SEP Session 2, Day 1 (9-11)

Many teachers began the first day of class by playing ice breaker games to help students learn more about their classmates. After learning more about each other, teachers introduced students to the foundation of their course.

Each day, we will feature several courses. The number of courses posted about each day will vary depending on our schedule and tasks for the day. Throughout the session, we will feature as many courses as possible.

Today in "Architecture: Redesign in Order to Reuse," students looked at photos of various buildings. While looking at the photos, students thought about what each building could be used for as well as what they would change and how.

Today in "Religion, Rulers, and Riots," students deeply dove into the definition of religion. They pondered the question, "What exactly is religion?" in general and in specific contexts. Some of the ideas that students had about religion are there are practitioners who engage in rituals and have traditions. To elicit some additional ideas and thoughts, students were shown various images,such as a priest, a Christmas tree, and a 1950s photo of students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to an American flag. These images prompted a lot of very interesting conversations.

In "From Hamlet to Black Panther," students were sharing what they already know about Hamlet and what they want to know They also compared the qualities of plays to movies and novels to distinguish what certain works of art provide to audiences that others do not. 

Today in "Dimensions of Disadvantage," students read the article The Promise of Sociology by C. Wright Mills. While reading students thought about "what is history" "what is biography" "what does it mean to possess a sociological imagination.

Check it out: http://sociology.morrisville.edu/readings/SOCI101/Mills-The_Promise_of_Sociology-Chp1.pdf

In "Light! Mysteries of the Electromagnetic Spectrum," students began to expand their understanding of what light is. They discussed the properties of light, including but not limited to the speed of light and light's optic density/refractive index. Beyond this, students also began their studies of light transmission, reflection, and absorption,

Today in "How to make a Podcast," SEP 9-11 student’s learned about different types of podcasts produced by various media outlets such as NPR, the New York Times, etc. Students listened to excerpts from popular podcasts. While listening students took note of the different production elements from each excerpt to help them learn about these elements and gather ideas for their podcasts. 

Today in "The Gender Game: An Exploration of Social Norms," students read an excerpt from the first chapter of Judith Butler's book Gender Trouble. In groups, students brainstormed two discussion questions to ask the group. The class then discussed the questions students posed like "when talking about sex and gender, when/how does feminism come into the conversation?" "What does feminism mean?" "what is the difference between sex and gender?" "why might some people choose to not identify as a feminist?" The discussion was fruitful with follow-up questions spinning off the original.

Students then participated in an activity called "stereotype the teacher" where they hypothesized as to their teacher, Zoe Pettler's race, gender, ability, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age and socioeconomic status. Zoe left the room while her students stereotyped her. Upon her return, her students presented their hypotheses for each category. Zoe challenged them to think about why they chose a particular answer and then revealed her answers.

Read Gender Trouble free online: http://lauragonzalez.com/TC/BUTLER_gender_trouble.pdf

Best,

Nicole, Olivia and Abby