Twitter feed screen shot https://twitter.com/search?q=STRANGEFRUITPR&src=typd

Discipline and/or subject:

Information literacy, business, marketing, communication

Pedagogy:
Critical thinking, in-class exercise

Implementation:

Students can do this in class on their laptops, tablets, or smart phones.

In 2014 a food and entertainment public relations firm called Strange Fruit was the subject of a media backlash. Ask the students to Google the term strange fruit to see why.

Questions to ask:

• To what does the term refer?
• Where did the term originate and who has used it since then?
• What would you tell this firm if during the media firestorm they had come to you for advice?

Further Reading/Resources:

For a report on the story see http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/pr-firm-learns-why-strange-fruit-not-fit-company-name.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will employ basic internet research skills.
• Students will recognize the importance of doing research when using unfamiliar terms.
• Students will discover the value of being culturally competent.

Submitted by Shannon Simpson, Librarian for Student Engagement and Information Fluency, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University

Image: Pixabay.com

Discipline and/or subject: Computer science, gender studies

Pedagogy: Case study

Implementation: This case deals with the representation of females in video games based on the experiences of Madeline Messer, a 12 year old video game player. Maddie observed that in most of the games she played the default character was male. If you want to play as a female, you often have to pay. Maddie did some research to test her observation. The results prompted her to write an op-ed piece that was published in the Washington Post. The op-ed piece was read by video game developers and had some surprising results.

Have your students read the NPR piece on Maddie Messer: A 12-Year-Old Girl Takes On The Video Game Industry, April 8, 2015: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2015/04/08/398297737/a-12-year-old-girl-takes-on-the-video-game-industry

and Maddie’s op-ed in the Washington Post, March 4, 2015: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/03/04/im-a-12-year-old-girl-why-dont-the-characters-in-my-apps-look-like-me/

Further Reading/Resources:
A course where students are developing video games provides an opportunity for students to examine these issues in greater depth. Although the numbers of girls and women playing video games are increasing, there are far fewer female characters portrayed in games than males.  There are even fewer minorities and people with disabilities represented. Additionally female characters are often hyper-sexualized. Consider having teams of students research these issues, along with gathering data to examine the socio-economic and ethnographic backgrounds of gamers. In a game design course, students could be tasked with creating a game that is more inclusive, based on what they find from their research.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will discuss how gender bias affects young girls.
• Students will be able to describe how price discrimination becomes gender discrimination.

Submitted by Shannon Simpson, Librarian for Student Engagement and Information Fluency, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University

http://pixabay.com/en/graffiti-hiphop-hip-hop-hauswand-393488/

Discipline and/or subject:
Information literacy (effects of bias in a research study and subsequent publication of results), sociology, health/medicine

Pedagogy:
Reading and evaluation of scholarly article (abstract) and class discussion

Implementation:
The article by ter Bogt, T.F.M, Keijsers, L., and Meeus, W.H.J.; Early Adolescent Music Preferences and Minor Delinquency, Pediatrics, January 6, 2013, http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/01/02/peds.2012-0708.abstract published its results in summary:

The results showed that early fans of different types of rock (e.g., rock, heavy metal, gothic, punk), African American music (rhythm and blues, hip-hop), and electronic dance music (trance, techno/hardhouse) showed elevated minor delinquency concurrently and longitudinally. Preferring conventional pop (chart pop) or highbrow music (classic music, jazz), in contrast, was not related to or was negatively related to minor delinquency.

Before or during class, have students review the first page Abstract: Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusions (create a handout, or link to the online version).

Questions to ask:

• What can you conclude from this abstract?
• African American music is the only genre defined by race. Do you agree with this definition? Why or why not?
• Jazz, a musical genre with roots in African American culture, was listed in the "highbrow" category. What does that tell you about the perspective of the researchers? 
• Can you think of alternate reasons for correlations between music exposure and juvenile delinquency?
• What recommendations might a pediatrician or other child healthcare professional who has not properly evaluated this article make to parents or child-care providers?
• The article was published in a peer-reviewed journal. [Check students’ understanding of this term.] What does this mean when you're evaluating sources? How does your evaluation of this article affect your perception of peer-reviewed articles?

Further Reading/Resources:
NPR interview with Jeffrey Mumford, an African American symphonic composer on the challenges faced by African American composers http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/08/11/210527949/the-american-symphonic-legacy-not-just-for-white-guys

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will be able to evaluate the abstract of a peer reviewed article.
• Students will be able to select and extract bias language and its implications from a scholarly article.
• Students will be able to predict the negative implications if the conclusions of this study are propagated.
• Students will be able to demonstrate the use of analysis techniques to evaluate information for bias.

Submitted by Shannon Simpson, Librarian for Student Engagement and Information Fluency, Sheridan Libraries, Johns Hopkins University

pixabay.com

Discipline and/or subject: Any and all

Pedagogy:
Guest lecturer or diverse panel of experts

Implementation and Potential Learning Outcomes:

Identify minority experts in your field and bring them in for discussion. They should spend most of the time on their scholarship and area(s) of expertise and only speak about their minority status in the field when and if they so choose. The potential outcomes are many. Students will identify the speaker as a role model both for minorities and non-minorities. By modeling respect for experts in the field regardless of their minority identity, students will understand that these people are equals as professionals, and potentially carry that respect forward. Students may evolve into professionals who support and understand some of the challenges that minorities face in their field.

Submitted by Macie Hall, Senior Instructional Designer, Center for Educational Resources, Johns Hopkins University

Mrs. Higgerson’s Paper Dolls: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dedree/7715254834/

Discipline and/or subject:
Medicine, health studies, psychology, gender studies, counseling 

Pedagogy:
Case study, in-class discussion, role play

Implementation:
Intersex children are born with bodies that do not match the category of “female” or “male.” In these cases, sometimes called disorders of sex development or differences of sex development, surgery often is done to make the infant’s body match a male or female gender assignment. Follow-up studies are rare, so there is little evidence as to whether these surgeries are either necessary or successful. To facilitate an in-class discussion, have students read Dreger’s article and examine the two websites:

• Alice Dreger’s “When to do Surgery on a Child with ‘Both’ Genitalia” [The Atlantic, May 16, 2013]: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/when-to-do-surgery-on-a-child-with-both-genitalia/275884/
• Website for the (no longer active) Intersex Society of North America: http://isna.org/
• Website for Accord Alliance: http://www.accordalliance.org/

Class activities could involve a discussion of the topic, examining the case study in Alice Dreger’s article, or a role play in which a student might take on the role of a doctor/medical practitioner/counselor talking to the family of an intersex infant.

Learning Outcomes:

• Participants will be able to describe variations in sex development.
• Participants will be able to summarize ethical considerations in surgical interventions.

Submitted by Demere Woolway, Director of LGBTQ Life, Johns Hopkins University