Browse Diversity on Campus/Equity and Access by Series/Report

    Series/Report
    KIN 199, Sport, Play, and Ethnography, Prof. Synthia Sydnor: This course, a First Year Discovery Program and part of Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI), introduced students to cultural ethnographic method/theory and criticism related to the study of contemporary sport and play. This was accomplished by sampling both older "classic" works and recent significant projects in the area of study. Throughout the semester, students engaged in original primary research/fieldwork centered on "something that matters" that was "somehow" connected to sport and/or play within the University of Illinois community. The work of the semester was not so much to produce a final “polished” ethnography, but rather to reflect upon ongoing issues such as: What is my specific topic of interest? What are the key terms, questions, data, and significance of my unique project? What links can be made between my work and others ideas/ experiences? In what genres/forms can I communicate the above to others? The course syllabus is available at: http://www.eui.uiuc.edu/docs/syllabi/KIN199F08.pdf. [4]
    KIN 249 Fall 2010 [4]
    KIN 249; Spring 2012 [1]
    Kinesiology 442 Fall 2011 [7]
    Lisa Spanierman [4]
    LLS 258 Muslims in America [1]
    LLS 496: Diversity Research Project: Assessing and Enhancing Campus Climate at UIUC, Prof. Jorge Chapa. The class begins with ethnographic research on the impact of the performances of "N*W*C*" and related events on the University of Illinois campus climate. As we are working on this initial collective effort, students also work on specifying their individual or group project for the semester. Examples include research on "cyberbullying" and "cyberhatred" i.e., internet postings that demean, insult, or threaten groups or individuals at UIUC; the self-segregation of UIUC students in social situations. Students are expected to create ethnographic "research process pages" with links to fieldnotes, interviews, maps, and other critical documents and to present their work at an EIU conference. This Diversity Research Project reviews the literature on actions and programs that comparable campuses have used to improve their campus climate. The goal of the Diversity Research Project will be to produce a report detailing these findings as they may be applied to UIUC. The course syllabus is available at: www.eui.uiuc.edu/docs/syllabi/LLS496F07.doc [4]
    LLS296 Topics in Latina/o Studies: Latina/o Cultural Space, Place and Practice - Historical and Contemporary Manifestations, Profs. Veronica Kann and Alicia Rodriguez : This course was designed to explore how Latina/o spaces, places, and practices on the Illinois campus are constructed and contested throughout. Beginning with the student activism that led to the founding of La Casa Cultural Latina in 1974 to the present conversations around “diversity” and “multiculturalism,” students looked at people and processes that have contributed to the Latina/o-ization of parts of campus. This course was held in conjunction with the Ethnography of the University Initiative (EUI) Project; each student were expected to conduct an oral history and/or ethnographic project which examine an aspect of when, where and how Latina/o ethnicities construct and are constructed within institutional culture. [2]
    Mireya Loza, Instructor [18]
    Our goal for this course was to create original research projects about queer culture, with a special focus on our local context, the University of Illinois, in relation to the surrounding Urbana-Champaign area. Our guiding questions included: What are the various ways of defining “queer”? What counts as “culture”? Where do we find queer culture? How is queer culture produced, sustained, or transformed? How do institutions (such as universities) help to produce or erase queer culture? What roles do race, class, and/or gender play in the production and/or visibility of queer culture? Our course texts included selected examples of queer cultural production, including film, novels, television, magazines, and music. Assignments were designed around two research projects: (1) an archival research project on some aspect of local queer history and (2) an ethnographic research project on some aspect of contemporary local queer culture. [9]
    Our goal for this course was to learn different methods for researching “queer culture,” with a special focus on our local context at UIUC. Our guiding questions included: What are the various ways of defining “queer”? What counts as “culture”? Where do we find queer culture? How is queer culture produced, sustained, or transformed? How do institutions (such as universities) help to produce or erase queer culture? What roles do race, class, and/or gender play in the production and/or visibility of queer culture? We explored two research methods in depth: history and ethnography. One of the most exciting aspects of this course was that students produced their own original research based on genuine gaps in existing knowledge. By the end of the course, students not only had become familiar with the main currents in existing scholarship on queer culture, but also had produced their own new archival histories and ethnographic accounts of queer culture at UIUC. A special feature of this course was its connection to the Ethnography of the University Initiative. By taking the course, students also participated in a campus-wide research project about the university itself. More information about EUI is available at www.eui.uiuc.edu/index.html. [5]
    Parkland Community College; English 106; Spring 2011 [6]
    Prof. Eileen Lagman [4]
    Prof. Junaid Rana [10]
    Prof. Kristin McCann [6]
    Prof. Ligia Mihut [5]
    Prof. Lorenzo Baber [7]
    Prof. Siobhan Somerville [5]
    Prof. Soo Ah Kwon [4]
    Professor Catherine Vieira [2]