Discussion 1: Group Leadership SkillsLeading a group of individuals who have suffered trauma can be difficult because the shared stories may result in further trauma to some of the members. Assessing the members and deciding how they will introduce themselves at the first meeting can be a difficult task. Helping these members begin the group therapy process is the first step in facilitating the group.For this Discussion, watch the video of the “Levy” group session.By Day 3Post your evaluation of the group’s social worker’s leadership skills, using at least two items from each of the three categories found in the Toseland & Rivas (2017) piece (facilitation of group processes, data gathering and assessment, and action). Suggest another way the social worker might have initiated the group conversation.By Day 5Respond to two colleagues who discussed a different leadership skill. Explain the importance of building these skills and how they relate to facilitating the group process.Colleague 1: Caneisha Facilitation of group processesAs a facilitator, one must display listening skills while facilitating group. In my observation, I observed the facilitator being mindful and acknowledging the emotions and feelings of each group member. The facilitator displayed active listening skills. Active listening skills was illustrated through the effect of the facilitator. Nodding of the head, emotion of understanding through the eyes, hand gestures, and repeating what the group participate stated. Effective attending skills include repeating or paraphrasing what a member says and responding empathically and enthusiastically to the meaning behind (Toseland & Rivas 2017). The group facilitator acknowledges each group member feelings. An example was after one group member was attacked verbally by another group member. The facilitator allowed conflict within group members to occur while ensuring the conflict does not intensify. The facilitator allowed group members to compare similarities amongst selves to allow group members to convey emotions and feelings. The facilitator allowed members to express their feelings and responded appropriately making sure not to let them escalate into the point of arguing. In facilitating group processes contribute to positive group outcomes when they improve understanding among group members, build open communication channels, and encourage the development of trust so that all members are willing to contribute as much as they can to the problem on which the group is working (Toseland & Rivas 2017).Data gathering and assessmentData-gathering and assessment skills are useful in developing a plan for influencing communication patterns as well as in deciding on the action skills to use to accomplish the group’s purposes (Toseland & Rivas 2017). The facilitator collected thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of each group member. After group member spoke, she thanked them for sharing their story. The facilitator responded by observing the actions of each group member. According to Toseland & Rivas (2017), the skills of identifying and describing a situation are essential to workers’ attempts to gather data by requesting information, questioning, and probing. Using these skills, workers can clarify the problem or concern and broaden the scope of the group’s work by obtaining additional information that may be useful to all members (Toseland & Rivas 2017). The facilitator gathers more data by my observation of asking group members questions. The facilitator included questioning and probing for each group member. For example, when Jake made a joke about purchasing alcohol, she inquired if he finds his self-drinking more alcohol than what he normally drinks. In addition, the facilitator engaged group members in identifying personal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The facilitator acknowledges group members trauma that was experienced while serving in the military. The facilitator expressed wanting to allow group members to discuss how they are adjusting back into civilian life.ActionGroup members through my observation were encouraged to express thoughts by providing them the opportunity to publicize their concerns. The facilitator used personal testimonies of group members by soliciting their opinions and by responding accordingly. The facilitator displayed empathy for the challenges the group members have faced from being deployed. This was and is an important factor. The group members will be given the opportunity to feel understood and heard. I believe as a facilitator, this is very important while conducting group. In acknowledging the feelings and emotions of group members, the facilitator was able to allow each group member to feel heard and understood. Each group member was permitted the opportunity to express their feelings and feel validated at the same time. Each group member through the actions of the facilitator, each group member was able to process personal experienced trauma.Alternative to initiate the group conversationAnother way the social worker could have initiated the group conversation would be to allow group members to express their reason for being there and how they feel they can benefit from the group therapy. This will act as a guide to the direction of the group. The group can express and feel apart of the group. The group members will feel a part of the progress and process of the group. The group members will feel they are apart of the group and not just a participate of the group. To better explain this statement, the group members will feel that they are the ones who have created the group.Reference:“ References: Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013d). Levy (Episode 6) [Video file]. In Sessions. Baltimore, MD: Producer. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu ““ Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Chapter 4, “Leadership” (pp. 97-134). Chapter 5, “Leadership and Diversity”Colleague 2: Danielle Happy week 6!I hope everyone is having a great start to their week. It has been horrible weather here in Rhode Island. We have had lots of rain with cooler temperatures. I am ready for fall, but I am not ready for snow quite yet. In working at the hospital, we don’t have a choice we have to be here for our patients and provide the best possible care despite the weather.I really enjoyed this week’s material because it was information that not only will apply when we are working within group facilitation but also with anything in our life. We are often going to be part of a team or group when working in our role as a clinician. For example, I work often with two separate teams I have the primary care clinic where I am the only social worker here, but I am also on the social work department team which is made up of about 28 clinicians throughout the hospital bother master’s Level and bachelors.Facilitation of Group ProcessesIn working to evaluate the group’s social worker’s leadership skills within the facilitation of group processes I want to highlight working to involve group members and focusing on group communication. Our textbook works to outline that all members should be involved and interested in what is being discussed within the group (Toseland, Rivas, 2017). This facilitator did a fantastic job at working to engage all members and everyone seemed to be receptive to the items in which they were speaking. To involve group members this also means that we must take the lead and continue to facilitate throughout the process (Toseland, Rivas, 2017). We also want to work to empower our patients to feel comfortable with understanding they should feel comfortable to speak and this is a safe space for them to share their thoughts & feelings (Toseland, Rivas, 2017).From personal experience it can become difficult to facilitate groups. This morning on my way into work I was speaking with my friend who will be facilitating a group later this week for observation for her course. A specific item that we brought up was the difficulties that surround working to ensure your group members are engaged, sticking to the topics of discussion, and wanting to be there. As social workers or any facilitator it is important that we are quick on our feet and understand that not every group will be run the same way. That’s totally okay! No group should be the same simply due in part to the participants everyone will provide different contributions.Data Gathering and AssessmentIn the video of facilitation with the group within the data gathering and assessment portion of the social worker we can see that these are useful in working to influence the communication patterns and decide how to move forward (Toseland, Rivas, 2017). In this section the two items in which I observe from the social worker is working to identify, describe thoughts, feelings and behaviors in addition summarizing and partializing information (Toseland, Rivas, 2017). The facilitator works to gather data (not shared) by asking the individuals questions. The questions are used to keep the facilitation of conversation going but as a facilitator you can know and understand if a question negatively impacts the flow of conversation or continues to promote healthy conversation.ActionThroughout my observation group members were encouraged to discuss and express their thoughts by providing them the opportunity to each individually speak if they so choose. It was understood that this was a safe space that individuals could speak. I have mentioned this previously, but it is vital that as a facilitator or group leader that you work to understand each group member, how the group functions, and continue to keep the conversations going. These are actions that as social workers we aren’t going to know how to facilitate over night, but we will learn! As we continue to practice these skills, we will get better at honing our craft.Suggest another way the social worker might have initiated the group conversation.I think that another way in which the social worker could have initiated the conversation would welcome everyone to the group and say thank you for attending. Next, you will take time to introduce yourself to the group, and maybe share a fun fact about yourself to alleviate the group from thinking you might be better than them. In running inpatient groups at a residential treatment facility while I am someone who has never been in treatment themselves or understand life of addiction from that standpoint it was beneficial for the clients to see and understand I am still a person. In addition, it allowed the group members to feel like they were part of all aspects vs. me just working to ask them who they are, and why they are here.References:Laureate Education. (Producer). (2013d). Levy (Episode 6) [Video file]. In Sessions. Baltimore, MD: Producer. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu “Toseland, R. W., & Rivas, R. F. (2017). An introduction to group work practice (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. Chapter 4, “Leadership” (pp. 97-134). Chapter 5, “Leadership and Diversity”

Week 2: AudienceLast week you discussed a popular culture artifact and selected two artifacts for your Final Project in the Final Project Worksheet. This week you consider what it means for culture to be popular. How does popular culture become popular? How does it find its audience, or how does the audience find it? Does an audience change over time, or even disappear? If so, why?There are several popular culture artifacts that have been popular for a long time. For example, the Beatles’ music was incredibly popular when first released, but it also has stood the test of time, because many of their songs remain popular.Some popular culture artifacts fade in and out of popularity. Some examples might be flare leg jeans, trilby hats, or oversize glasses. Certain fashions become popular, then fade away and come back into fashion at a later date. Why is this? What does this say about society?This week you consider how popular culture finds an audience and whether an unexpected audience can turn an ordinary artifact into something popular.Learning ObjectivesStudents will:Analyze the relationship between popular culture and its audienceLearning ResourcesRequired ReadingsMenand, L. (2015, January 5). Pulp’s big moment: How Emily Brontë met Mickey Spillane. The New Yorker, 90(42), 62–69.This article discusses how literature classics were repackaged to appeal to a broader audience primarily through the use of cover art and cheap production costs.Snider, M. (2014, March 13). Streaming makes rock royalty now: Grammy winner Lorde first made a big splash via digital streaming. USA Today.This article details how Lorde found an international audience despite being a virtual unknown outside of New Zealand.Tschorn, A. (2014, May 27). 'Normcore' becomes fashionable, yet unclear. The Journal - Gazette.Normcore is a reaction to fashion trends. Advocates dress in ‘nothing special.’ It is a conflation of the terms normal and hardcore. In the process of reacting to fashion trends, 'normcore' has become a trend itself.Watson, M. (2011, April 27). How can the Mona Lisa compete with a copy made from toast? New Statesman, 140(5050), 97.The author offers humorous opinions on art and culture. He cites an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities he attended in Melbourne, Australia, as an example of a phenomenon in which viewers find many of the world's most spectacular works of art less impressive than they otherwise might thanks to the prevalence of reproductions in popular culture.The following websites may be helpful throughout this course by demonstrating ways of analyzing pop culture texts as artifacts.Critical Media Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://criticalmediaproject.org/Pop Matters. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.popmatters.comUSC Annenberg. (2014). Media, diversity, & social change initiative. Retrieved from http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/DrStacyLSmithMDSCI#previousresearchRequired MediaTEDYouth 2011. (2011, February 27). Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_allocca_why_videos_go_viralNote: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.This talk by Allocca, YouTube's trends manager, identifies how and when videos “go viral”—that is, become ragingly popular.Optional ResourcesRace/EthnicityAlridge, D. P. (2005). From civil rights to hip hop: toward a nexus of ideas. Journal of African American History, 90(3), 226–252.Baldwin, J. (1984). Stranger in the village. In Notes of a native son (pp. 159–175). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1955)Frere-Jones, S. (2010). Blacklisted. New Yorker, 86(37). 136–137.Gotanda, N. (2009). Computer games, racial pleasure, and discursive racial spaces. Albany Law Review, 72(4), 929–937.Menéndez Alarcón, A. V. (2014). Latin American culture: A deconstruction of stereotypes. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, 3272–3296.Rubie-Davies, C. M., Liu, S., & Lee, K. (2013). Watching each other: Portrayals of gender and ethnicity in television advertisements. Journal of Social Psychology, 153(2), 175–195.Sexuality/GenderFrere-Jones, S. (2010). Blacklisted. New Yorker, 86(37), 136–137.Gn, J. (2011). Queer simulation: The practice, performance and pleasure of cosplay. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 25(4), 583–593.Jackson, S. (1991). The Lottery. In The Lottery and Other Stories. New York, NY: Farrar, 291–302.Ouellette, L. (1999). Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class identity and girl-style American dreams. Media, Culture & Society, 21(3), 359–383.Ronson, M. [MarkRonsonVEVO]. (2014, November 19). Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqD0Rubie-Davies, C. M., Liu, S., & Lee, K. (2013). Watching each other: Portrayals of gender and ethnicity in television advertisements. Journal of Social Psychology, 153(2), 175–195.Siegel, L. (2013, December 7). America the vulgar. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, C1–C2.Social and Economic ClassAlexie, S. (2011). Superman and Me. In The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines (11th ed.). Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 580–583.Byrne, K. (2014). Adapting heritage: Class and conservatism in Downton Abbey. Rethinking History, 18(3), 311–327.Goddard, P. (2008, January 5). Arts study a culture shock: Forget class versus trash, the elite versus the masses [Blog post]. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/2008/01/05/arts_study_a_culture_shock.htmlHarrison, L. M. (2010). Factory music: How the industrial geography and working-class environment of post-war Birmingham fostered the birth of heavy metal. Journal of Social History, 44(1), 145–158.Menéndez Alarcón, A. V. (2014). Latin American culture: A deconstruction of stereotypes. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, 3272–3296.Ouellette, L. (1999). Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class identity and girl-style American dreams. Media Culture & Society, 21(3), 359–383.ViolenceAmerican Academy of Pediatrics. (2009). Policy statement—Media violence. Pediatrics, 124(5). Retrieved from https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/ped...Cieply, M., & Barnes, B. (2014, July 27). ‘Rule followers’ flock to a convention where fake violence reigns. New York Times, 14–17.Jackson, S. (1991). The Lottery. In The Lottery and Other Stories. New York, NY: Farrar, 291–302.Maloney, D. (2014). The violence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay is actually good for teens [Blog post]. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2014/11/mockingjay-violence-teensSchechter, H. (1996). A short, corrective history of violence in popular culture. New York Times Magazine, 145(50481), 32.Indecency/Free SpeechKreps, D. (2014, January 30). Nipple ripples: 10 years of fallout from Janet Jackson’s halftime show. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/nipple-ripples-10-years-of-fallout-from-janet-jacksons-halftime-show-20140130Petersen, J. (2007). Freedom of expression as liberal fantasy: The debate over The People vs. Larry Flynt. Media, Culture & Society, 29(3), 377–394Rich, F. (2005, March 13). The greatest dirty joke ever told. New York Times, 1–20.Siegel, L. (2013, December 7). America the vulgar. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, C1–C2.Totenberg, N. (2014, December 1). Is a threat posted on Facebook really a threat? NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2014/12/01/ 366534452/is-a-threat-posted-on-facebook-really-a-threatDiscussion: Audience: Affects and EffectsDoes popular culture change how society views an idea? Or does popular culture reinforce dominant ideas, thereby slowing the pace of change?This week’s Discussion is broken into various threads, each of which focuses on a specific social issue. Your main post should be in the thread that corresponds to the artifact you have chosen for your Final Project. This will allow you to get a good start on your research. However, feel free to respond to classmates in any thread that interests you. Reading about how others approach their selected issues can inspire new ways to think about your own.To prepare, read through this week’s Learning Resources.For this Discussion, your Instructor will either assign groups to threads or direct you to choose one thread from the choices listed for this week. If you are directed to choose a thread on your own, follow these instructions: Each thread is limited to a maximum number of students based on class size. A thread will close if the limit is reached. If a thread is closed to new posters, select from the open threads.Discussion Prompts for Each Thread:Gender/SexualityPopular culture has played a significant role in how gender and sexuality have been viewed over time. The term gender refers to masculine and feminine and includes transgender issues. The termsexuality refers to relations between people, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.One significant popular culture sexuality moment occurred when the title character on the TV showEllen, Ellen Morgan, played by Ellen DeGeneres, came out in a 1997 broadcast as gay. She became the first openly lesbian actress playing an openly lesbian character. Several other TV shows today include openly homosexual characters.Consider how audiences over time have received TV representations of gender and sexuality. Have popular culture representations of gender and sexuality pushed the issue forward? Or have they reinforced dominant ideas of what is “normal” and thereby slowed down society’s acceptance of a broader understanding of gender and sexuality?RacePopular culture has played a significant role in how race has been viewed over time. Different races and ethnicities have frequently been portrayed as stereotypes.Popular culture can have a profound effect on how an audience views racial issues. For example, The Cosby Show, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992, was the first time that a successful U.S. television show had portrayed an African-American family as upper middle class.One of the show’s premises was that it did not deal primarily with race issues. Although themes such as the Civil Rights Movement and African-American art and music were present, it was the representation of an African-American family as professionals with the same family issues as white American families that shifted perceptions of race. What about Latin Americans and South Americans? What about Romani, sometimes referred to as "travelers" or "traveling communities"?Have popular culture representations of race and ethnicity pushed the issue of equality forward? Or have they reinforced stereotypical ideas of race, thereby slowing down society’s acceptance of a broader understanding of racial and ethnic equality?ClassPopular culture has had a significant influence on how social and economic class have been viewed over time. Some consider the United States to be a classless society. After all, the U.S. does not have an obvious aristocracy.Several myths exist about social and economic class, including the American Dream: the idea that anyone can get rich, or be famous, through hard work alone. A well-known rags-to-riches tale is the Cinderella story, in which a wealthy romantic partner rescues the main character and lifts her from a hard life into a higher social and economic class. Most cultures around the world have a version of this tale.Consider how audiences have received such representations of social and economic class. Have popular culture representations of social and economic wealth slowed down society’s engagement with economic and social issues? Does the perpetuation of the myth that anyone can succeed through hard work prevent society from addressing issues of poverty?Violence/Indecency/Free SpeechPopular culture frequently has been accused of being too explicit, showing too much violence, pushing the boundaries of acceptable language, and displaying excessive nudity. A watershed moment in American television history is the infamous half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2004 in which Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing. During the performance, a brief wardrobe malfunction occurred when Timberlake accidentally moved the fabric covering Jackson’s breast. While Jackson’s nipple was not exposed, most viewers believed it had been. This led to a crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the governmental body in charge of indecency on the public airwaves. The incident has been described as both an important moment for maintaining decency on the airwaves and so trivial as not to deserve comment.Consider how audiences have perceived indecent or violent behavior within popular culture. Have popular culture representations of violence or indecency pushed boundaries? Or have they reinforced societal ideas of what is appropriate?By Day 3Post a 250-word response in which you describe the influence of the intended audience on how the popular culture artifact in your discussion thread portrays messages about the issue.By Day 5Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.Respond to at least two of your colleagues' postings that contain a perspective different from yours.For the first response to one of your colleagues:Describe how the intended audience is expected to react to the issue in your colleague’s popular culture element.Then, for the second response to your other colleague:Describe ways in which the unintended audience may react to the issue in your popular culture element.Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.Submission and Grading InformationGrading CriteriaTo access your rubric:Week 2: AudienceLast week you discussed a popular culture artifact and selected two artifacts for your Final Project in the Final Project Worksheet. This week you consider what it means for culture to be popular. How does popular culture become popular? How does it find its audience, or how does the audience find it? Does an audience change over time, or even disappear? If so, why?There are several popular culture artifacts that have been popular for a long time. For example, the Beatles’ music was incredibly popular when first released, but it also has stood the test of time, because many of their songs remain popular.Some popular culture artifacts fade in and out of popularity. Some examples might be flare leg jeans, trilby hats, or oversize glasses. Certain fashions become popular, then fade away and come back into fashion at a later date. Why is this? What does this say about society?This week you consider how popular culture finds an audience and whether an unexpected audience can turn an ordinary artifact into something popular.Learning ObjectivesStudents will:Analyze the relationship between popular culture and its audienceLearning ResourcesRequired ReadingsMenand, L. (2015, January 5). Pulp’s big moment: How Emily Brontë met Mickey Spillane. The New Yorker, 90(42), 62–69.This article discusses how literature classics were repackaged to appeal to a broader audience primarily through the use of cover art and cheap production costs.Snider, M. (2014, March 13). Streaming makes rock royalty now: Grammy winner Lorde first made a big splash via digital streaming. USA Today.This article details how Lorde found an international audience despite being a virtual unknown outside of New Zealand.Tschorn, A. (2014, May 27). 'Normcore' becomes fashionable, yet unclear. The Journal - Gazette.Normcore is a reaction to fashion trends. Advocates dress in ‘nothing special.’ It is a conflation of the terms normal and hardcore. In the process of reacting to fashion trends, 'normcore' has become a trend itself.Watson, M. (2011, April 27). How can the Mona Lisa compete with a copy made from toast? New Statesman, 140(5050), 97.The author offers humorous opinions on art and culture. He cites an exhibition of Egyptian antiquities he attended in Melbourne, Australia, as an example of a phenomenon in which viewers find many of the world's most spectacular works of art less impressive than they otherwise might thanks to the prevalence of reproductions in popular culture.The following websites may be helpful throughout this course by demonstrating ways of analyzing pop culture texts as artifacts.Critical Media Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://criticalmediaproject.org/Pop Matters. (2015). Retrieved from http://www.popmatters.comUSC Annenberg. (2014). Media, diversity, & social change initiative. Retrieved from http://annenberg.usc.edu/pages/DrStacyLSmithMDSCI#previousresearchRequired MediaTEDYouth 2011. (2011, February 27). Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_allocca_why_videos_go_viralNote: The approximate length of this media piece is 7 minutes.This talk by Allocca, YouTube's trends manager, identifies how and when videos “go viral”—that is, become ragingly popular.Optional ResourcesRace/EthnicityAlridge, D. P. (2005). From civil rights to hip hop: toward a nexus of ideas. Journal of African American History, 90(3), 226–252.Baldwin, J. (1984). Stranger in the village. In Notes of a native son (pp. 159–175). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1955)Frere-Jones, S. (2010). Blacklisted. New Yorker, 86(37). 136–137.Gotanda, N. (2009). Computer games, racial pleasure, and discursive racial spaces. Albany Law Review, 72(4), 929–937.Menéndez Alarcón, A. V. (2014). Latin American culture: A deconstruction of stereotypes. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, 3272–3296.Rubie-Davies, C. M., Liu, S., & Lee, K. (2013). Watching each other: Portrayals of gender and ethnicity in television advertisements. Journal of Social Psychology, 153(2), 175–195.Sexuality/GenderFrere-Jones, S. (2010). Blacklisted. New Yorker, 86(37), 136–137.Gn, J. (2011). Queer simulation: The practice, performance and pleasure of cosplay. Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 25(4), 583–593.Jackson, S. (1991). The Lottery. In The Lottery and Other Stories. New York, NY: Farrar, 291–302.Ouellette, L. (1999). Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class identity and girl-style American dreams. Media, Culture & Society, 21(3), 359–383.Ronson, M. [MarkRonsonVEVO]. (2014, November 19). Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPf0YbXqD0Rubie-Davies, C. M., Liu, S., & Lee, K. (2013). Watching each other: Portrayals of gender and ethnicity in television advertisements. Journal of Social Psychology, 153(2), 175–195.Siegel, L. (2013, December 7). America the vulgar. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, C1–C2.Social and Economic ClassAlexie, S. (2011). Superman and Me. In The McGraw-Hill Reader: Issues Across the Disciplines (11th ed.). Ed. Gilbert H. Muller. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 580–583.Byrne, K. (2014). Adapting heritage: Class and conservatism in Downton Abbey. Rethinking History, 18(3), 311–327.Goddard, P. (2008, January 5). Arts study a culture shock: Forget class versus trash, the elite versus the masses [Blog post]. The Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/2008/01/05/arts_study_a_culture_shock.htmlHarrison, L. M. (2010). Factory music: How the industrial geography and working-class environment of post-war Birmingham fostered the birth of heavy metal. Journal of Social History, 44(1), 145–158.Menéndez Alarcón, A. V. (2014). Latin American culture: A deconstruction of stereotypes. Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, 3272–3296.Ouellette, L. (1999). Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class identity and girl-style American dreams. Media Culture & Society, 21(3), 359–383.ViolenceAmerican Academy of Pediatrics. (2009). Policy statement—Media violence. Pediatrics, 124(5). Retrieved from https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/ped...Cieply, M., & Barnes, B. (2014, July 27). ‘Rule followers’ flock to a convention where fake violence reigns. New York Times, 14–17.Jackson, S. (1991). The Lottery. In The Lottery and Other Stories. New York, NY: Farrar, 291–302.Maloney, D. (2014). The violence in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay is actually good for teens [Blog post]. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2014/11/mockingjay-violence-teensSchechter, H. (1996). A short, corrective history of violence in popular culture. New York Times Magazine, 145(50481), 32.Indecency/Free SpeechKreps, D. (2014, January 30). Nipple ripples: 10 years of fallout from Janet Jackson’s halftime show. Rolling Stone. Retrieved from http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/nipple-ripples-10-years-of-fallout-from-janet-jacksons-halftime-show-20140130Petersen, J. (2007). Freedom of expression as liberal fantasy: The debate over The People vs. Larry Flynt. Media, Culture & Society, 29(3), 377–394Rich, F. (2005, March 13). The greatest dirty joke ever told. New York Times, 1–20.Siegel, L. (2013, December 7). America the vulgar. Wall Street Journal – Eastern Edition, C1–C2.Totenberg, N. (2014, December 1). Is a threat posted on Facebook really a threat? NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2014/12/01/ 366534452/is-a-threat-posted-on-facebook-really-a-threatDiscussion: Audience: Affects and EffectsDoes popular culture change how society views an idea? Or does popular culture reinforce dominant ideas, thereby slowing the pace of change?This week’s Discussion is broken into various threads, each of which focuses on a specific social issue. Your main post should be in the thread that corresponds to the artifact you have chosen for your Final Project. This will allow you to get a good start on your research. However, feel free to respond to classmates in any thread that interests you. Reading about how others approach their selected issues can inspire new ways to think about your own.To prepare, read through this week’s Learning Resources.For this Discussion, your Instructor will either assign groups to threads or direct you to choose one thread from the choices listed for this week. If you are directed to choose a thread on your own, follow these instructions: Each thread is limited to a maximum number of students based on class size. A thread will close if the limit is reached. If a thread is closed to new posters, select from the open threads.Discussion Prompts for Each Thread:Gender/SexualityPopular culture has played a significant role in how gender and sexuality have been viewed over time. The term gender refers to masculine and feminine and includes transgender issues. The termsexuality refers to relations between people, whether heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual.One significant popular culture sexuality moment occurred when the title character on the TV showEllen, Ellen Morgan, played by Ellen DeGeneres, came out in a 1997 broadcast as gay. She became the first openly lesbian actress playing an openly lesbian character. Several other TV shows today include openly homosexual characters.Consider how audiences over time have received TV representations of gender and sexuality. Have popular culture representations of gender and sexuality pushed the issue forward? Or have they reinforced dominant ideas of what is “normal” and thereby slowed down society’s acceptance of a broader understanding of gender and sexuality?RacePopular culture has played a significant role in how race has been viewed over time. Different races and ethnicities have frequently been portrayed as stereotypes.Popular culture can have a profound effect on how an audience views racial issues. For example, The Cosby Show, which aired on NBC from 1984 to 1992, was the first time that a successful U.S. television show had portrayed an African-American family as upper middle class.One of the show’s premises was that it did not deal primarily with race issues. Although themes such as the Civil Rights Movement and African-American art and music were present, it was the representation of an African-American family as professionals with the same family issues as white American families that shifted perceptions of race. What about Latin Americans and South Americans? What about Romani, sometimes referred to as "travelers" or "traveling communities"?Have popular culture representations of race and ethnicity pushed the issue of equality forward? Or have they reinforced stereotypical ideas of race, thereby slowing down society’s acceptance of a broader understanding of racial and ethnic equality?ClassPopular culture has had a significant influence on how social and economic class have been viewed over time. Some consider the United States to be a classless society. After all, the U.S. does not have an obvious aristocracy.Several myths exist about social and economic class, including the American Dream: the idea that anyone can get rich, or be famous, through hard work alone. A well-known rags-to-riches tale is the Cinderella story, in which a wealthy romantic partner rescues the main character and lifts her from a hard life into a higher social and economic class. Most cultures around the world have a version of this tale.Consider how audiences have received such representations of social and economic class. Have popular culture representations of social and economic wealth slowed down society’s engagement with economic and social issues? Does the perpetuation of the myth that anyone can succeed through hard work prevent society from addressing issues of poverty?Violence/Indecency/Free SpeechPopular culture frequently has been accused of being too explicit, showing too much violence, pushing the boundaries of acceptable language, and displaying excessive nudity. A watershed moment in American television history is the infamous half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2004 in which Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing. During the performance, a brief wardrobe malfunction occurred when Timberlake accidentally moved the fabric covering Jackson’s breast. While Jackson’s nipple was not exposed, most viewers believed it had been. This led to a crackdown by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the governmental body in charge of indecency on the public airwaves. The incident has been described as both an important moment for maintaining decency on the airwaves and so trivial as not to deserve comment.Consider how audiences have perceived indecent or violent behavior within popular culture. Have popular culture representations of violence or indecency pushed boundaries? Or have they reinforced societal ideas of what is appropriate?By Day 3Post a 250-word response in which you describe the influence of the intended audience on how the popular culture artifact in your discussion thread portrays messages about the issue.By Day 5Read a selection of your colleagues' postings.Respond to at least two of your colleagues' postings that contain a perspective different from yours.For the first response to one of your colleagues:Describe how the intended audience is expected to react to the issue in your colleague’s popular culture element.Then, for the second response to your other colleague:Describe ways in which the unintended audience may react to the issue in your popular culture element.Return to this Discussion in a few days to read the responses to your initial posting. Note what you have learned and/or any insights you have gained as a result of your colleagues’ comments.Submission and Grading InformationGrading CriteriaTo access your rubric:

Research Proposal and Preliminary BibliographyIn Module 2, you began conducting research for your final paper examining one of the themes noted in the course.THEME: Closing The Gap Between College and Career - Everything should pertain to THISFor this Critical Thinking Assignment, provide a short research proposal and cite 7 or more credible sources in an annotated bibliography. You may use the sources you worked with in this week's discussion. This Critical Thinking Assignment has two parts.Part 1: Research ProposalAddress the following in your proposal:What topic/question do you plan to research? Why? What sparks your interest in this issue? And why does this issue matter to others beyond yourself?Who are the various stakeholders when it comes to this issue? Then, who your intended audience? What specific group of individuals has the power to make change when it comes to this issue?How have you narrowed this topic/question to make it more manageable? How could you keep narrowing it if needed?What makes your topic/question debatable? What are 3-5 open-ended questions within this topic?Based on your preliminary bibliography, how researchable does this question seem? Have you found a wealth of diverse sources and opinions? How credible and reliable do your sources seem? How easy or difficult was it to find peer-reviewed/scholarly sources? Which sources are most promising? Why?NOTE: This assignment is not a full research essay. For now, you are writing a few paragraphs defending your research topic, why it matters, what its central questions are, etc.Your research proposal must be approved by your instructor to move forward with your research.Part 2: Annotated BibliographyAddress the following for the annotated bibliography:APA formatting for the citationsCitations/sources listed in alphabetical orderNote how each source will help you explore your topic more fully.All sources should be print books, eBooks from the library, articles from the library databases, or articles (print or web) from local, regional, and national/international newspapers and magazines. No general websites, .com websites, wiki sites, personal blogs, etc.At least 2 of your sources need to be peer-reviewed/scholarly journal articles from the library databases. What is a peer-reviewed scholarly article? Watch the following video: The Peer Review Process (Links to an external site.)All sources should be from the last five years (approx.) to avoid out of date information. Include annotations for at least 4-5 sources cited in the discussion board.Use the following template:Research Proposal and Preliminary Bibliography Template (Template found in the Module folder.)Required elements to turn in with submission:Research ProposalAnnotated BibliographyAppendix - following references:Pattern of error log (Template found in the Module folder.)Turnitin report (provide similarity score and any comments)Requirements:Part 1 Length: Minimum of 300 wordsPart 2 Length: 1-2 paragraphsRefer to the Critical Thinking Assignment Rubric available in the Module 3 Folder for more information on assignment expectations and grading.ADDITIONAL REFERENCES:RequiredSections in English Composition II: Rhetorical Methods–Based:Read: Acknowledging Sources and Avoiding PlagiarismVideo: Annotated Bibliographies an Illustrated GuideSections in Exploring Perspectives: A Concise Guide to Analysis:Chapter 3: Developing Assertions from a Close ReadingChapter 4: Explanations and Significance Developing your AnalysisSection in The Process of Research Writing:Chapter 6: The Annotated Bibliography ExerciseAmerican Psychological Association. (2019). Basics of APA style tutorial. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/tutori...Purdue Online Writing Lab. (2020). APA style and formatting guide. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/a...CSU Global Writing Center. (2019). How to write an annotated bibliography.CSU Global Writing Center. (2020). Research proposal and preliminary bibliography template.CSU Global Writing Center. (2020). Citing & APA: Resources & guide.Mayes, C., & Dyer, J. (Directors), & Dyer, J. (Producer). (2007). Gathering research: Part 6 [Video]. Dallas County Community College District. Academic Video Online: Premium database. (This resource is required for the Discussion.)Western University. (2011, February 28). The peer review process [Video]. (This resource is required for the Critical Thinking Assignment.)RecommendedUSC Libraries. (2019). Academic Writing Style. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/academicwriting