Recently in Announcements Category

First, here's a link to my blog entries about "living and grieving beside Judith."

I have extended the deadline for all remaining blog assignments. They are all now due on 12/14, the last day of class.

There is one final discussion that we have not discussed yet, your final blog wrap-up. Here's what I wrote about it in the syllabus:

Finally, you are required to submit a final wrap-up on your experiences tracking your chosen topic and on helping to develop and participate in the blog and on following our twitter feed. This wrap-up can come in the form of a lengthy blog entry (or series of entries) or a separate (more formal) reflective essay. Please see me if you have other thoughts on how to organize/develop/articulate your reflective thoughts on your topic and your experience with the blog.

Remember that your blog folders are now due Thursday, December 2. All assignments due on or before that date (check schedule or blog worksheet for due dates) must be handed in at that time to receive full credit. This means that any past assignments from throughout the semester will be accepted next Thursday (but not after). Also note that I have extended to due date for assignments originally due on 11/22 (DE #3, tweet source, your choice comment). These are also due on the Thursday after Thanksgiving (12.2).

For this hand-in, please print out the blog worksheet and hand it in at the beginning of class time (or turn in the hard copy that you already have been using). You can either hand in your comments and tweets or send them as a word document.

As a reminder, here are other upcoming due dates for rest of the semester:

Partly inspired by Mary's comment, I have decided to move J. Halberstam's essay "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" back into the required reading section. I think it is helpful in relation to the other readings and that we should have some time to discuss Halberstam. We will discuss Halberstam (along with most of the other readings) on Tuesday and the Sedgwick on Thursday (as lead by the diablog group).

Have a great weekend.

There is a slight change in the readings for next week:

2/4       QUEER/ING CHILDREN, Part Two 

Readings: 

• Bernstein, Susan David. "Transparent"
• Rowe, Michael. "What is Says About Us When a 17 month old boy is beaten to death"
  
• Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. "How to Bring Your Kids Up Gay: The War Against Effeminate Boys" 
  
• Ava's Queer This!: It Gets Better
• femmephane. "Why I Don't Like Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" project as a response to bullying"
• Questioning Transphobia. "Transgender People and Bullying"

As you can see, we will be giving some serious attention to the issue of bullying and suicide. Anyone have other blog posts/websites/news articles/projects that are in response to this issue that you want us to check out? Post them as comments to this entry.

One more announcement:

Your second annotated bibliographies are due November 1. If you are still confused about the assignment and/or you want more personal feedback on your first AB, please email me. You can also post more general questions about the assignment on this entry or tweet them to the class. 

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Friends! My roommate is participating in this exhibition and asked that I post it on our blog to attract more participants. It's being organized by Heidi Barton, who Ava posted as part of her first Queer This! so long ago. Anyway, here is the email:

2011 Minneapolis G.A.S.P. Gender Anarchy Sex Positivity Art Exhibition

We are almost done with the paperwork but we are seeking more visual artists, educators or speakers, performers (cabaret, drag, dance, puppet shows!), poets and musicians who have or can produce work of their interpretation of Gender Anarchy and/or Sex Positivity (Who can submit a bio and//or artist statement!)
Please respond ASAP post haste!

G.A.S.P. (Gender Anarchy Sex Positivity) is a multi-dislinary event exploring gender, gender roles and sex positive education through art and community organizing. Examining all the ways these subjects intersect through the mediums of visual art, performance and educational workshops. The object of the event would be to create a dialogue about demystifying healthy sex and dismantling gender oppression in ALL forms.

The workshops will be put on by various local organizations. There will be demonstrations on proper use of safer sex materials, speakers who will engage in dialogue with the attendees about sexual health (we are looking into free rapid HIV tests for attendees) and the fluidity of gender. The visual art will be paintings, screen prints, mixed medium and we would be open to sculpture and photography. The theme of GASP art will be up to the artists interpretation of gender and healthy sexuality.

Heidi

Respond to bartsontink@gmail.com

Hey class I hope you guys see this during the class period. I woke up this morning and my eyes are swollen shut. I dont know if its the way I slept or the weather. I would upload a picture but I'm a little computer illiterate. lol. see you guys the day of my pres. on thursday.

Hey for the Thursday facilitation I asked the class on Tuesday for one of two things

1. If you were a website or is going to get one what would URL be?
2. If possible, introduce yourself to someone in class, preferably someone you do not talk to often or know, and think of a website name for them based upon your introduction

There is no need to stress about any of these just have this in you head going into class on thursday.

Thanks y'all and hope y'all have a good day yo :)

Hi everyone,

I wanted to remind you all that your blog folders are due tomorrow. In case you misplaced it, download the blog and twitter log here. Remember that you need to fill out the dates/titles of your entries, comments and tweets in this form. You can print it out and write the information in, or you can fill in the blanks right on the word .doc that I have attached (in the email that I sent to you all today) and them email it back to me (along with the word .doc of your comments and tweets). Here's a review of the information that I have asked for:

I will review/evaluate your entries 3 times this semester. Please read and follow these directions for ensuring that your entries, comments and tweets are graded.

1. Fill out the blog/twitter log once you have completed assignments. Make sure to include the date you posted your entry, comment or tweet. You will be emailing/handing in this log to me three times this semester: October 5, November 16, December 14.
2. Tag all of your entries with your alias. Only entries that I find when I click on the tag for your alias will be graded.
3. Tag all of your tweets with the hashtag: #qd2010
4. Copy and paste all of your comments and tweets into a word document (I will find your entries by clicking on your alias). Make sure that each comment/tweet is clearly identified with: title of post that you commented on, date of post, date of comment, type of comment. You will email me this document on October 5, November 16, and December 14. Note: You can also print out this document instead and hand it into me, along with your blog/twitter log during in class time.
5. In your email, do the following:

• Subject of email: QD Blog/Twitter Log 
• Title of word doc (not docx): Yournameblog/twitter.doc 
• If you email your log (as opposed to handing in a hard copy), title your log (as word .doc): Yournameblog/twitterlog.doc

September:
17 Queer This! example and Queer This! tweet
20 Queer This! comment
22 Direct Engagement #1
27 Tweet Source, Direct Engagement Comment, Query Tweet

October
1 Query Response (as blog entry)
5 Tweet Source

If you have any questions, please email me, tweet them or post them as comments here.

See you tomorrow,
Sara

First, just a reminder that there is no class tomorrow (9.30). I encourage you to spend that time reading and engaging the blog.

Second, I have altered the readings for next week a little. Here's the reading schedule for next week (I put the changed readings in bold). Make sure that you have the following readings completed by Tuesday, October 5:

• Rodriguez, Nelson M. "Queer Theory and the Discourse on Queer(ing) Heterosexuality: Pedagogical Considerations" in Queering Straight Teachers 
• Marchese, Stephanie Jo. "May I, Please, Queer your Kids/The New Queer Pedagogy"
• Luhmann, Susanne. "Queering/Querying Pedagogy? Or, Pedagogy is a Pretty Queer Thing"
• Threlkeld, Aubry. "Virtual Disruptions: traditional and new media's challenges to heteronormativity in education"

Reclaiming the University: Fulfilling Our Promise to Students and the Public

Thursday, September 30th. 5-6:30 PM. Blegen Hall, Rm 5.

We are told that the university is in crisis. The administration claims the crisis is created by reductions in public support. Yet even before the recent cuts in state appropriations, the University was doing a poor job fulfilling its educational mission as a land-grant institution. Skyrocketing tuition has limited access to our state's flagship university, the milking of tuition-generating units to fund initiatives unrelated to education has diminished the quality of instruction, and the pursuit of private sources of revenue has compromised the institution's ethics and academic integrity. This critical conversation about higher education will illuminate why higher education is failing the public, and consider how collective action can change this situation.

Speakers:
Carl Elliott, Professor, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota
"A Fatal Drug Study at the University of Minnesota and Why It will
Happen Again" - on the tragic story of Dan Markingson, a mentally ill
young man who died in a clinical trial conducted at the University of
Minnesota. The case exposes stunning ethical lapses at the U, lapses
that are likely to recur without major structural changes.

Gary Rhoades, General Secretary of the American Association of
University Professors
"Reclaiming the Public Promise of Public Higher Education" - on how
prioritizing private, institutional, and corporate interests in pursuit
of revenue and rankings has undercut the public responsibilities and
functions of public universities.

Sofia Shank, campus activist and Women's Studies major at the University
of Minnesota
"The Legacy of Bruininks's 'Strategic Positioning': Tracing the
Direction of the University" - on the consequences of strategic
positioning for students at the University of Minnesota, and organizing
for change.

Moderated by Karen Ho, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UofM

Sponsored by Faculty for the Renewal of Public Education -
umnfaculty.blogspot.com -
and Education Action Coalition MN - october7mn.org

You can download this assignment as a .doc here. 

I have put all of the due dates in a calendar on our WebVista site. All of these dates are due by dates (as opposed to due on). This means that you are encouraged to post them at any time during the semester by the required due date. It is strongly suggested that you do not wait until the night before your due date to post your entries/comments/tweets.

I will still review/evaluate your entries 3 times this semester. Please read and follow these directions for ensuring that your entries, comments and tweets are graded.

1. Fill out the blog/twitter log once you have completed assignments. Make sure to include the date you posted your entry, comment or tweet. You will be emailing/handing in this log to me three times this semester: October 5, November 16, December 14. 
2. Tag all of your entries with your alias. 
3. Tag all of your tweets with the hashtag: #qd2010 
4. Copy and paste all of your entries, comments and tweets into a word document. Make sure that each entry is clearly identified with: title of post that you commented on, date of post, date of comment, type of comment. You will email me this document on October 5, November 16, and December 14. 
5. In your email, do the following: 

• Subject of email: QD Blog/Twitter Log 
• Title of word doc (not docx): Yournameblog/twitter.doc 
• If you email your log (as opposed to handing in a hard copy), title your log (as word .doc) Yournameblog/twitterlog.doc

Because we have several new students joining the class this week and because this whole blog/twitter thing can be overwhelming, I wanted to slow things down a little. Instead of discussing the readings assigned for tomorrow (see schedule), we will be discussing the assignments and how-to/why use blogs and twitter. We also be doing introductions to each other. Plus, I have another "queer this!" for us to take on.

If you have already done the reading, don't worry. We will still be discussing them. On Thursday, we will discuss "The Digital Queer," along with the HASTAC feminist/queer forum. We will discuss "queer Indian bloggers" essay on 9/28-9/30 and "Virtual Disruptions" during the week we discuss queer pedagogies (10/5-10/7).

Feel free to post any questions as comments to this entry!

POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

GWSS is currently seeking an undergraduate student to work in our Rachel Raimist Feminist Media Center 15 - 20 hours per week. We are looking for a reliable individual who could hold regular media center hours, change paper in the printer, change toner cartridges, and monitor students to make sure they are using computers and resources appropriately. The position pays $12.00 per hour and a preference is given to students with tech experience and/or work-study funding.

Please contact Helen in the main office at riege002@umn.edu or at 612-626-0332 if you are interested in this position.