Thursday February 2, 2012
Overview questions:
In what ways does consumerism impact a sense of empathy and civic concern? Where does classism fit in the “story” of youth socialization and its impact on one’s sense of identity as a citizen?
What kinds of links can be made between these varied reading topics: Grioux on youth and democracy, empathy and classism. What are central themes and how do they compare?
Readings
1. Review this reading from last class: Henry Giroux. Left Behind? American Youth and the Global Fight for Democracy. February 28, 2011. Truthout. http://www.truth-out.org/print/290 pp. 7-12, bottom paragraph beginning with sentence: “All of these explanations have some merit in accounting for the lack of student resistance among American students, but I’d like to shift the focus of the conversation.”
Reading questions: What are Giroux’s explanations for the lack of student resistance in the U.S.? What of the force of consumerism? Select a few particularly engaging sequences from the essay to share in class.
2. View video and article posted on Education Insider News Blog. Generation Me: Study Finds College Students Lack Empathy. June 2010.
Reading questions: What are your thoughts on the study suggesting a significant decline in empathy among college students? This researcher speculates possible causes as media commercialism, the ubiquity of digital devices, the manufacture of local Jane & Joe celebrities through reality TV, and hypercompetitive social values. What do you think? What do you observe of your peer culture? Can you think of examples that confirm this researcher’s findings?
3. What Is Classism? Class Action website.
4. Emily Loftis. The anger of a first-generation student Classism Exposed Blog. January 30th, 2012.
5. Emily Loftis. Socializing with Ivy League elitists. Classism Exposed Blog. October 6th, 2011.
6. Liora Field. From a Teenage Class Action Fan. Classism Exposed Blog. June 21st, 2011.
7. Susan Legere. Special Delivery: Mexican-in-a-Box Classism Exposed Blog. January 27th, 2011
8. Linda Stout. Visioning Our Way to Justice. Classism Exposed Blog. December 13th, 2010
Reading questions: These varied blog entries raise questions about ways in which youth peer culture, families and educational institutions reinforce classism. This occurs in part by the ways in which we do or don’t acknowledge this level of prejudice and emotional injury.
What are you personal experiences with class privilege and inequality? Any notable memories and experiences? In Visioning Our Way to Justice (#9), Linda Stout discusses the power of storytelling as a means to begin a conversation towards social change. What are your stories on this issue? How have you learned to talk about – in direct or oblique ways — class differences?