Racial dialogue analysis short paper

Bonam, Psych 148, p. 1

Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Racism (Psych 148)

Racial Dialogue Analysis Short Paper Guidelines

Overview

You will independently write a 2-page, double-spaced APA-style paper. In your paper, you will (a) reflect on a conversation that you will have with a friend or family member about a race-related prompt that you have identified/captured, and (b) analyze this conversation in the context of core course concepts. You may use one or more of your previous writing assignments as a foundation for this paper.

Primary Learning Goals

1. To further develop your racial dialogue skills, in an informal extracurricular context.

2. To further develop your critical thinking and writing skills, as they relate to representations of race within the broader U.S. American cultural context.

3. To further develop your racial analysis skills, by challenging you to dialogue and write about the ways in which race functions as a “doing” (i.e., as a systemic process) that is linked both to (a) broad socio-cultural reality of race relations, and (b) individual-level race-related psychological phenomena.

Specific Requirements & Grading Criteria

1. Select a race-related topic for conversation, and create a prompt that can act as a conversation starter (e.g., a news article, commercial, TV show clip, or podcast excerpt that is related to your topic).

2. Analyze your topic through the lens of systemic racism, with a focus on the psychology of individuals within systems. More specifically:

a. Consider how your chosen topic relates to at least two core concepts that we have discussed in class so far throughout the quarter:

i. at least one individual-level psychological phenomenon (e.g., the Black-crime stereotypic association), and

ii. at least one related phenomenon that functions on a broader institutional, structural, or societal level (e.g., the overrepresentation of Black Americans among those who are incarcerated).

b. Explain either how the individual-level phenomenon that you have identified can reinforce the broader level phenomenon that you have identified, OR explain how the broader level phenomenon that you have identified can reinforce the individual-level phenomenon that you have identified.

3. Have a dialogue with a friend or family member about your chosen topic, using your prompt to start the conversation. I suggest aiming for about a 10 to 30 minute conversation. Also allot about 5 additional minutes for your conversation partner to view, read, or listen to your prompt. A good way to start the conversation might be to first present the prompt to your conversation partner and then ask your partner for their initial thoughts and reactions. You might also want to prepare a few directed discussion questions beforehand, to guide the conversation in ways that are relevant to core course concepts. If you prepare questions beforehand, however, be open to allowing the conversation to flow in a different direction than what you initially expected (e.g., perhaps your conversation partner will raise relevant issues that you did not think of beforehand). At the end of your conversation, you should explain to your conversation partner how you think your topic (and prompt) relates to systemic racism (e.g., share your analysis in point 2 above with your conversation partner), and give your partner an opportunity to share their own thoughts.

4. Write a short paper in which you:

a. Write-out your analysis of your topic, through the lens of systemic racism (covering everything noted in point 2 above).

b. Write a very brief summary of your conversation (e.g., ½ page).

c. Write an analysis of your conversation, in which you answer the following questions:

i. Did your perspective on race change at all as a result of this conversation? If yes, how? If not, why?

ii. Did any of the “8 conversations around race” (from Doing Race) come up in your conversation? If yes, describe how it came up. If none came up, how would you characterize the conversation that you had – maybe there is a missing “conversation around race” that did come up?

Additional Grading Criteria:

5. Extent to which you followed the instructions above.

6. Overall writing quality (e.g., main points are organized clearly, sentence structure is clear, does not make spelling/grammatical errors).

7. Technical Details:

a. 2-pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins

i. Note: we will not read past 3 pages of main text

b. Include at least 2 APA style in-text citations

c. Include an APA-style references section, starting on a new page (not included in page-limit)

d. Include a single-line header with: your first and last name, TAs' name, section day/time

e. Give your paper a creative title.