SophEthics

White fragility refers to the idea that white people are protected in society. This means that they are sheltered from race related stressors, as stated in DiAngelo's article. White people have a low tolerance for race related stress, and as shown in the text, may even be infuriated by simple ideas and unable to even acknowledge that white people are truly privileged. They are protected essentially everywhere by society. It is not often that white people are mandated to partake in cultural competency training. Very minimal racial stressors will trigger white people into a state of severe discomfort.  I wrote a paper last semester on Get Out, the film by Jordan Peele. The film was nominated for a Grammy in the comedy genre. Peele posted that "Get Out is not a comedy, it is a documentary." I agree with Peele, but most people are hesitant to see things this way. When attempting to engage with white people about the symbolism in the film, they will often deny that there are a...

In the article The Problem of Speaking for Others by Linda Alcoff, we explore the idea of speaking for other people, who is allowed to speak for others, and if/when/how it may be appropriate and inappropriate. Speaking for others may regard speaking for people lesser than you and not representing them accurately. But, is speaking for those who are more disadvantaged than you ever okay? Well, what if you are using your privilege to give voice to those who cannot speak themselves. As stated in the text, speaking for others is not always about getting out of the way, but this may differ depending on who is speaking. In the comparison between speaking for others and speaking about others, the text identifies that both are problematic. If one is wrong, the other is. In both cases, someone else's, or your own, narrative is in your control. In both speaking for and about, you are constructing their subject positions (Alcoff, 1991). In speaking for self, you create self just like when you ...

Understanding transmediation could be a crucial step in improving education systems and encouraging deeper learning. There are a number of ways that one may learn something, but in schools, too often students are left to rely on language only. In reality, there are numerous ways to gain understanding about things. This includes learning through music, visual arts, theatre, dancing etc. In the text from the Percy (1982) quote on page 456, it is emphasized that language is often thought to be a core human trait, but creating and using symbols may be even more human. Essentially, that is how transmediation works. You take your understanding of one artifact and translate it across mediums such as dance where you may bring an idea to life, creating a dance to demonstrate a pivotal scene or theme in the book. Verbocentrism (having a bias towards language and devaluing different forms of vocalization) limits students. They become passive learners in verbocentrist environments, but by using tr...

 The idea of invitational rhetoric is very important to understand. Invitational rhetoric stems from the idea that there is value in building relationships that are "rooted in equality, imminent value, and self-determination" (5).  Invitational rhetoric allows for a variety of answers to be valid and heard by seeing things from the speaker's/rhetor's point of view. There is so much gray area in the world, and using invitational rhetoric will allow for greater understanding of the gray spaces to be understood. Although there is so much gray area, our society tends to push and favor rhetoric that is persuasive and focused on pushing one narrative. Persuasive rhetoric ignores the fact that not everyone is going to have the same perspective to understand or agree with the speaker/rhetor. If invitational rhetoric is at play, then one is being invited to explore the speaker's/rhetor's point of view and opinion. It is not a demand that the listener or reader agree wi...

The idea of codes, procedures and standards in the context of communication ethics is important to discuss. This concept is one of the six total theoretical ways of understanding communication ethics as listed in the beginning of chapter three- Approaches to Communication Ethics: The Pragmatic Good of Theory. Standards are difficult to set because everyone has a slightly different set of experiences or views about something which may lead them to find certain topics or behaviors more or less sensitive, respectful, offensive, etc. than others.  When talking on the corporate scale, for example, how do you begin to set equal and representative standards of ethical communication? Codes, procedures and standards aim to set the criteria for a corporation, creating a guideline for what is considered ethical, measuring each individual situation against a controlled model of conduct. When codes, procedures and standards are in place, they regulate the expectations for moral and appropriate ...

    In reading The World Traveling Self Play as Context and Tool of Critical Literacy by P. J. Nelsen, it is clear that the concept of "play" is the predominant overarching theme of the article. For that reason, it is necessary to understand the idea of "play" in relation to education in order to see how Nelsen believes that schools may improve themselves, creating better learning institutions for all students. The majority of schools push their prescriptive goals and ways of learning onto their students, forcing them to conform to rigid ideals. If there were more room for play, we could be looking at smaller achievement gaps, allowing for higher performance rates and meta-skills beyond the classroom.      What does play look like in the classroom?     P lay refers to creativity and imaginative play which contributes to increased levels of daily gratification, increased school readiness and greater adaptivity. Play does not look the same ever...