Please choose one assignment from the following options to submit for this week’s response. Please type up your response according to the guidelines listed in the syllabus, and upload your assignment as a WORD or PDF attachment at the bottom of this assignment.
Your response will be evaluated on the basis of: a) how well you demonstrate an understanding of and engagement with the course material; b) the clarity and quality of your writing; c) your overall effort on the assignment. The assignment will be graded on a scale of 0-10 points, and the grader’s comments and grade should be available to you within one week of the original posting date. The grade should also appear in the Gradebook.
The assignment is due on Friday, May 20 at 5 pm, however, I will give a 24 hour grace period, so that you may submit assignments until Saturday, May 21 at 5pm without being penalized. No assignments after 5pm on Saturday will be accepted.
The weekly assignments correspond with the assigned readings and lecture material for the week. The questions posed in each option are designed to help guide your thinking and response. You are not required to respond to all (or even any) of the listed questions, although your responses should be organized in some way. As with any writing assignment, providing sufficient background information to your topic and offering specific examples to support your views will make your ideas clearer and more convincing.
You are welcome to write beyond the minimum page requirement for the assignment.
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Option 1:
Re-read Bloom’s theory of parent/adolescent separation, as described on pp. 107-110 in Andreatta. In a 2-page paper, discuss how well (or not) Bloom’s theory describes some of the processes you are dealing with in your own family/community relations. What stage do you currently see yourself in? What stage do you think your family members are in? Why? What can you and your family members do to continue moving through Bloom’s stages, to move towards increased independence for both parties and towards an ‘adult’ relationship? You may use the ‘@myU’ chart on pp. 110 for additional guidance for this prompt.
Option 2:
Re-read the theory of value development and clarification, as described on pp. 111-118 in Andreatta. In a 2-page reflection, discuss the new values and beliefs you’ve been exposed to in your first year at UCSC, and whether these new sets of beliefs have helped clarify or muddle your previous value and belief system. What sort of ‘value onion’ did your family try to instill in you before you left for college? Which of the values in your ‘onion’ are being challenged, and which are being reinforced? How are you and your family or community contending with some of these changes? You may use the ‘@myU’ chart on pp. 118 for additional guidance for this prompt.
Option 3:
Re-read the theories of racial identity development, as described on pp. 189-194 in Andreatta. In a 2-page paper, discuss your response to the theories outlined. How well (or not) do the models describe you and your own experience of race? How well (or not) do they help you understand others’ views on race? Discuss your own experiences of developing a racial identity or racial consciousness, and what that is (or was like) for you. Feel free to also discuss your experiences around race at UCSC.
Option 4:
Re-read the section on gender and sexual orientation as discussed in Andreatta, pp. 194-199. In a 2-page paper, discuss your own experience of understanding the categories of sex, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. How well do the theories of sexual orientation identity development discussed on pp. 196-199 fit your own development in understanding of sexual orientation? How has coming to UCSC enhanced or confused your views around gender and sexual orientation, both in general and around your own identity? Using the ‘@myU’ chart on pp. 198 as a guideline, make a list of classes, events and departments/programs at UCSC that may support more tolerance and non-discrimination around sex, gender and sexual orientation. Do any of the classes or events appeal to you? Why or why not?
