Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

Research is a creative endeavor

As you’re continuing with your research, I encourage you to remember this: research is a creative process.

Here’s why that matters:

  • whatever your topic, whatever your motivation, when you research you are making something new–a new set of ideas, new questions, a new collection of perspectives
  • because research is a creative endeavor, there isn’t a single *right* way to do it–you’re not assembling an Ikea bookshelf; you’re creating something brand new that hasn’t been before and that is unlike anyone else’s project (and it’s totally fine to have leftover parts 😉 )
  • when you’re entering new, uncharted territory, it’s helpful to have models and maps–tutorials for different search tools (such as the SU Libraries how-to pages) offer a lot of value, in addition to the notetaking and analytical reading work we’ve been doing in class
  • you can have fun with this work–you’re charting your own course to a large extent, and you can be inventive with your choice of sources (inputs) and products (outputs)

The note-taking work that you’ve been doing this past week is part of this generative process. As you read, think critically, and respond to your sources’ ideas in your notes, you are beginning to shape your own perspective on the subject at hand, and ultimately your own contribution to the larger body of thought on this subject. That’s why I’m asking you to spend some real time on taking notes. Note-taking is where your creative thought-work begins.

A few suggestions to keep in mind:

  • use tools for what they’re good for: the SU Libraries website is good for finding specialized material by scholars and other experts. It will also give you full-text access to newspapers from all over the world. When you’re looking for that stuff, go there. Primary sources sometimes pop up there, but are more likely to be found on the open web, where anyone can publish. When you’re looking for that stuff, it makes sense to start with Google.
  • keep in mind that sources come in many forms–not just articles and books, but radio features, podcasts, images, documentaries and other videos, interviews/Q&As, etc.  You’re not limited to traditional kinds of texts.
  • jump straight to Advanced Search–filter your results more on the front end, and you’ll have fewer to sift through. Consider adding multiple search terms and placing limits on date, type of publication, language, etc. Note that when adding search terms in Advanced Search, you have a dropdown menu that defaults to “All Fields” (term appears anywhere in the text). You can also select “abstract” (term is significant enough to appear in the summary of the text). See the image below:screenshot showing Advanced Search selections
  • use sources to leapfrog–check out authors’ bibliographies for ideas, pay attention to the Subject headings or Keywords in the citation entry of a database search. Check out the image below–in your list of search results, hover over the Preview+ option to pull up the full citation, and then check out the Subjects listed–these are the terms this database uses to catalog related material. You can incorporate these as search terms, and it’s kind of like browsing the physical shelf in the library for other similar materials.

screenshot of full bibliographic citation showing how to do subject searching

Posted on

Discussion posts for Week of 6/29

We’re going to take it a little easier this week on discussion–please respond to both of the questions below by Wednesday, 7/1; you do not need to reply to your classmates’ posts, though I certainly encourage you to read through what others have to say.

In “Changing organizational culture,” we see a rather different type of writing, one that’s pretty approachable and readable, but still presenting intensive research in a way that’s geared toward a very specific audience. What we’re looking at here is a trade/professional journal. Like scholarly journals, they often include peer-reviewed articles, but they’re designed for practitioners (in this case, in the workplace safety industry) rather than for other academics. The end result is detailed research that’s usable for people working in this field.

In part we’re looking at this article as a sample of a genre that might be useful for you to consider for your own inquiry. SUMMON (the SU Libraries’ search tool) allows you to select “trade publication” as a Content Type option in an Advanced Search. It can be really helpful to see what folks within a given field are talking about, how they’re making use of current research, developing best practices, implementing ideas, etc. The material there tends to be very current material from experts–good stuff to use when you’re trying to understand the implications of a particular issue.

And we can also learn some lessons from this text about how to develop an argument that will reach our readers. Wong does a solid job of making explicit connections between theory and practice as she translates this material for a non-academic audience. Let’s home in on how she makes this work.

Please respond to both of the questions below for this week’s discussion.

  1. Wong is entering a conversation around diversity (including the business case and the ethical case folks have made for diversity) and inclusion that was going on long before she showed up. What does she have to add to this discussion? Focus in on 1 particular contribution you see her making to this larger conversation. Name it, explain it, tell us where to find it, and talk about what you think is significant about it.
  2. Review chapter 8 of TSIS, which is about connecting the parts. Locate a place in Wong’s article where you see her doing this important work, and identify the TSIS moves that you see her using in this segment. Again, point us to a specific passage, and talk us through what she’s doing there and why it matters.

Categorize your posts as “Discussions/Homework,” and tag with “unit 2,” “week of 6/29,” and [your name].

 

Posted on

Overview of Week of 6/29

As we approach the July 4th midpoint of the course, it’s a good time to take stock of where you’re at–any missing assignments you need to catch up on, any discussion posts or replies you didn’t complete, how your research work is coming along. If you have any questions, please reach out to me by email–we can chat that way or set up a time to talk by phone/Zoom to make sure you’re clear on where you stand.

This week, you’ll be continuing your work toward the research portfolio, locating, reading, and taking notes on sources. Read on for an overview of this week’s work.

Reading

  • “Changing organizational culture: from embedded bias to equity and inclusion” by Cori Wong
  • Chapters 8 and 9 of They Say/I Say (“As a result” and “You mean I can just say it that way?”)–note that chapter 9’s title was incorrect on the schedule of assignments. Sorry about that.
  • possible sources for your research portfolio as you locate them

Writing/discussion

  • Preliminary notes exercise (submit through Bb dropbox by Wednesday, 7/1)–the goal here is to catalog the sources you’re finding and begin sketching out the different perspectives they have to offer
  • Research plan–review page 3 of the unit 2 assignment sheet (submit on blog by Sunday, 7/5)
  • Discussion work on blog (see link below for prompts)

    Discussion posts for Week of 6/29

Posted on

week of 6/22 discussion, Benjamin Fisch

I have tried mostly 2 different search tools for gathering my research. These are google search and the digital SU library. Google search works easily for me. I just come up with a keyword that I think will produce relevant results to the topic I am intending to research. Then I enter it into the search bar and press enter. The process for the SU library, is very similar to Google Search. I just come up with a keyword and enter it into the search bar. When I search Google, I mostly come up with relevant articles about my subject, and sometimes I few blog posts on the matter. When I search the SU library, I come up with encyclopedia research, and scholarly articles.

I am hoping to find texts from encyclopedias or scholarly articles, written by well respected authors in their respected fields. The field I am researching in a general sense is diversity. I would like to find scholarly articles written by university professors that are well respected. I will work to find these fields and voices, by thoroughly searching through the results that come up on the SU library and through Google Search. Once I find a relevant course for my needs, I won’t just stop there. I will continue to find and collect new sources on top of that, that are relevant, so I can make sure I have all the research I need.

Posted on

Discussion prompts for Week of 6/22

This week’s work centers around focusing and surveying, and we’re going to stick with that theme in discussion. I’d like you to consider an analogy to photography here. When you’re getting ready to take a picture, you need to make a whole lot of decisions. That starts with deciding what your subject is going to be–what you’re going to focus on. In the course of making that decision, you’re also weighing what else is around that focal point, deciding what to include and exclude based on how you frame the image (whether and how much you zoom, how you refocus if you do zoom in, and deciding whether and how to overlay filters and other effects).

image that depicts a person focusing camera lens

That’s kind of how research works–figuring out what’s worth focusing on requires a lot of surveying the landscape to see what’s out there and what’s interesting, and then making a series of decisions about how to compose a final image that you think others will want to see.  We’re entering the surveying phase now–looking to see what’s out there and then deciding where to focus and how to frame the shot.

Please respond to both of the prompts below by the end of the day on Wednesday, 6/24, and then tune back in later in the week to respond to a couple of your classmates’ posts.

  1. What search tools have you tried, and what are you noticing about them–how they work, what kinds of sources you turn up with different tools, what specialized features (i.e. Advanced Search features) seem especially helpful? If you’re running into roadblocks, explain what you’ve tried, so we can offer suggestions to help you keep moving forward.
  2. Plot some research goals for yourself. As you can see in the unit 2 assignment sheet you will need to have at least 1 scholarly source, and at least 1 primary source (check out the post below for a rundown of what constitutes a primary source). You’re welcome to include a variety of sources beyond that, but will want to ensure that your sources represent a range of different viewpoints and contributions. What kinds of texts are you hoping to find? Which fields and voices do you want to make sure are represented? How will you work to find them?

A refresher on source types:

Types of sources

Posted on

Overview for Week of 6/22

I’ll be getting you feedback on your recent posts and on your focusing flowchart within the next 24 hours, so please be on the lookout for that, and use that to get started on your research for sources for your research portfolio.

Read on for the particulars of what’s due this week, but first, let me give you a bit more of the Big Picture of Unit 2.

big picture

In this Unit, you will be assembling a set of sources–representing a mix of voices of various stakeholders, a variety of source types (including primary, scholarly, and others), and a range of perspectives. Your primary tasks in this unit will be making decisions about what sources to include and becoming conversant with those sources. In this unit, we’ll focus on these elements:

  • locating sources (working with the SU library databases and other tools)
  • evaluating sources (assessing their value, credibility, and utility to your project)
  • writing about your sources (in a couple of note-taking and discussion exercises, and in longer annotations that are part of your portfolio)

You’ll be building a research project with these and other sources down the road in Unit 3. This unit will let you take your time developing a strong foundation for that work, so that your research can be intentional, critical, and productive (and not just quote-dropping or patching together other people’s words and ideas). This will allow you to make something new, a valuable contribution to the world of knowledge on the subject you choose to explore.

So, here are this week’s tasks.

Reading:

  • “Four questions to protect your organization’s culture during COVID-19
  • chapters 6 and 7 of TSIS
  • chapter 2 (“Forwarding”) of Rewriting

Writing and discussion work:

  • 2 note-taking exercises (1 due Wednesday, and the other due Sunday)–this begins with you locating possible sources, and then working with 2 different techniques spelled out on this notetaking techniques handout
  • discussion posts (your posts due Wednesday, replies to classmates’ posts due Saturday). Here’s the link to the prompts:

    Discussion prompts for Week of 6/22

Posted on

Discussion prompts, Benjamin Fisch

1.) “Providing a more concrete understanding of what a perceived stereotype threat could be allows the intended audience to reflect and comprehend these said threats whether the individual reading experiences them or not.” This quote from a classmates expanding the canon post really caught my attention. Its interesting to me, because it proves that individuals who haven’t experienced any type of discrimination, can still learn about that type of discrimination. This is important, because if more people are educated on a type of discrimination, the more people will take action, and try to do something about it.

“If a single company sponsors or promotes one specific kind of religion, this is questionable.” I really like this quote from a classmate’s expanding the cannon post, because it made me aware of a new type of discrimination that is being seen in the work place. This type of discrimination is religious discrimination. The author of this quote explores ways in which a religion, like christianity, could become the typical religion of a work place. If this is so, it creates a hierarchy of religions in the work place. If Christians were at the type of this pyramid structure, lets say that Jews are in the middle, and muslims and hindus are at the bottom. The religions below the popular and typical religion in the work place, may face discrimination for not being the typical religion.

The following Ted Talk video really stood out to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7365IO9l-tw
The speaker identified an example of a law suit between a muslim women and Abercrombie and Fitch. In this example, the women had been denied a position at the clothing shop, because of something as simple as her head scarf. This is outrageous and a clear example of discrimination in the work place, especially religious discrimination within the work place.

3.) The following is the closing line of a paragraph written by Bogost. “That makes diversity a necessary but insufficient solution to social equity in computing systems.” The following is the beginning of the next paragraph. “For years, companies and educators in the tech sector have framed diversity as a “pipeline” problem.” The transition seen in this example by Bogost is smooth. A reason why this is a great transition, is because Bogost ends the paragraph expressing how diversity in the tech industry is a problem. Then, the next paragraph is related to the end of the prior paragraph, because Bogost writes a sentence that will lead into explaining a potential solution for this issue. So, Bogost ends one paragraph by identifying the issue of diversity in the tech industry, and starts the next paragraph by offering a solution for the problem. This makes for a smooth and effective transition.

Posted on

Bogost assignment, Benjamin Fisch

1.) “I’m looking at the screen,” she says of the image that appeared from her scan, “and my cast, head, and breasts were big blocks of yellow.” This quote is an example of Bogost using rhetorical language to catch the reader’s attention and make them aware of what he is trying to communicate. He does this by using carefully put together, descriptive language to give the reader a real image of what he is trying to say.

2.) “She’s had other problems with the machines, too, including that her mop of thick, curly hair sometimes confuses them. (My colleague Hannah Giorgis, who also has a lot of curly hair, confirms that she, too, suffers a cranial pat-down every time she goes to the airport.)” Here is another example of Bogost using rhetorical language.

3.) “That idea echoes a popular suggestion to remedy computers’ ignorance of different sorts of people: Increase the diversity of representation among the people who make these systems, and they will serve the population better.”

4.) “But their impact might be a drop in the bucket, given the size and composition of the tech industry.”

5.) “But there’s a risk of tokenization; inviting a black man or a curly-haired woman into the room could make a difference in the design of the systems that produced Webb’s experience at airport security.”

Posted on

Unit 1 assignment, Benjamin Fisch

To expand the canon and add to the topic of organizational culture and diversity, I chose an article written by Dr. Ronit Molko called “The Benefits of Neurodiversity in the Work Place.” This article addresses neurodiversity within the work place. First, the article addresses how individuals with neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, and dyslexia are under represented in the work place. Following that, Dr. Ronit Molko, makes the argument that hiring more individuals who suffer from neurological disorders would actually significantly benefit an organization and it’s goals. Using the example of people who are autistic, one could easily fixate on the set backs that having multiple people who are autistic in a company could bring. However, if one could shift their perspective, he or she would realize that people who suffer from autism possess many qualities that are strengths and could potentially benefit a company significantly. Molko adds value for a broad audience of anyone in the work place, but especially those who are in higher up positions, that would be able to make decisions on hiring. He does this by explaining both the strengths and weaknesses of those with autism, and how they can benefit a company. This article is coming from a website called “Forbes Books.” This website is operated and owned by the well known publisher, Forbes. The intended audience of this article is anyone in business, but especially those with hiring privileges. The purpose of this article is to educated individuals in the work place about how individuals with neurological disorders could benefit a company significantly. This is done by Dr. Ronit Molko, by explains who people with neurological issues are under represented and then explaining how big companies are starting to take advantage of people with autism for example, that have advanced skills in some areas. In conclusion, this article supports people with neurological disorders, a group of individuals who are under represented, and their voices are hardly heard. In this course, we have been analyzing the topic of minorities within the workplace. This issue is less of a problem today, because action has been taken, in the form of laws being passed, that require a certain number of minorities to be employed at a company. Minorities voices on the topic of under representation in the work place have been heard, but much more work should be done and could be done\. People who suffer from neurological disorders are similar to people of minorities, because they both have been under represented in the work place. Yet, people with neurological disorders have yet to be heard for the most part. To support my argument and the purpose of the article I have chosen, I am including media. I have chosen a video by the company HSBC. The video is connected to my claims, because it interviews people who suffer form neurological disorders that work at HSBC. The employees with neurological disorders come off to be very bright, and they prove their brilliance, and make it clear that they can benefit a company.

Posted on

Discussion responses week 6/8, Benjamin Fisch

1) I chose a TED talk done by Renata Saled to analyze for this discussion response. Saled uses real life examples of her’s to engage the audience. She does a great job at this. When she describes the life of her friend who was working at a car dealership during college, she speaks in great detail that really paints a picture for the audience and captivates them. She goes on to explain how her friend is brilliant in the field of psychology, and how her friend uses that to gain an advantage of selling cars. All of this description for example. really engages the audience. Renata is very talented at incorporating a hint of comedy into her speech. Adding subtle humor to her presentation is a way Saled explains her ideas to the audience. I think it is interesting how Saled uses stories of hers to express her argument about chance. In the second story of a friend, Saled describes how her friend and her organized an event at the University of Chicago. Saled and her friend would speak at the event on the panel. She describes a risk that her and her friend took to experiment with the idea of chance. Saled and her friend combined their papers by one reading each paragraph off an on again. When their presentation was done, their audience was not aware that any changes had been made their presentation. The fact that the audience had no idea that their presentation was changed was very interesting to me.

2) In her TED talk presentation, Saled uses a ton of evidence to support her arguments..One of the ways that she best does this, is by referring or quoting well known phycologists. A great example of this is when Saled refers to a famous French psychologist, to support her claim that we are dealing with a certain societal obviousness. Her argument is that we have so many choices in our daily lives, some big and some small, and these choices are causing anxiety, guilt, and feelings of inadequacy. She suggests that individual choices could be distracting us from something larger, this is our power as social thinkers. Saled explains that we should focus on the choices we make collectively rather than the choices we make individually.