Moody College of Communication
Please direct all questions about the flag proposal process to the Center for the Skills & Experience Flags.
J 334F Oral History as Journalism
Department of Journalism
To satisfy the Cultural Diversity flag, at least one-third of course grade must be based on content dealing with underrepresented cultural groups in the US. Please describe which underrepresented cultural groups will be studied in this course, and how one-third of the course grade is based on study of the group(s).
This class will be centered on the U.S. Latina/o experience. So, readings are on oral history methodology and on whatever topic we are tackling that semester; most recently, it was Latino political and civic engagement.
For the purposes of the Cultural Diversity Flag, the committee understands a cultural group to be “underrepresented” if the experience of its members in the US has been or continues to be one of persistent marginalization. What are some typical readings, assignments, or activities in the course that are related to the context of persistent marginalization of these underrepresented cultural groups?
In the last few years, we have focused on political and civic engagement. One semester it was on a school walkout in Uvalde, Texas; another semester, it was on the South Texas/Border Initiative, which provided greater resources for universities there; and another it was on the 1975 Voting Rights Act, which expanded the 1965 act to include language minorities, particularly Mexican Americans.
The Cultural Diversity flag indicates that a course will challenge students to explore the beliefs and practices of an underrepresented group in relation to their own cultural experiences so that they engage in an active process of self-reflection. Please describe some assignments or activities that give students an opportunity for this kind of reflection.
Students are required to prepare an online synchronized index of an existing video interview with someone who is either Mexican American, or who has played a key role in securing greater opportunities for Mexican Americans. They are also required to conduct an interview of their own and write a story, or edit a multimedia component about it. They also must write field notes about the interview experience. Finally, they are required to write reflection papers on their experience in the class and how it has affected their understanding of the topic and of themselves.