Embedded Files
The first piece of graded work for Climates of Resistance asks students to locate themselves within course themes, critically considering their own positionalities in regards to environmental racism. Students will write their reflections following initial class discussions about realities of systemic injustice and theories of intersectionality. At the end of the semester, learners will return to this starting statement as a tool for considering whether and how their standpoints have changed.
This assignment will support students in achieving Learning Objective 1: Explain how intersectionality – the combination of race, class, gender, sexuality, presumed (dis)ability, and other identity factors – functions within (in)justice.
Assignment Details: the first Identity Introspection should summarise takeaways from the course’s (Dis)Orientation unit by:
articulating complex identity factors amidst intersectionality;
engaging with key ideas pertaining to systemic oppression and theories of justice; and
positioning personal experiences in relation to environmental racism.
A quality reflection will require 350-500 words (roughly one typed page), though students may choose to submit their reflection via voice memo or another format if desired, so long as they meet the assessment criteria.
Rubric: grades for this “Identity Introspection” assignment will be determined according to the five requirements below.
Acknowledge the identity factors that are most significant to you (1 point)
Tips for meeting the criteria:
Share at least five characteristics or labels that form part of your identity.
Your factors may be poignant or sarcastic, serious or silly.
Don’t overthink it: the goal is to be thoughtfully honest about who you are and how you see yourself.
Reflect on why certain elements of yourself are more meaningful or pronounced (1 point)
Tips for meeting the criteria:
Think about which of your initial five identity words are particularly significant, and how they came to be so important.
Remember that what we exclude is often as telling as what we include.
Talk explicitly about the factors you didn’t name, in comparison with the ones you did,
Consider whether the concept of ‘intersectionality’ applies to you (1 point)
Tips for meeting the criteria:
Make use of insights from Jiang, Crenshaw, Victoria, Bard, and IE to summarise ‘intersectionality’ in your own words.
Reflect on whether you are part of any marginalised demographics, and whether your identity factors interact with each other.
If you don’t feel that the intersectionality concept is particularly relevant to you, share a bit about why that is - and whether you think the theory of intersectionality could help you better understand your own identity and postionality nonetheless.
Practice using key terms in environmental racism and theories of justice (1 point)
Tips for meeting the criteria:
Incorporate vocabulary from the Course Glossary to help you analyse your identity and position yourself within the course content.
Be sure you explain and use core concepts from the first weeks of class.
Position your perception of self in relation to environmental racism (1 point)
Tips for meeting the criteria:
Discuss whether you yourself have experienced and/or benefitted from environmental racism.
Include some thoughts about what you currently know about environmental racism and what you are hoping to learn from this course – about both yourself and the world. What are your goals for the semester?
Structure: while there is no required format for this assignment, students may find the prompts below useful in writing their response. As an example - and in the spirit of reciprocal vulnerability and openness - a similar reflection from the professor is shared.
Firstly, list five words that form part of your identity.
The professor’s list, for example: “Becca, queer, immigrant, treehugger, nerd”.
Pay attention to which factors you didn’t name: What we exclude is often as telling as what we include. Why didn’t certain parts of yourself make the list?
For instance, the professor did not include “white”, because her daily experiences do not routinely make her feel or consider her own whiteness. This is not the case for the vast majority of BIPOC individuals, for whom everyday microaggressions and systems of oppression serve as constant reminders of their racialised bodies. On the other hand, the professor did list “queer”, as this non-majority aspect of herself does regularly impact her social interactions and political situation.
Do any of the identity factors overlap or inform each other?
The professor is an immigrant because she is a treehugging nerd: her scholarship on environmental politics and peacebuilding brought her to the United Kingdom in her early twenties. She is now settling permanently.
Are your words more self-developed or externally assigned?
As a white-skinned American, much of society would refer to the professor as an “expat”. She purposefully uses “immigrant” instead, in order to signal politically charged descriptions of birthplace and movement while acting in solidarity with more disparaged immigrant and refugee communities.
Conversely, “Becca” is socially assigned birthname that has become personally significant to the professor, as it recognises her individuality (something most Americans hold rather dear…) while reminding her of connection to beloved family.
Do any of your labels have mixed connotations or negative histories?
Some members of the LBGT+ community have been derogatorily labelled with the phrase “queer” and find it offensive, while the professor has chosen to reclaim it as the most accurate conception of her sexuality. The meaning of language is a social construction; our use of it evolves over time and changes across contexts.
Do you hold demographic connections with multiple oppressed communities?
As a queer woman, the professor faces some marginalisation due to sexism and heteronormativity; however, she holds a good deal of cis white privilege. The professor thus does not consider herself particularly impacted by intersectional repression – but this does fluctuate based on where she is. While conducting field research in certain countries and contexts (including parts of the US), she is more likely to alternatively perform her gender and sexual identities.
Do aspects of your identity impact your connection to the environment and/or resources?
As an environmentalist nerd, the professor somewhat problematically benefits from environmental racism in a roundabout way – it serves as an avenue for her scholarly explorations (and thus career development). At the same time, her status as a woman serves to reduce how seriously she is taken in many environmental science circles.
As a white American, the professor is not negatively impacted by environmental racism: On the contrary, she benefits from easy access to a great many natural resources, creates a higher-than-average ecological footprint, and received an upbringing that regularly got her into outdoor spaces and wilderness areas.
Report abuse