Reading Note

PIA EXERCISE SHEET 9

Due 12 noon Monday, 23 November (Week 10)

This exercise sheet is worth 10 points – 5 for the Reading Notes Task and 5 for the Skills Task. If you cannot do both, you should complete ALL of one of the tasks to get the five points.

Complete your work on a separate page. Please include with your answers: the wording of the question and the full bibliographic listing of the readings on this sheet (and any other readings you use). Remember that you should be spending 4 hours per week on independent study for each 20-credit module.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTION ABOUT THIS SHEET: Please ask on the PIA Discussion Board

TASK 1: Reading and Note-Taking

The Topic for this week is about the challenge that feminist theory and critical race theory pose to liberal theory – particularly in relation to the inadequacy of liberal ideals of political/legal equality.

Read Article 1 and either Article 2 OR Article 3. Answer the questions under the articles you read: Write the answers mostly in your own words. If you do quote anything, make sure you provide quotation marks and a reference in your notes.

1) Read: Bonilla-Silva, E and Christian, M,  2013, ‘ Racism: Color-Blind , ’ in Mason, PL (ed), Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, Gale (For the purposes of a Library search: this is a Credo References Source. You can look up Credo References and then look for the Encyclopedia. OR just look up ‘Race and Racism’ and the Encyclopedia should appear in the list. Note also the American spelling of ‘color’ when you look up the entry.) If you need more help with the questions, you can also look at the following entries in the same Encyclopedia: ‘Racism: Alternative Expressions’

a) Define the term, “color-blind racism”? (Include how it is different from other kinds of racism)

b) Explain how it helps to maintain the current system race-based discrimination and privilege?

c) How (specifically) do the liberal ideals of ‘equal rights’ and ‘equality’ contribute to maintaining racism?

AND

2) Read “Part 1 Summary” of Ed Rooksby,  2011, “Review of Liberalism a Counter History” Ed Rooksby Wordpress Blog (a book review of Domenico Losurdo, 2011, Liberalism: A Counter History, five-page article also published in New Left Review). You can stop reading when you get to the section headed “2. Critique”.

a) Why is it important to look at the social conditions in which political ideas (including liberalism) emerge?

b) How does Losurdo characterise the history of liberalism as a political movement?

c) What were the paradoxes that accompanied the emergence of liberal values and the liberal political order?

OR

3) Read: Gouws, 1999,”Beyond equality and difference: the politics of women's citizenship,” Agenda, 15(40): 54-58 (5 pages)

a) Define citizenship according to the author?

b) What do you think is meant by the term: “substantive equality”? (You can look this up elsewhere to help you define it)

c) Explain why the idea of substantive equality is important in making women equal citizens?

d) Why is the public/private division of liberal theory so problematic for feminists?

TASK 2: Study Skills Task – reflecting on your feedback

Read the following and complete the form below

Reflecting on your Assessment Feedback

Why re-visit my old assessments?

1. You may think of your mark and feedback just as a judgement or a result. If it was a good result, you may just feel relieved. If your mark was disappointing, then you might just want to forget about it, and move on. Or, perhaps, you have read the feedback carefully, but you didn’t fully understand it. You might even have felt it was wrong or unfair in some way. Whatever the result – and whatever your initial reaction to it - there is usually much more to gain from the feedback if you go back to it later and take some time to reflect on it.

2. Regardless of the result, take the time to really absorb the tutor comments as these can reveal the extent to which your current study strategies are working for you. Instead of thinking in terms of a “result”, it is much better to think of the comments as a crucial part of the learning process. Although it may feel uncomfortable at first, examining your strengths and weaknesses can be a great opportunity for growth as an independent learner.

3. Reflecting on your work is part of becoming an independent learner. This includes being able to reflect on your own skills, to judge your own work, and to take responsibility for improving your own skills. This is a big part of making the transition from school to university and from first year to second year, and finally to becoming a graduate. There is a lot of help available here at university, but it is up to you to be aware of what you most need to work on, and then make use of the appropriate resources to improve.  (See the ‘Sources of Support’ section on Bb for further help)

How do I analyse my feedback?

Feedback can help you build your knowledge base of the subject. Even more useful, though, is that it helps you reflect on your academic skills so you can build on them for future work.

4. With this in mind: when you revisit your assessment, try to separate comments that are about the content you have included in your assignment from those about how you have written and presented it. Make sure you read the inline comments as well as the summary.

5. Start by making a sheet with three columns (headed as below). Using your PIA CW2 , re-write or summarise all the feedback comments in the relevant columns. Analysing your comments like this helps you see where you need to focus your attention. Include positive points, tips and guidelines, as well as areas for improvement.

Specific content, concepts, topic-related points:	Research and Critical Thinking Skills:	Writing, Argument Construction, Referencing, and Presentation skills:

After you have done a table like the one above, answer the following questions.

The coursework question you answered:

a) What I am most proud of about this piece of coursework is...

b) The tutor comments on my work were/were not as expected (delete one). If different from expected, please say how. If you disagreed with anything they said, then explain why.

c) Note down anything in the feedback that you feel you need help to understand. (You can then speak to the marker, your seminar tutor, or your personal tutor to get help with this.)

d) Areas identified in the feedback as in need of improvement were…

e) If I had this same assessment to do over, I would….

f) What I would most like to increase my knowledge and understanding of in this subject is….

g) The specific skills I feel I need to improve for my future assessments are:

h) The academic skill I will work on first is…

i) The steps I plan to take in order to improve my skills are....

Consider using this form again to reflect on feedback for other coursework. Notice whether you are getting any similar comments on the different pieces of coursework.

How to Submit your Work

Submit your notes to the Turnitin portal for your seminar tutor. We encourage you to handwrite your notes and answers and to take a photo of all your pages in one shot with a smart phone and then upload that to Turnitin. Please save your photo as a pdf.

If you find it hard to handwrite for whatever reason, or you are not able to photograph your notes with a smart phone, then you are free to type your notes up as you did previously.

Inside the document, whether hand written or typed, include your name, student number, seminar tutor’s name, and the section headings from this sheet so we can easily see which parts you are answering.

Please save the file as: “Your Full Name, Exercise Sheet 9”. Submit your work by 12:00 noon on Monday, November 23rd through the appropriate Turnitin submission portal in the Week 9 Folder on Bb.

Ongoing module info you are expected to know:

· Bring your answers to the seminar and be prepared to use them to participate in discussions.

· Read the ENTIRE Exercise Sheet and open all of the materials as early as possible, before asking questions. Do not assume you can do all this at the last minute!

· Leave sufficient time to complete the Exercise Sheet tasks (reading, thinking, notetaking, processing the material, reflecting on the material, and answering questions). It may well take longer than you think.

· Leave sufficient time to deal with the technology (finding, accessing and downloading resources, using Turnitin etc). Please download everything you need including this Exercise Sheet as soon as you get access to it. This gives you time to get help from the appropriate staff member. Do not expect answers to questions on a weekend or last thing on a Friday.

· Problems using Bb or other online systems within the university? Spend time learning to use them by visiting the Bb help pages and the Bb Institution Page (see Sources of Support on PIA Bb site)

· Problems accessing or downloading reading materials? Ask a Librarian – library help pages

· Problems submitting your work? Don’t leave it to the last minute. Log a call to IT with a screen shot, and keep trying to submit.

· Problems understanding module instructions? Ask the Module Leader via the Discussion Board.

· Problems with understanding your reading or lecture material? Do your best to complete your exercise sheet anyway. Then, ask your seminar tutor to clarify things in the seminar. Ask the Module Leader on the PIA Discussion Board (you can start a new thread). If having trouble regularly, see your seminar tutor or the Module Leader during their office hours AND consider getting help from your Personal Tutor, Learning Support or Disability Support if appropriate (see Sources of Support on the PIA Bb site).

· If you haven’t completed Exercise Sheet 1 yet, you can still do this now without penalty. Make sure you have sent it to your personal tutor (with the covering letter) and copy this to me.

· If you have missed any other Exercise Sheets, you can still complete and submit up to three late. However, be aware all students are only allowed three late Exercise Sheets without formal Mitigating Circumstances. Note: If you submit your work on time but do not attend and participate in the seminar, your work will still count as late.

· Watch the lectures on in the Week 9 Folder and make structured notes for your own use (not for this Exercise Sheet).

· Catch up with any of the previous Lectures that you haven’t seen yet. Makes structured notes for your own use.

· If you have questions about this sheet or the module, please use the Module Discussion Board!

· If you have problems submitting your work, please log a call with IT (see instructions under Sources of Support). Include a screenshot of the problem.