February 2011 Archives

By this time you have all selected an expert topic http://www.psychologicalscience.com/psychology_of_violence/2011/01/expert-topic-127-10pm.html

and in some cases already modified, refined, or changed it altogether :)

Now is the time to start really developing expertise.

Weekly, on your MyPage, I'd like you to provide a quick update of information, links, articles, sources, ideas, effort, work etc, that you have found, done, thought, or pursued. These are not blog posts and do not need to be lengthy. They should simply document what you have done for the week on your expert topic and provide a place for you to store information (links) about your topic. Your first update (due this thursday, at your regular MyPage update time) might have a lot, because most of you have already been working. I can see that a typical update might be "Found www.xyz.link that provided useful definitions; went to xyz place and picked up pamphlets; called so-and-so and spoke briefly about services offered; read xyz article; looked up info that came up in class related to my topic" etc, you get the gist.

Your MyPage won't/can't be the sole location for keeping your information on your topic. I expect that you will likely keep some sort of folder (digital or otherwise) where you are jotting down ideas, documenting information, and basically collecting all the stuff you are learning.

You will be expected to speak up during class discussions and group work (in a meaningful way) if your expert topic relates. This is your responsibility to speak up, not mine to remember that you might have something to say :) If at the beginning of class there is something you want to report on since last class (say we asked you to follow up on something, or you just did on your own), then please speak up.

During the final you will report on the product of your expertise. You will only have about 10 minutes so it is not a time to fully display your expertise, but rather to show/discuss/talk about your experience in developing the product, and what that product is. The product itself that you will turn in to me, is where you will demonstrate the depth and breadth of your work and knowledge.

So, what kind of product you ask?!  ANYTHING! Ha, I know you hate that :) So here are some ideas, but really, stretch your brain and come up with others:

Research paper

Presentation-quality PowerPoint presentation (as if you were a key note speaker at some conference directly related to your topic)

Specific Community Intervention Project

Development of a Program, Service, or Center

Short Film

Community Service Announcement, or Commercial

High-quality Information Brochure

Website

Podcast, App, or other Digital Product for Mobile Technology

Presentation/Short Program/Demonstration Geared for Children

Development of Information, Events, Programming for a "X Awareness Month"

.....?

Other ideas?  Post as a comment here!

 

 

 

Based on your reading from Tuesday (Chapter 10 or 9), choose one specific topic from the chapter you read that you would like to know more about. Do some intensive googling to find high quality information about your topic. Provide a detailed summary of your topic, and include 3 high quality links to more information.

Read the website for UNI's Center for Violence Prevention: http://www.uni.edu/cvp/

Pretend you are a consultant. You have been hired to evaluate UNI's CVP program. This means providing a general review of what the program is, its mission, services, and activities. This also means evaluating the scientific basis for its endeavors. What makes sense? Anything that doesn't? As a consultant your job is to show your client (me!) that you can communicate what this program is and isn't, but that you can also professionally evaluate it. You can do this by linking the literature to specific aspects of the programs activities, and thoughtfully critiquing the program by highlighting laudable parts of the program, and any parts of the program you have concerns about in terms of efficacy. You may provide recommendations for improvement or future directions.

 

The Myth of Violence?

Watch Steven Pinker's talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html

"Steven Pinker charts the decline of violence from Biblical times to the present, and argues that, though it may seem illogical and even obscene, given Iraq and Darfur, we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence."

What do YOU think?

What are the merits of his argument? What are some criticisms? Does the overall pattern of violence (whether high or low) matter if you are an abused child? What are the philosophical implications of overall violence prevalence at the level of the individual? Should we be heartened that violence overall may be falling? Or is injustice to one, injustice to all? Be thoughtful, compelling, and defend your point of view.

Here are some resources about domestic violence.

http://www.domesticviolence.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_violence

http://helpguide.org/topics/trauma_abuse.htm

http://www.thehotline.org/

http://www.ncadv.org/

Browse. What are your thoughts on these sites? How is the quality? Is there a bias or viewpoint promoted in any of the sites (Describe and Discuss)? What is something you learned that you did not know before?

Choose one site and explore in further detail. How does the site use or misuse information from the scientific study of violence (e.g., info in the handbook)? How could this site be improved?

You have you choice this week of which topic to blog about:

addiction/recovery (choose one or more articles from this page): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/addiction--recovery

or

eating disorders (choose one or more articles from this page): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/eating-disorders

Summarize your topic and viewpoint. Make sure to have some tie in to violence.

 

 

I'd like you to read this site: http://www.metanoia.org/suicide/

and browse through this one: http://suicideproject.org/

It's not easy reading, particularly the suicide project.

What are your thoughts? Have your thoughts changed about suicide being considered part of the academic study of violence? Why or why not? What aspects of suicide prevention efforts (you may need to google around a bit to learn more about these) are similar to violence prevention (refer to your textbook for info on these)? How are they different? Are there elements of violence prevention efforts that COULD be used in suicide prevention, but are not generally used now?