What is academic research? How can it enrich my proposed project?
We will continue to meet in disciplinary and proposal focus groups. (Advisors, remember to use the spreadsheet for attendance and notes.) Disciplinary groups will continue the focus on getting to know one another's questions and project ideas. Additionally, we are kicking of academic research rather aggressively. Today, the aim is to look specifically annotation. Note: Drew's group will partner with the Engineers in the Engineering room, as Tim is out today. Proposal focus groups will meet with Kim (Writing Room) or Beckah (Cafeteria or Treehouse). Note: Addie is also out today.
Some students will be filtering out of proposal focus groups to disciplinary groups. As part of the transition, please take time at the beginning of the period to acclimate new people to the progress that has been made regarding understanding and engaging in academic research. For example, share from your group Word. Phrase. Sentence. or share driving questions. Some students might share a "story" of how their searching lead them to one single source.
DO NOW: Arrange your physical and digital workspaces so that you can access your proposal document or email draft, Driving Question Workshop with open and closed questions, search terms, and the source(s) that you located yesterday.
ONE WORD+ WAVE: Share out one of your key search terms (STEP 2 from yesterday) and your definition of that word in the context of your project. Document these in the room.
(Example: "Grassroots" is an approach to political or community change that is driven by community members rather than politicians. I will need to find examples of successful grassroots efforts in mid-sized cities.)ANNOTATION MODEL: The following is an excerpt from an academic source Veiling and Blogging: Social Media as Sites of Identity Negotiation and Expression among Saudi Women
>> Read to understand.
(Note: Hyperlinks were added to help show how texts can prompt new closed questions and will almost always require you to define or clarify terms.)
Women in the Middle East in general, and Saudi Arabia in particular, have been portrayed frequently in the Western media as passive, submissive and an oppressed lot. These portrayals have been challenged by many feminists who rightly argued that these portrayals conceptualize non-Western cultural identities as static and ahistorical and only served to reinforce the illusion that Middle Eastern patriarchal institutions are unchanging and untiring (Abu Lughod, 2002; Mohanty, 1988; Narayan, 1997; Oyewumi, 2003). Indeed, women have strived to play an active role in the Saudi Arab public sphere (Karolak, 2013) and the blossoming of the new communication technologies may offer further opportunities for changes to women realities in such societies. Unlike other media, where gatekeepers play a role in what message will be broadcasted, the Internet creates an open space with no gatekeepers. Internet access grants anybody the opportunity to communicate to the masses without control.
Saudi Arab society is regarded as largely conservative. Given its status as the birthplace of Islam, religion plays a central role in the Kingdom’s culture, and “[Islam does] not only shape people’s attitudes, practices, and behaviors, but also shape the way they see and do things and perceive their lives” (Alsaggaf & Williamson, 2004, para 5). Saudi society observes a strict segregation between genders. Women are not allowed to mix with unrelated men in public. Most educational institutions, banks, restaurants, and work places have separate divisions for males and females. For instance, until recently women education have been governed by a separate entity “to ensure that women’s education did not deviate from the original purpose of female education, which was to make women good wives and mothers, and to prepare them for ‘acceptable’ jobs such as teaching and nursing” (Hamdan, 2005, p. 44). The need for such segregation is most often legitimized by citing Islamic teachings although some scholars challenge this notion (Hamdan, 2005). It is important to note that some Saudi Arab religious scholars, among others, Sheikh Abdullah al-Mutlaq, stress the need for the gender segregation to be enforced also on social media portals.Citation: Guta, Hala and Karolak, Magdalena (2015). Veiling and Blogging: Social Media as Sites of Identity Negotiation and Expression among Saudi Women. Journal of International Women's Studies, 16(2), 115-127. Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol16/iss2/7
>> Together, reread and annotate according to several questions in Addie's Research and Annotation Guide. Use the links to investigate the authors, publication source, date, etc.
>> Reflect. Which habits of mind and professionalism are essential to this process?
ANNOTATION PRACTICE: Use the remaining time to continue searching for a source to start with and annotating the source.
REFLECTION: Document and share steps taken and obstacles.
TICKET OUT: Going back to the Word. Phrase. Sentence from Monday, which word on that list best fits with your experience so far? Star, underline, circle, initial, or somehow indicate.
