Storytelling & Narrative Justice

Occasionally I may shift around some of the course content, adding links that are relevant to the moment, though the readings should remain stable.The required texts are fixed, minus the Levins-Morales text being out of print. The basic course outline as it stands on this home page is now basically final.

PLEASE WATCH THE FOLLOWING VIDEO TO ORIENT YOU TO THE NATURE OF THE COURSE AND A FEW PRACTICAL MATTERS THAT COME UP EARLY IN THE COURSE. (9:57 minutes) https://youtu.be/RM3EIrX71kM

Just the Details, Please:

Required Texts

Google Hangouts

Self-Evaluation and Grading

This is a general listing of the course assignments, by which you will evaluate your learning. Each particular assignment is shared in detail on the course home page (scroll to the bottom).

1) General Participation: Learning is not merely about receiving information from a variety of expert sources; it is about students asking questions and seeking to understand from the materials and all participants. In this class, every participant is a teacher and a learner. I expect students will:

1. Invest in the course by establishing a regular and respectful online presence;
2. Genuinely try to learn the concepts, principles, and material by reading and listening; collaborate in the spirit of learning critically and enthusiastically;
3. Participate in online discussions. Respect other students' preparation by being prepared, having read and watched the assigned materials carefully and thoughtfully;
4. Participate in Google Hangouts;
5. Turn in assignments in a timely fashion;
6. Communicate with the instructor when you anticipate being unable to participate in discussions, Google Hangouts, or turning in assignments in a timely manner.

When you evaluate your own learning and accomplishments in this course (see Self Evaluation and Grading Procedures), you must consider each of these six elements in your initial and final evaluation documents.

2)  Discussion Forums:

The Discussion Forums DO NOT show up as Assignments with a "Due Date". You are responsible for knowing that every week you are required to post in the Discussion forum, which can be accessed through the links on the left hand side of your screen.

This same information AND MORE will be posted under the link “Online Discussions,” and will also include an explanatory video. Here is a link to the video.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at 9:00p.m. MST.

This course will rely heavily on online discussions. In an online course, this is where much of the collective aspect of the course “takes place.” It is an area to share ideas, ask questions, and deepen our understanding of course concepts. In our storytelling course, there will be both textual/theory discussion posts and practice/exercise-and-video based discussion posts. Each week we will usually have one or the other of these types of discussion posts – based in the course theory, or based in the course practice. Sometimes you may be required to participate in both kinds of posts. Generally, whatever kind of post I am asking you to participate in, I will post numerous questions related to the weekly topics. By no means are you expected to answer all of questions I post. Respond to the ones that resonate, pique your interest, compel you or bother you the most. My expectation is that you will participate in all discussion threads as often and as well as you are able.

Every week, you must post your own original response to the discussion questions by Wednesday night at 9:00p.m. MST. I encourage you to post your original responses earlier than that. Even if you are not ready to post your own original answers to the questions early in the week, I nonetheless encourage you to log in to the course website early on, read your classmates' posts that have posted early, and respond to them. Participation in online discussions should be completed within the week assigned. Each week, the discussions will start on Monday and last through Sunday night. This allows us all to focus on the same issues at the same time. Being present in an online format requires you to make your presence known. Making your presence known means signing into the course multiple times per week. While you will be evaluating your own participation in the course and discussions, as a general rubric I suggest signing in to the class at least three different times per week, posting original ideas and responding to others’ posts at least four times.

3) Five Critical Reflections

These assignments use guiding questions for critical reflection on yourself, the course materials, your own learning, and your community engagement. Two of these five reflections include your self-evaluation/grading learning agreement (see SELF-EVALUATION/GRADING link). Two reflections relate to storytelling exercises that I ask you to engage in throughout the course. There are different content and length requirements for each of the critical reflections, which you should check under each assignments link. Some of these will require more preparation and outside community connections than others. While these assignments are meant to be of a more informal and personal-reflective nature, all of them should be critical, substantive and make reference to the course materials.

4) Six Storytelling Exercises

Throughout the course, I will be offering you the opportunity to complete storytelling exercises to help you flex your storytelling thinking and practice, and ideally to help you flesh out a final storytelling project. Some of these will be more meditative thought-experiments to get you engaged with your own personal story as it relates to matters of justice and injustice. Each of the storytelling exercises will be detailed within the weekly coursework, which can be found under the Assignments and/or Modules links in CANVAS. Many of these storytelling exercises will relate to the completion of Critical Reflections #2 and #3, where you will be asked to share your processes with me in written form. Through your self-evaluation, you will be the only real judge of if and how well you really engage these exercises. I recommend that you keep a journal of some sort to record your thoughts as you engage these exercises. This will aide you in doing the critical reflections and discussing your experiences with these exercises with your classmates.

5) Three Google Hangouts

We will have three different Google Hangouts throughout the quarter: at the beginning of Week 2, Week 5 and Week 7. Each time we have a hangout, there will be four choices of Hangout time slots. You are required to sign up for one of these slots. The content and necessary preparation for each hangout will be delineated in the Google Hangout link on the course home page.

6) Final Storytelling Project and Reflection Paper:

You will tell a justice narrative/story by one of two video means – either recording yourself and your justice narrative in YouTube or by creating a video story through another digital storytelling platform of your choice (iMovie, weMovie, Windows Movie Maker, or Storify). A short reflection paper should accompany your project. More details to follow in the Assignments link.

Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students who have disabilities to accommodate reasonably their needs in order to support effective learning.  Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The Advising Center may be contacted as advising@iliff.edu, or by phone at 303.765.1146.

Other Important Course Information:

Instructor Information

Online Discussions

Online Classroom Communication Policies

Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students who have disabilities to accommodate reasonably their needs in order to support effective learning.  Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The Advising Center may be contacted as advising@iliff.edu, or by phone at 303.765.1146.

Course Description

COURSE OBJECTIVES Throughout the course, students will: