Week 3: In-Class Discussions & Speech on Campus and Beyond

Introduction

This week's blog is quite a bit different from the previous ones due to 'hurrication' for Dorian in which classes were cancelled for the week. Despite this, we still had to write our blogs on what we would have discussed in class. The two topics were In-Class Discussions (how ironic because we never had one this week) and the highly controversial Speech on Campus and Beyond.

In-Class Discussion

Whether you're shy or outgoing, we've all taken part in class discussions throughout our academic life. Some discussions feel tedious and mundane in which no progress is actually made whilst other discussions are thoughtful and engaging. The following four readings, really changed my perspective and behavior in carrying out class discussions for the better.

"I Take Your Point - Entering Class Discussion"

This chapter taken from Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff's  book, They Say, I Say (1) , illustrates the persistent problems we face with classroom discussions and useful tips to solve those problems. Firstly, they talk about the lack of linkage between each other's contribution by members of the classroom. To solve this problem, they said that we need to connect what we're about to say with something that has been previously said. When connected, the ideas in the conversation becomes clear and strong. Another helpful piece of advice is to re-summarize  what the previous speaker said where appropriate as well as to specify the previous speaker's previous point.  This technique helps remind the class about the present discussion, especially those who weren't paying attention.

The next tip was to explicitly indicate that you're going to change the subject. Failure to do this would make your comment appear to be irrelevant.

Another useful technique was to be more pedantic since the listeners can't reread what you said. Furthermore, you must limit  your contribution to one point with examples or unite them under one larger point. If you were to bundle the points together, your contribution would get less attention than it deserved.

Finally , Graff and Birkenstein suggest that we use meta commentary to highlight points with phrases such as "My point is" or "In other words". Before I read this article, I don't think that I had previously applied any of those techniques presented by Graff and Birkenstein.

From the knowledge gained from this reading, I believe that when providing a contribution to an ongoing class discussion, will strive to make my  point concise, detailed ,relevant and appealing to the listeners in order to keep the listeners' attention to the discussion.

"Power of Dialogue"

London's article (2) focuses upon society's inability to communicate properly because we talk to each other without any understanding and it's simply"noise"

With respect to an effective in-class discussion, London would define it as the respectful sharing of thoughts and ideas on preferably a system in which a common ground is reached by all parties and understood. He believes that "genuine understanding seems to be the exception rather than the norm in everyday communication" With respect to "when participants trust and respect each other", he wants people "to reveal their own insights and assumptions before speculating on those of others". In addition, London wants this discussion to achieve a purpose instead of wasting time over mindless banter. He would want classmates to start "analyzing ideas, finding the inconsistencies and never attacking" in order to form a "discussion aimed at fostering much insight and common purpose".

Out of all the reasons London gives,I believe the most valid reason for moving from "din" culture to a "dialogue" culture is that "genuine understanding seems to be the exception rather than the norm in everyday communication". This is because it's mostly "cross talk" and "din" which caused the divide and hate. If "people at odds with one another can come into alignment on objectives and strategies" , then this divide will be reduced or eliminated instead of "arguing for a point of view, defending a set of assumptions or critiquing the position of others". I believe that London wants us to focus on the actual issue at hand instead of attacking each other which would only make the situation worse.

"The trouble with much of what passes for communication today is that it's all crosstalk. It's a din not a dialogue. We fire
salvos of information across the internet, or shoot each other text messages or blog or Twitter about ourselves. But is anyone paying attention? And if they are, do they catch it drift?" This quote resonates with me because it precisely summarizes the issue of our modern society's communication problem. London also uses an interesting word choice such as the words "din" and "salvos" to illustrate war imagery which grabbed my attention but also reflects how society is today.

Microaggression

An example of a statement that's considered to be microaggression 

taken from the "I, Too, Am Harvard" photo campaign(3)

Microaggression refers to simple behaviors, actions or comments which are directed as a hidden insult to marginalized groups. At first glance, they may not appear to be harmful but after reading the article (4) and  watching the video (5) about it, you start to see the deep psychological wounds that it causes. In a classroom discussion, it hinders progress through false assumptions and doubts based on a student's demographic in  which microaggression  causes confusion and wastes time. Also, the members of the classroom may focus more on the microaggression rather than the actual class discussion which leads to a lack of focus. More importantly, it can lead to severe depression and anxiety for the targeted student especially if they have experienced prejudice. Microaggression can be dealt with by addressing it directly or privately when you're the victim and by trying to make a conscious effort to not display microaggression to anyone by thinking about how your words and actions affect other people.

Twelve Essential Communication Skills That aren't Taught in Schools at All 

From the skills mentioned in that article (6), I believe the most effective skills when communicating with members of the University community are showing empathy, asking great questions and using body language. I try to show some empathy by trying to understand and acknowledge other people's viewpoint when engaging in a classroom discussion. I attempt to ask great questions by talking my confusions, contradictions,alternatives or any interesting information relevant to the classroom discussion. For example, I would ask my Maths professor if I can use an alternative method to solve a problem. With respect to body language, I demonstrate that I'm paying attention by trying to face my head at whoever is talking and nodding my head to what is being said. 

These are good skills for First Year students to master because they give you a good impression, clears misunderstandings and is needed for effective communication so that messages aren't distorted. One other useful skill for first year students that wasn't on the list would be to know what level of formality to use in language when writing or speaking so that the message is respectful and not awkward.

Asking great questions is useful for First Year students because it clears up confusions and displays their curiosity. They can easily use this skill during classroom discussions or during a lecture when the professor asks the students if they have any questions.

What was really challenging to me about the article was that we need show emotions through empathy when communicating but when we're solving conflict,  we can't let emotions get in the way of our thoughts and actions. Provocative listening is  interesting to me as I have never thought about how listening to someone actually affects their self esteem.

All in all, this article was truly helpful.

Speech on Campus and Beyond

(7)

Free Speech is not only a controversial topic but it's also shrouded in Ambiguity from what I read due to the First Amendment(8). Many people are divided over whether the legal definition of free speech should be changed or not. Some people are upset that others are allowed to spread hate speech as it's protected under free speech whilst others think that censoring offensive or hate speech is a direct contradiction of free speech.


Protesters, students, and media fill Traditions Plaza at the University of Missouri (9)

Dra. McGrath assigned my class three articles of varying perspectives on the topic of free speech on a public campus. "Hate Speech is Protected Free Speech: Even at College Campuses" , written by Erwin Chemerinsky (10), focuses on the legality of hate speech permitted on public campuses. "On Speech and Belonging" , written by John A. Powell (11), focuses on both the legality of students and how it relates to the safety of all students in a school environment. "Race and the Free Speech Diversion" , written by Jelani Cobb (12), focuses on the tensions and negative effects of hate speech as well as the way people respond differently to hate speech against different groups or entities or organizations.


Protesters clash on the University of Utah campus where conservative commentator Ben Shapiro spoke on September 27, 2017 (13)

The strengths of Chemerinsky's arguments stems from his focus on the matter at hand from a legal perspective. He relates the First Amendment to how it's applied in Universities. One of his main points is that the Government cannot punish speech on the grounds that it is offensive. He also stated that the criteria for what is deemed hate speech in a professional or academic setting would be different to speaking in public.

However, the weaknesses of Chemerinsky's argument are that he failed to acknowledge the negative effects of hate speech on marginalized groups. More specifically, he doesn't offer a way as to how should people and campuses treat hate speech since it's allowed.

The strengths of Powell's argument stems from his use of Pathos,legal stance with respect to the First Amendment and what are the intentions of people who use hate speech in which he believes it is "carefully crafted to harm, to demonize, to disparage, to create a sense of fear about anyone they deem 'Other' ".

Although Powell mentioned the first amendment , he doesn't really focus on the legality of hate speech, free speech and the 1st Amendment as much as he talked about the negative effects of hate speech.

The strength of Cobb's argument to illustrate that "the freedom to offend the powerful is not equivalent to the freedom to bully the relatively disempowered"  is his use of well known examples and analogies to others such as the University protests in relation to the Trayvon Martin - George Zimmerman case.

The weaknesses of Cobb's argument is that he solely focuses and critiques on Yale and Missouri Protests. Cobb doesn't explicitly state his views on hate speech and free speech with respect to the first amendment. Furthermore, the average reader may be confused about the purpose of his article since it doesn't follow any known organizational strategy.

To me, Powell's argument seems to be the most persuasive because of his thoughts on the negative impact of hate speech, Pathos and also the belief that hate  speech is protected under free speech because of the first amendment.

PBS Videos

Schools are watching students' social media, raising questions about free speech

After watching the video (14), I was shocked to know that schools were spying on students online. I've heard that employers and Universities go through an applicant's social media profiles but I didn't actually know that they would still monitor their own students. The only positive thing I can see about this is that it allows school officials and authorities to see any red flags, bullying, drug sale/use and anything else that is harmful to students.

However, this can backfire as some students were found "guilty by association" for being in a group chat where someone posted something offensive even if they did nothing wrong. Moreover, those schools failed to realize that people behave differently online and what the school sees may not be an accurate reflection of the students. Furthermore, it stifles free speech as students now take careful consideration about what they post or do online. In addition, it's intrusive on the student's privacy and this monitoring also brings a light on how there isn't any laws preventing schools from doing this. Finally, the money used on monitoring these students online could have been used to improve the schools' infrastructures and programs.

Free Speech vs. Hate Speech on College Campuses

This video (15) was a well-balanced argument which talks about how limits of free speech such as: blackmail, making a threat, soliciting a crime, inciting violence, lying under oath and violations of copyright. In other words, if hate speech involves any of the limits,then it can be legally dealt with. On the other hand, the video also talks about how regulating free speech is undesirable because the Government(one body) would then be in control of everything we would be permitted to say.

Final Thoughts

In-Class Discussions are an integral part of learning to me. Because of the assigned readings, I believe that I have learnt the problems facing modern day communication which are the lack of understanding and consideration for the reader. Furthermore, I think that I now possess better techniques for the communication process in University and professional settings. Learning about microaggression made me sad to know what some people go through on a daily basis and I sometimes wonder if I give off any microaggression or received any microaggression. Even though there are still mixed views about hate speech and it's place in free speech on campus, we can't stop people from expressing their opinions, no matter how much we may disagree with them. What we can do is be open-minded and ensure that college is a safe  place for everyone to learn effectively regardless of their identity. During my leisure time on YouTube, I was watching this video clip(16) taken from a TV show called Top Gear (UK) in which the presenters of the show had to paint "offensive slogans" on each other's cars and then drive through the state of Alabama. I realized that those "offensive slogans" would have been received positively in other States of America. It made me think that some forms of hate speech is subjective. For example, if I were to say that "Women should have the right to vote" back in the 1910's many people would consider it hate speech(which may be hard to believe) since some of the offended people would believe that my statement was unpopular, unnecessarily divisive or an attack on men.  This is because hate speech is subjective since it's about how speech threatens, attacks or insults a person. If we were to pick and choose which opinions were hateful and which ones were not based on our own opinions, everyone would have a different perception on what they considered hate speech. That's why hate speech is really confusing and divisive.

All in all, we should still aim to be respectful and open-minded in whatever we say or do as everyone reacts and thinks differently.  

Sources

Book Mentioned

 1. Birkenstein C. and Graff G. (2005) "They Say, I Say Chapter 11 I Take Your Point - Entering Class Discussion", New York City ,Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.

Articles Mentioned

2.Power of Dialogue http://scott.london/articles/ondialogue.html
4.What exactly is a microaggression? https://www.vox.com/2015/2/16/8031073/what-are-microaggressions
6.12 Essential Communication Skills That Aren’t Taught in Schools at All https://www.lifehack.org/582780/12-essential-communication-skills-that-arent-taught-in-schools-at-all
8.First Amendment https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/first_amendment
10.Hate speech is protected free speech, even on college campuses https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/10/25/16524832/campus-free-speech-first-amendment-protest
11.On speech and belonging https://blogs.berkeley.edu/2017/09/18/on-speech-and-belonging/
12.Race and the Free-Speech Diversion https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/race-and-the-free-speech-diversion

Videos Mentioned

5.SNIPPET: Microaggressions in the Classroom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ji8Qae9keY
14.Schools are watching students’ social media, raising questions about free speech https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/schools-watching-students-social-media-raising-questions-free-speech
15.Free Speech vs Hate Speech on College Campuses https://www.pbs.org/video/free-speech-vs-hate-speech-on-college-campuses-gkjvrl/
16.Run out of Alabama! | Offensive cars | Top Gear | Series 9 | BBC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcJ-0bAHB4

Photo Credits

3. Image taken from "I, Too, Am Harvard" photo campaign https://itooamharvard.tumblr.com/
7.Javier Zarracina/Vox
9.Photograph by Michael Cali / San Diego Union-Tribune / TNS via Landov
13.George Frey/Getty Images