Reference no: EM133410603

A contemplative reading journal will improve the depth and quality of your learning in this course. An informal journal entry for all reading assignments and our class meetings, as well as any learning that occurs in conversation with friends, family, or others outside of our class setting.

There are three basic questions for each entry in your journal in which you will have assigned readings. These are:

1. What matters here?

This question helps you focus on the content-especially the academic/factual/theoretical content-of what you are studying at this moment in time and why it matters; on how it might relate to your personal development, your career, and your ability to make the world a better place; and on the possible implications of what you are learning.

2. Where are you now?

This question shifts the focus from what you are studying to your own inner and embodied experiences (your feelings, sense of purpose, and sense of what is possible). How does the course content make you feel? Describe your emotional sensations. Are you bored? Outraged? Indifferent? Hopeful? Inspired to learn more or take practical action in the world? Why? Are these feelings in some way related to your previous experiences as a student, a gendered being, a sexual citizen, or some other set of experiences? Do these feelings change as you contemplate them and write about them?

3. What are you empowered to do?

Are you actually empowered (not just inspired) to draw on the wisdom you have gained to make a difference in your life or in the lives of others? You've done the reading, watching and thinking, so now what? What else is needed so that you can become more empowered?