EXTRA CREDIT JOURNAL

** The grade you receive on this grade may replace your lowest journal grade, if you are unsatisfied with a specific grade you've received. If you're satisfied with your journal grades, you're done with journals! :) **

In Green's final "wrap-up" of her book, she writes, "Of course, as Dewey pointed out, general transformative strategies are not like cookbook recipes that can simply be applied universally without attention to the particular situation. Rather, their contextualized function is to suggest how to look at a particular situation, focusing on the relevant characteristics that must be taken into account while drawing upon information and experience-based insights about other communities' struggles that may suggest some of the elements of a specific, situationally adequate transformative solution" (216).

We talk a lot about big "universal" principles and concepts in this class - so much so that it's easy to forget about context, situations, and specifics. It's important to remember that solutions to problems must be well-suited to the specific context.

Think about the specific context of our situation -- the students in our class, the content of the course, UNC, community dynamics of Chapel Hill, the year 2010 -- and explore how this context shapes the way in which we have approached addressing the issue of fair trade. What obstacles does this context bring? What about this context makes the campaign run more smoothly?

Journal Question Five

In defining the “public square,” Green writes:

“The public square is no singular place. Rather, it is shaped by many social actors in many places, including government agencies at all levels, large-scale economic actors operating at a distance, and participants in the kinds of localized voluntary organizations Sara Evans and Harry Boyte call 'free spaces,' where people develop civic skills and virtues as well as a sense of 'somebodiness' within cooperative, democratic, cross-difference efforts through which they aim to solve problems, to improve their lives, and to realize at least some of their hopes” (199).

For the Fair Trade campaign to be successful, our class has to mobilize and gain the cooperation of several different sectors of the public sphere - institutions of public education (our class and broader student support), town government, portions of the business sector, the media, etc. On a global scale, Fair Trade requires the participation of international or national labeling agencies, foreign workers, retailers and distributors, etc.

Think critically about the links between these institutions, and choose at least one of the following questions to explore: Which alliances do you think are easiest to form, and which require the most struggle? Which alliances require the presence of some sort of intermediary? Which actors stand to gain, and who will have to make sacrifices? What is the best way to link the local sphere to the global sphere?

Journal 4

I can say that ESL Volunteer Program does and does not relate to King's quote. It does not in a sense that people are working towards soldifying the program and working collectively to improve it at every level. But realistically at the current moment in time it does prove King right because there is less agreement amongst workers, volunteers, and teachers of how exactly to approach ESL students. Although the program does follow certain rules and has set up certain requirements, each person has their own method and does not fulfill each rule and requirement the same way as someone else.

Marria Rahim
714261119

Journal #4

Here is journal 4, due March 25th. Again, please remember to include your full name. Also, remember that grades may be found at: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AuNqcZipjcc5dHhEcFRwN2l5NUVLdzMzTUp0Tm83UkE&hl=en. If you don't see your PIN, e-mail it to me. If you're unsatisfied with a grade, remember that there will be a make-up at the end of the semester. If you see a blank slot where you did something, let me know and we'll get it fixed!

In Green's discussion of Martin Luther King as a prophetic pragmatist, she notes that King “realized that there is generally less deep agreement in American political life about specific goals to be achieved than about the unacceptability of specific present realities” (139). She then goes on to explain that King was not only critical (of an unacceptable current situation) and idealistic (holding an image of the world as a better place), but that he recognized the importance of attainable goals that are grounded in reality.

It is easy to be critical (poverty is bad) and have a vague idea of what the world would look like if it were a better place (we need more education, equality, human rights, etc.). It is much more difficult to find widespread agreement of specific and realistic goals to work towards, as well as ways of reaching those goals.

Think about the social problem that your APPLES organization is addressing. Do you think that their method and goals are the most effective way to address this problem? If so, why do you think their model works? If not, what method or model do you think would work better, and why?

Journal 3, Darine El-Sourady

My APPLES assignment is helping with ESL for 8th graders at McDougle Middle School. I honestly haven't seen much difference in the value system of the students I work with and my own value system. However when the students work in groups together, it is often really difficult to motivate them to take the assignments seriously. I think a lot of the problem has to do with social expectations and the way that young people in the Latino community are conditioned by American society to believe that their "culture" does not value education as much as American culture does. There are countless media images and stereotypes in American films and television programs of young Latinos who do not care about their schooling and instead place emphasis elsewhere. The image of young Latino males who get into "trouble" rather than study is a common notion in the minds of many Americans. And I wonder how these images are then projected back onto the Latino community and fulfill this racist prophecy disguised as culture.

BOX OUT

Hey guys,

I just wanted to pass along a little info about an event/fundraiser coming up in the Pit that will be lots of fun and will help the organization that I do my APPLES with. Here's a blurb about the event...please sign up and event any friends! Let me know if you have any questions...

Spend a night in the Pit during this year’s Box Out and play a part in efforts to eradicate poverty! Box Out is an annual event put on by the Campus Y Committee: Homeless Outreach and Poverty Eradication (HOPE). Students pledge to fundraise a minimum of $30 and spend one night sleeping in a cardboard box in the Pit. All proceeds benefit The Community Empowerment Fund a group that provides micro loans, access to financial literacy, and other resources to the local homeless population, the only group of its kind in the nation. The event will be filled with free food, musical acts, artistic performances, meaningful speakers, film screenings, and of course fun! Box Out will take place Friday, March 26^th. Sign up here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?hl=en&formkey=dGQ4UUwwSU8wTVBJS1EybDhmdldKR1E6MA

--Liz Vigus

Students in the class

AL-GHANDOUR, NADEEN MAJED		ghandour@email.unc.edu
ALLMENDINGER, PAIGE JOHANNA		apaige@email.unc.edu
BACH, JULIAN CHRISTIAN		jbach@email.unc.edu
BARBER, JESSICA ELLEN		bajessic@email.unc.edu
BERRY, DALTON		bgdalton@email.unc.edu
BRUNACHE, MONICA ELIZABETH		bmonica@email.unc.edu
BUNCH, TAYLOR NICOLE		tbunch@email.unc.edu
BURNS, MICHAEL JAMES		burnsm@email.unc.edu
CHAN, ARKANGELO BOL		abchan@email.unc.edu
COTTER, ALEXANDRA JEFFRESS		acotter@email.unc.edu
D'ALESSANDRO, THOMAS DONALD		tdd@email.unc.edu
DAUER, MICHAEL DAVID		mdauer@email.unc.edu
DAVIS, GRAHAM THARRINGTON		dgraham@email.unc.edu
DELGADO, DAISY KARINA		dkd928@email.unc.edu
DIXON, EMILY P		epdixon@email.unc.edu
DONG, XIAOMENG		raydong510@unc.edu
EL-SOURADY, DARINE HAMDY		delsoura@email.unc.edu
ELURI, MADHULIKA		eluri@email.unc.edu
FISHER, ANIKA N		anika@email.unc.edu
FLANAGAN, RYAN T		rtflanag@email.unc.edu
GARRELL, SARA KATHRYN		sgarrell@email.unc.edu
GAYTAN, ANALI		gaytan@email.unc.edu
GLENN, CHELSEA BROOKE		glenncb@email.unc.edu
GRISSOM, AMBER ELIZABETH		aegrisso@email.unc.edu
HOPPER, LORENZO N		hlorenzo@email.unc.edu
HOWARD, JOSEPH HENRY		hjoseph@email.unc.edu
JARVIS, JAMES MICHAEL		jmjarvis@email.unc.edu
JING, JULIANA HELEN		jjing@email.unc.edu
JONES, JILLIAN M		jjillian@email.unc.edu
JOURNIGAN, CHELSEA		jchelsea@email.unc.edu
KOLOVRAT, JACQUELINE ELIZABETH		jek0704@email.unc.edu
LEECH, RYLEY ANDREW DWYER		rleech@email.unc.edu
LYLE, CHRIS M		clyle@email.unc.edu
MARTIN, SHAYANNE C		snmartin@email.unc.edu
MASOOMIKOLAHLOO, AIGIN		masoomik@email.unc.edu
MCCLAIN, NICOLE EVELYN		mgnicole@email.unc.edu
MCCORMICK, KERRY DEAN		kdmccorm@email.unc.edu
MENJIVAR, NIDIA M		nmenjiva@email.unc.edu
MHLABA, ZANELE SHARON		mhlaba@email.unc.edu
MILLER, ALEXANDER PAUL		a.mil@unc.edu
MILLER, ELIZABETH SHUFORD		melizabe@email.unc.edu
MILLER, WHITNEY ANNE		wamiller@email.unc.edu
MOORE, LORINDA BYRD		lnbyrd@email.unc.edu
ORTIZ, STEVE		sortiz@email.unc.edu
PETRACCA, GAVIN JOSEPH		petracca@email.unc.edu
PHILLIPS, LATOSHA VONZELL		tatertot@email.unc.edu
QUINTERO, STEVEN		qsteven@email.unc.edu
RAHIM, MARRIA T		mrahim@email.unc.edu
RAJA, AMER YASIN		amerraja@email.unc.edu
RAMIREZ, OLIVIA GRACE		oramirez@email.unc.edu
RAMSEY, SARA ELIZABETH		rsara@email.unc.edu
RETANA, GABRIEL		gabriel.retana@unc.edu
RIZK, HAKEEM S		rhakeem@email.unc.edu
RUDOLPH, COURTNEY NELSON		crudolph@email.unc.edu
SCOTTON, PHILLIP QUENNEL		pscotton@email.unc.edu
SHEALY, KARYN ANN		kashealy@email.unc.edu
SMITH, BRITTANY L		blsmith1@email.unc.edu
SOLORZANO, ANDREA		asolorza@email.unc.edu
STAGGERS, DANIELLE L		sdaniell@email.unc.edu
TANG, JENNY DIEP		tjenny@email.unc.edu
VIGUS, ELIZABETH MARIE		velizabe@email.unc.edu
WIRE, BRENT MICHAEL		wbrent@email.unc.edu
YANG, JIHO H		geoyang@email.unc.edu
ZAMAMIRI, YASMEEN		zamamiri@email.unc.edu