Ross Has Questions... The Answers May Help Everyone

From an email conversation this morning:

On Tue, Jun 10, 2008 at 4:41 PM, Ross McPherson wrote:

Mrs. Tamez,

How do I load a powerpoint into my blog? And I also was wondering if you could let me know if the video on my blog is appropriate to show as a part of my presentation tomorrow and in my final project. It's the Dave Chappelle - Kid's Cartoons. And I was wondering what the format was for the presentations? I was wanting to show what I had and bring up some topics but, I wanted to have a discussion about the topic of racism in children's entertainment and hear other people's thoughts. Thanks

Ross M
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Hi Ross,

I am not sure how to load a powerpoint onto the blog, but I know how to upload a powerpoint to the site: "Academic Keys" (google it). You just create an account, which is FREE, and then you can upload powerpoints directly there, and it will giver you a link. Then, you add that link to your blog, through the 'customize', and then "add page element", then "links". You can title the Link: "Title of Your Powerpoint presentation"... and then we can click on it and go directly to the site online.

You can direct your own presentation.

I would focus on giveing an overview of why you selected this subject, why it is important to you, your story. Then, I'd share key aspects of your research: what was your original problem statement/thesis/idea, and how did that change as you got further into the process of research? What were your initial assumptions? How did those shift over the project? What were the key influencing theories learned from the class that directed your research? What community based theories directed your reserach (from the people). How did those reflect difference from what you may have expected or assumed you'd find?

Finally, give us a sense of your findings/outcomes... and what you stilll don't know but what you are still very interested to learn and find out in your everyday independent 'research', 'mesearch' and 'wesearch' process.

Hope that helps. I'm going to post this question and answer to the blog!

Margo Tamez

Structural Violence & Militarism--Can You See Them At Work?

BEYOND INVISIBILITY~

(See the 'Structural Violence' post below!) For more information and a wonderful glossary related to 'Structural Violence' from a site dedicated to the work of Paul Farmer go to this link.

Make a meaningful effort, prior to turning in your final project to scan your work for:

• Calling out unexamined privilege in the narratives of your project
• Calling out the unexamined/normatized structural violence embedded within the systems of oppression you are researching
• Examining key aspects of militarism infecting the problem you are researching.

Good luck!
M.Tamez

P.S. (Hint: Barbara Chasin's book is required reading for answering each of these, and the definitions of structural violence embedded within the post below are essential to take these to task in your own final draft.)

Structural Violence--Beyond Invisibility

Structural Violence, is a theory which was developed by Norwegian sociologist, Johan Galtung.

This theory is a foundational analysis for serious students of critical intersectional race class gender sexuality studies, critical race studies, gender studies, ethnic studies, migration and diaspora studies, indigenous studies, queer studies, disability studies, and genocide studies.

"Organized armed conflict in various parts of the world is easily traced to structured inequalities. Northern Ireland, for example, has been marked by economic disparities between Northern Irish Catholics-- who have higher unemployment rates and less formal education--and Protestants (Cairns & Darby, 1998). In Sri Lanka, youth unemployment and underemployment exacerbates ethnic conflict (Rogers, Spencer & Uyangoda, 1998). In Rwanda, huge disparities between the Hutu and Tutsies eventually led to ethnic massacres.

While structural violence often leads to direct violence, the reverse is also true, as brutality often terrorizes bystanders, who then become unwilling or unable to confront social injustice. Increasingly, civilians pay enormous costs of war through death and devastation of neighborhoods and ecosystems. Ruling elites rarely suffer from armed conflict as much as civilian populations do, who endure decades of poverty and disease in war-torn societies."

Copyright 1999 Deborah DuNann Winter and Dana Leighton