course influenced your daily habits, beliefs, and actions, i.e. your world-view? Understanding the political nature of terrorism has helped me to understand numerous different social issues. Understanding of terrorism is not irrational, but emerges from genuine political disagreement is incredibly helpful. By this same logic, I now understand that criticism of protest movements, like black lives matter; often miss .the underlying structural point that there is systemic discrimination. This does not justify burning cars or looting buildings, but these problems cannot really be solved with police crackdowns. Instead, they can be solve with a genuine attempt to understand where these people are coming from. Instead of demonizing the protestor, we should seek to understand and empathize with them to achieve mutual understanding and encourage positive

The African American and African Diaspora Studies (AAADS) course has met all of my standards that I have set for it. The professor is interesting and informing me on content that I never heard of or misinterpreted it the first time I heard of it. The Creating Black Americans by Neil Irvin Painter is such a good read because Painter starts with the African tribes and works her way through the history that African Americans made in the western civilization. The three things I enjoyed the most from the first quarter of the course was the influence religion had on slaves, the physical and psychological trauma slaves had to face, and the beginning of rebellion from slaves. Painter hit these topics very well because she goes into details and gives specific names of people who displayed these influences.

My favorite part of the class were the discussions that followed the readings. I enjoyed the different views people had over topic and what they read. In my opinion, “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call Police” by Martin Gansberg brought up the most discussion and was my personal favorite. I and other people in the class could not believe, no one helped Catherine Genovese any of the times the man came back to finish the job of killing.

This course changed my perspective and views about current day. I’ve grown to be more appreciative of the progress we’ve have mad as Americans. With all the things going on with present times from how the election further divided our nation to the influx of racist incidents. I found it easy to get caught as an African American. However, reading the stories of Fredrick Douglass and Olaudah Equino who have experienced so much made me realize the privilege. Life for my foremothers and forefathers were horrendous. From reading a few of the stories such as Phillis Wheatley, “On Being Brought from Africa to America” allowed me to see not all slave owners were bad. Still, my views on slavery remain the same. Reading “Harlem” by Langston Hughes, Invisible

I personally have enjoyed this course. I was very nervous the first few months trying to make sure I didn’t miss any assignments and understood the reading material. I learn a lot about inequality, social injustice, social structure, social identity, and how to view things through a sociological perspective. This course has prepared me to observe various issue in society in a whole different way. We must educate ourselves about our history to know the differences, if not we will become a product of our environment. Therefore, “it’s easy to slide into the belief that things have always been the way we’ve known them to be” (Rosenblum & Travis, 2012, P.503).

I have learned many things throughout this course. I knew about most of the topics discussed throughout the class, but I only knew about them to a certain extent. Privilege and oppression were words I knew of but everyone who talked about it had different definitions of the terms. Now, I do know that majority of those peoples definitions were wrong.

I enjoyed seeing my classmates and friends in this class and felt that within this classroom we could really make a change for the better. One thing that I felt could be altered to make the class more beneficial is to reduce the amount of films we watch in class so we have more time to discuss the reading. The interview and project are definitely good parts to keep for the next time this class runs. I think more experiential learning opportunities, such as the field trip to Old Church, would be beneficial. I suggest that the class take a trip to the cemetery or to the Rosenwald school as well and get a tour of those sites. I think the cemetery would be especially interesting if given tours from both black and white members of the community, because throughout this class we have talked about different perspectives and the narratives told with a focus on the marginalized individual. It has helped me to see that community does focus on the personal and social connections we harbor and the narratives we bring to the table. Building on these connections, these strategies, and meaningful conversation, community can grow and