As you prepare for class this week, remember we want to know enough about all the materials that you can confidently commit to doing some research on context so that you can present your findings to the class ---
such presentations will be weekly ones. About 20 mins. Presenters then facilitate, first, questions about context and BIG PICTURE, then, after break, we will delve into details, context, maybe close readings in light of contexts and you will facilitate that too. Check out the Assignments TAB for information.
So for this week, you want to learn as much about ALL the materials, transmedia, and books as you reasonably can before class! TALL ORDER! learn enough to give a 5 mins overview of every item to the class! (all responsible to do, and we will take volunteers and also do things going around the group.)
THIS MAY HELP! Lurie. 2014. "How to Read a Book in Two Hours or Less." Grad Hacker, Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com//blogs/gradhacker/how-read-book-two-hours-or-less
ALSO: after seeing and hearing about everyone's kit last week, bring in the next ITERATION of your kit. What do you want it for? Well, to think with for sure, to create prototypes of posters, to support yourself and your learning and to share that in fun ways with others.
[Image from: http://make-it-your-own.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/AnimalsSupplies.jpg ]
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WHERE ARE WE TODAY?
>>>Section I: Why didn't you just fix it anyway?<<<
*#LETUSBREATHE Collective: http://www.letusbreathecollective.com
*Lothian. 2016. "Choose not to warn." Feminist Studies 42/3: 1-14.
*King. 2016. "Microaggressions as Boundary Objects." Australian Feminist Studies 31/89: 276-282.
*McKittrick, ed. 2015. Sylvia Wynter: On being human as praxis. Duke.
*Stallings. 2015. Funk the Erotic: Transaesthetics and Black sexual cultures. Illinois.
=Neff. 2015. Self-Compassion. William Morrow. & Neff ; Companion website: http://self-compassion.org
=Marcus. 2015. Self-Care for Activists. Mocana. Free online at Amazon.
=Schulman. 2016. Conflict is not Abuse. Arsenal Pulp.
=Wekker. 2006. The Politics of Passion. Columbia.
==Bowker 2015. Boundary Objects and Beyond: Working with Leigh Star. MIT.
Wednesday 1 February, KITS, Lothian, King, handout Davidson; inspect Neff, Marcus [completed]
>>>>Wednesday 8 February, Bowker, inspect all materials and websites [TODAY!]
Wednesday 15 February, McKittrick & Stallings & #LETUSBREATHE Collective
Wednesday 22 February, Schulman or Wekker
As we complete Section 1, we will have set up Directorships, Presentation Dates, and reviewed all assignments to come!
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NOTE: you will be reading sections of books, inspecting entire websites, reading entire articles
*entire class reads at least half self-chosen
=choices of which and sections made with Director of Readings
==recommended
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Wednesday 8 February, Adding new body parts via public feelings
• INVESTIGATE & READ: Bowker, inspect all materials and websites; kits again
• MAKING: 2 min. Attendance Portraits (Barry. 2014. Syllabus. Drawn & Quarterly. p. 56.) https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/syllabus
Today we will ORGANIZE the course, who will present, how readings and assignments will work and so on. Eva has already put together a spread sheet for signups.
How did you APPROACH the instruction: "to learn as much about ALL the materials, transmedia, and books as you reasonably can before class! TALL ORDER! learn enough to give a 5 mins overview of every item to the class! (all responsible to do, and we will take volunteers and also do things going around the group.)"
Let's DISCUSS just what this takes and your own experiences and ideas about it. How will you use these to enliven your preparation for presentations?
Next, let's also do an INVENTORY of GUT REACTIONS: our triggers, reactivities, care-abouts, antipathies, corrections, withdrawings. Should this be with drawings?
BEFORE BREAK:
1) Attendance Portraits
2) How did you approach our instructions?
3) discussion of • our gut reactions, second reactions, reactivities, triggers, care-abouts.
5) break up into groups to present on items.
AFTER BREAK:
1) continue any presentings still on-going
2) thoughts on reading practices and needs
3) sign ups for presentations
4) sign ups for directors
Let's return to our gut reactions on the term self-care and CONTINUE OUR INSPECTIONS OF Marcus and Neff with your care-abouts and concerns in mind. More drawings? Freewrites? Mind maps?
IS self-care radical? what could we mean by that? how many meanings are bundled and for whom? See http://selfcareisradical.tumblr.com
[Image from: Self Care is Radical: http://68.media.tumblr.com/5585ec6dbeb3b50ed9cb1c2f3fb20f41/tumblr_n3gjecQho91s7famvo1_500.jpg ]
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How to consume research [on Mindfulness] with a critical eye
In the journal-to-journalism cycle, there is often a disconnect between what scientific research actually finds and what the media ends up reporting. We will no doubt continue to be inundated with glossy magazine covers, catchy headlines, and social media posts on the latest and greatest findings on mindfulness and meditation more generally. Aside from reading news from reputable outlets, as a savvy consumer of mindfulness meditation research, you may consider doing the following.
1. Read the original research paper. Track down the original research paper that is being cited and read it in its entirety. Pay particular attention to the Methods section: Who are the participants? How many were there? How was mindfulness measured or manipulated? If there were differences found, how large are these differences?
2. Ask how this fits in with the larger literature. The latest mindfulness meditation research will surely make splashy headlines, but it’s important to consider how findings fit in with the larger literature: Does this study support or contradict other studies? Have these findings been replicated? Opt to read meta-analyses when possible.
3. Remember that publications are biased. Academic journals are historically biased towards publishing new and novel research that finds some link or effect, rather than none. Therefore, most of the news articles and research papers you read will say that there are indeed some changes or improvements. While this is slowly changing, studies where there were no differences or improvements are still unlikely to be published. It’s important to remember that what is being published is a fraction of all the research that actually gets conducted.
4. Revisit Stats 101. Remember that research is probabilistic; averages are getting reported in studies and there are always people who fall above and below the average (sometimes so much so that they’re referred to as outliers). Remember that you may be an outlier—just because the literature says something “works” for most people doesn’t mean it will “work” for you. We have to be willing to be our own laboratory and try things out on ourselves, collect data, and determine whether they “work” for us.
5. Proceed with caution. Remember to interpret everything you read with caution—researchers and journalists have biases, too! Researchers are incentivized to publish findings that tell a neat and coherent story and fit in with mainstream research. Journalists are incentivized to come up with catchy headlines to get you to click on their articles, and are often constrained by word count limits and tight deadlines—all of which may influence the end product that you read. As sophisticated consumers of mindfulness research, we must be willing to do our own homework and carefully consider what, if any, implications the latest research findings have for us in our lives.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_we_still_dont_know_about_mindfulness_meditation
About The Author: Hooria Jazaieri, LMFT, is a researcher, teacher, and psychotherapist. Her research at UC Berkeley centers on personal reputation and team chemistry. She is the recipient of graduate research fellowships from the the National Science Foundation and the Greater Good Science Science Center.
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