S1 E8: Writing About Challenging Topics

Drs. Richard Craig, LaNitra Berger, and Courtney Massie join your host, Dr. Rachel Yoho, to discuss how we productively have conversations, facilitate student writing, and grade when centered around potentially challenging topics.

Resources: Office of Faculty Affairs and Development:  https://provost.gmu.edu/about/administrative-units/faculty-affairs-and-development (Contact this office for faculty affinity group information), Provost Website Resources for Faculty:  https://provost.gmu.edu/faculty, George Mason University Faculty Resources:  https://faculty.gmu.edu/,  Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning:  https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/  

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Transcript

Rachel: 0:08

Hello and welcome to Keystone Concepts in Teaching, a higher education podcast from the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, where we share impactful and evidence based teaching practices to support all students and faculty. I'm your host, Rachel Yoho. In this episode, we're going to be discussing writing about challenging topics. I'm joined by three special guests today. Our first guest is Dr. LaNitra Berger, Associate Professor of History and Art History and Director of African and African American Studies at George Mason University. Dr. Richard Craig is an Associate Professor of Communication and the Associate Chair of Communication in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University. And our third guest today is Dr. Courtney Massie. Courtney is the Assistant Director of the Writing Center at George Mason University. As Assistant Director, Dr. Massie manages the Center's operations, supervises and mentors the Center's staff, and teaches advanced composition. So thank you so much, all three of you, for joining us today. So we want to talk today about writing about challenging topics. But let's take this, as we start our conversation, from a broad context. We'll use race and racism as our core example for the discussion. Could you tell us a little bit about a class that you've taught recently?

Richard: 1:29

Sure, usually in the summer times, I have a regular course that I teach. It's Gender, Race, and Class in the Media. And I actually teach that where it's cross listed, where I have undergraduate students as well as graduate students enrolled in the course. And so it offers some real dynamic discussions.

LaNitra: 1:47

So, like Richard, I teach a lot of classes that are connected to race, and as he said, one of the great parts of teaching at Mason is that you have a lot of different types of students in the classroom. They range in age, they range in geographic origins, they range in different types of experience. Some are veterans, some are retired. Some are your, you know, 18 to 24 year olds, and when you bring all of those people together in the classroom, you have really impactful conversations. One class that I've taught recently is the intro class to African American studies. It's called AFAM 200. A lot of students take it and love it no matter who teaches it, and it really becomes a very important class in shaping their worldview.

Courtney: 2:33

And I teach advanced composition English 302, which is basically a class about how to do research and write in your academic discipline, your major, your field of study, For the last four years, since the pandemic hit, I've been teaching fully online asynchronous. I get students from all disciplines and majors since my section that I teach is multidisciplinary, so basically, any major can take the course, and I get all types of students as well, like my colleagues. So because it's a class where we examine what's going on in your particular field, I ask students kind of how are professionals in your field, scholars in your field, trying to address current issues or problems in your field? And often that has to do with advancing justice in some kind of way. So we ask ourselves, how do you define justice? How do professionals in your field define justice? And how are people in your field working to advance justice, what kinds of problems are they trying to resolve? So my students will frequently choose topics where things like race and racism come up. So for example, I have students from the school of Public Health who are investigating how to address racial disparities in the healthcare sector. I've got Criminology students looking at mass incarceration and how to address that. How to tackle wealth disparity is a topic that comes up frequently Or even, you know, in a lot of different fields, my students will be asking, how do we create a more diverse workforce in this industry? And how do we support folks from marginalized backgrounds in this workforce? So they end up researching the different valences of all of these issues and looking at the causes of these problems. What are different scholars and professionals saying about how to address it? And make progress toward a more just field or discipline.

Rachel: 4:24

Dr. Berger, would you be interested in telling us a little bit about how we want to be inclusive of instructional modalities? So can you talk about some of your experiences or recommendations across different instructional modalities?

LaNitra: 4:38

Sure. So last semester I taught two classes in the Art History program. One was an asynchronous online course called Survey of African Art. And in that course, I don't see the students. I don't really get to sit with them one on one unless they ask for an appointment, but I'm still very committed to helping them improve their writing skills. In that course, I focus on something I call the Office Memo Assignment, where the students have to argue a case before their boss and they have to discuss the famous Benin Bronzes, the bronzes that were looted by Europeans from West Africa and taken to museums in Europe, and they have to argue either for or against the return of those bronzes back to West Africa. And that assignment is designed to be a short assignment. They have to learn how to develop an argument and argue it persuasively using evidence in about five to seven hundred words. As I remind them, a supervisor doesn't have time to read more than that. But the supervisor is relying on you to give them the important information that they need in order to make a critical decision. So I'm trying to give them career readiness experience by doing this writing assignment. And it's challenging. It's not easy. Many of the students struggle, but in the process of doing this assignment, they get to learn about the issue. They get to Think about the evidence for and against. And most importantly, they have to take a stand. And their thinking may evolve over the course of the semester. But at that particular moment, they need to take a stand and they need to argue for that. And that's something that students struggle with when they come to college is it's not just writing a book report or a summary of what you've read. It's really. Understanding arguments and understanding where you're thinking fits in relationship to those arguments, so that's one that I enjoy assigning and I enjoy reading because it really pushes the students, but I can see how they're learning.

Rachel: 6:49

That's such a great point here because what we're really seeing is, like you mentioned Dr. Berger, career readiness. So, we might have some situations where course content or the topic is focused on something challenging. So for instance, in our conversation, it might be focused on race and racism, or we might have a different situation in which the topic isn't related, but comes up in class as part of the discussion or as part of something ongoing or in an online class, in a discussion board post, for instance, so what recommendations do you all have for faculty in these instances in these perhaps two different types of situations?

Courtney: 7:31

I think my recommendation as someone who does teach a lot of students where difficult topics in general, kind of come up organically because students have a lot of freedom over what topics they choose is to, both for the faculty and the student, honestly, I recommend educating yourselves about that topic as best as possible, given your limited time as a busy faculty member. And sometimes there will be discomforts around things that might come up that you learn that challenge your perspective on something. And so I think another recommendation is really just to be willing to sit with that discomfort when you're addressing students who are writing about something challenging. And then finally too, I think it's just for students and encouraging students to really reflect on why they've chosen to write about a particular topic. For instance, are they a member of the community that's most impacted by this topic, or are they not? And if not, what is their connection? Why have they chosen to write about it? Are they invested in raising awareness around a particular issue? So the student's position relative to the topic is going to influence how they write about it. Your position as a faculty member relative the topic is also going to influence how you receive what your student is writing about. So making sure that both you and the student are educating yourselves and reflecting deeply on reasons for engaging with the topic and how you are responding to the topic. particularly if you're not directly impacted by it yourself. I think these are important things to keep in mind.

Richard: 9:10

Along with that, a key thing that usually I try to practice, because we're talking about subject matters that are often sensitive to any of us, just because we're human beings and that's the nature of who we are, regardless of whether they're talking about race, or if it's gender, if it's socioeconomic, there are a number of different spaces where it touches us personally. And one of the things I try to keep in mind is don't take it personal, and don't make it personal. Just in regards to having these conversations in class as well as trying to encourage the writing that happens outside of class. And I can think of specifically teaching one course, and we were talking in terms of style of communication and code switching, things of this nature. And a statement was made that, you know, Blacks in cause this person came from Alabama and so Blacks in Alabama didn't code switch as much or they didn't observe it. I'm like,"Ehhhh, are you sure about that?" And I could tell that there were some students in the class that were really taking this like,"No, it's happening more than you know," because they were looking at the other person in the state of privilege or their thoughts, so really trying to make sure that everybody in the classroom was not taking it personally and then trying to attack that particular student and making it personal. Just really getting into the space of it's something that happens not just for African Americans or Blacks in Alabama, but it happens throughout the world for different reasons and different motivations. We have to respect that and understand what those motivations may be, what the outcomes or the consequences are. So as opposed to making it very personal about us individually or our particular communities, trying to appreciate how these things may be happening beyond just ourselves and impacting others. And I think that's one of the things that helps students to really engage or to at least hopefully be open to learning about someone else's experiences as well as making sense of how it impacts their own experiences.

LaNitra: 10:58

Richard, that's such a great, concise way to set up some classroom boundaries and agreements. It's very hard to write about these topics or talk about them in class without people feeling vulnerable or sensitive to the topic at hand. And once you go down that road of feeling as though you've been attacked, it's much harder to be open minded and to listen to other people's viewpoints. So setting that baseline of how we're going to operate in those ground rules are very important. In my classes, I do community agreements where I ask the class to come together and decide how they're going to interact and treat each other in the context of the course. And there are some basics that they need to follow, and they, by and large, in all the classes I've taught, they've hit the basics. But when they come up with the rules, they're more accountable to themselves because they've decided that these are the agreements that they're going to follow, and we write those down at the beginning of the semester. And if I do see either in writing or in discussion that they're transgressing some of these agreements, then I have that for reference, and I can go back and say, Hey, remember, we agreed that we weren't going to attack people personally in the class. That was one of our community agreements, so let's not do that again. Because that makes it hard for everybody to participate. So, remembering that the faculty member is the authority in the classroom. And even if you don't know everything about something that a student is writing about, you still are the authority figure and it is your responsibility to really look at how students are interacting with each other and make sure that everyone is held accountable to some sort of standard.

Rachel: 12:50

Yeah, that's particularly compelling when we're thinking about how we center ideas and not people, how we focus on the ideas, the content, and what we're bringing to the class and building on those conversations. And I think as we seek to be inclusive here of everyone in the classroom, acknowledging that the faculty member is not only someone in the classroom, but can be harmed in those spaces, I think is also particularly important. And as we're thinking about this, we also have, perhaps with different appointment types, different vulnerabilities for the faculty members. So these can be really high stress situations. Do you have any advice for faculty who have different appointment types or who are having that stress of, you know, students writing about or having conversations about some of these difficult topics?

Courtney: 13:44

So the one thing that comes to mind for me is there's a saying in some of the community spaces that I've been in called stretch, don't strain. So again, you know, discomfort is natural and going to happen. And at the same time, we want to stretch, but we don't want to strain ourselves so much that we place ourselves in the line of potential harm given whatever vulnerabilities we have as the faculty member. So I think it's important to just be mindful of where your boundaries are around the extent to which you're willing to engage and pursue further potentially challenging conversations with a student around this kind of a topic. So don't avoid it completely, but don't push yourself in a direction that might cause you more harm.

LaNitra: 14:37

I think this is a situation where you really need a community and a network so that you don't have to internalize these situations by yourself. Being able to talk with other people who might understand and might be able to help you at least vocalize it to acknowledge that it's a very painful situation, that can help you to get through some of these difficult assignments. As well as taking frequent breaks. Even when there's a lot of grading, don't grade 20 assignments in a row, because not only will it frustrate you to have to go through that 20 different times, but it's going to make it hard for you to give quality feedback, since some of these topics are emotional and they are personal. So I think that the communal aspect of this work is very important. And I'll also say that it is important for people to understand that there are different levels of privilege and security in academia. If anybody's listening who's not really an academic, not everybody has tenure. And even once you have tenure, you're still trying to get promoted. So you're still accountable to people who will make decisions about the future of your career. So there's always some sense of insecurity or concern about teaching evaluations and student complaints, and this particularly acute for people of color throughout academia. So these are people who tend to be teaching topics where this is an issue. So this is really systemic and something that people of color face disproportionately in teaching these topics.

Richard: 16:24

I know that right now there have been a lot of conversations in higher ed in these spaces of teaching or speaking or researching on matters of marginalized groups and communities. So much so that I've recognized the stress within myself to some degree, as well as with colleagues. And the community is important, going back to that, and having individuals that you can really decompress with and that you may still have concern, but you're trying to figure out how to respond to it individually and even collectively how we as faculty and, you know, for the betterment of our students in the whole campus environment can improve or create a space that is welcoming and encouraging, regardless of who you are in your background. And then lastly, the piece that came to mind with this portion of the conversation is I had a few students ask me,"Do you ever get depressed teaching what you teach or talking about the subject matters that you approach?" And I've told one or two,"Honestly, like it can be a little down putting sometimes, but I honestly, where I find the hope is that they're that next generation. They're willing to engage this. They're willing to continue the thoughts and the movements to try and do something better." So even when I do have those moments where it's like,"Ahhhh, gotta have this conversation again," or"I can't believe that that was expressed," but there's usually a student or a group of students that respond and really engages at a higher level of thinking and movement as well. And so that's where, you know, it's the idea of the promise kind of comes into play in teaching and education.

Rachel: 17:54

Dr. Massie, would you like to tell us a little bit about how we give feedback, especially written feedback to students?

Courtney: 18:02

Sure. So at the writing center, which is where I spend most of my time, I spend a lot of time training consultants, how to give feedback in different modalities too, because our appointments are in person and on zoom and also asynchronous written feedback where students will upload their draft and we'll send them written comments. And, I think in any situation where a student is writing about a challenging topic and may or may not, you know, wade into some territory where they end up saying some things that are a little bit problematic. One of the things we talk a lot about in writing center training and that I also try to practice in my own feedback in my class is avoiding making assumptions about where the student might be coming from or what their intent is, kind of assuming that the student is well intentioned for the most part. I think it's been very rare that I've seen just outright bigoted or discriminatory arguments that were not made accidentally. So I think first of all, just kind of checking your own assumptions when you're giving feedback. And then a couple of other points that we talk about are responding as a reader. So providing sort of genuine reader response about how the statement is coming off to you as one reader, and then encouraging them also to think in terms of their audience and who might be reading this. And so we kind of put all of these, tips together as far as assume good intent, offer reader response, point out what you notice, and then ask questions. So for example, in written feedback appointments, or even in my own feedback to students, often a comment will look something like,"You know, I don't think this is really what you meant, but to me as a reader, this could be interpreted as..." this is just an example but"maybe blaming a particular marginalized community for their circumstances. And there's a lot of research out there that shows that social factors like x, y, and z are the primary causes of these issues rather than any sort of, you know, individual behaviors or characteristics." You can link to resources, and then I'll say,"Can you rephrase this to acknowledge these social factors as well? And that would help you avoid sounding like you're passing judgment in a way that I don't think you're intending to." So really just being attuned to how their writing comes off to different audiences, different groups. And a lot of the time, especially in my own class, when I get to interact with my students again, they submit a different draft, they go,"Oh my goodness, I didn't mean that at all. I didn't realize it came off that way. So thank you so much for the feedback." So it is, it's kind of a combination of genuine sort of response as a reader, encouraging them to think in terms of audience, and then asking questions that get them thinking about where their statements are coming from and what evidence they are using and how to rephrase in a way that is more sensitive, more inclusive.

Richard: 21:02

As I was listening to Courtney and thinking back to a student this was during the 2016 presidential campaign, and I remember the student put in that discussion post"I may get an F for putting this in there." And it was"pro-Trump" in terms of what her thoughts were and expressed, and I told her in my response,"Never feel that you will get a failing grade because you express yourself or your ideas, especially if you do it succinctly and without being, you know, attacking or harmful towards another person or individual or anything of that nature." And so I just simply responded with that and responded with whatever my thoughts were on what she was suggesting and how she may be able to elaborate on it, something along that line, But I think the main thing also is for students to recognize that they're not going to be penalized for being themselves. Going back to Courtney's point, they can have their thoughts. They can have their perspectives. The only thing that I ask for them is if you're going to have that give some resources in regards to where you're pulling this from, especially in an academic setting. Refer to the scholar, refer to the theory, refer to something as opposed to it just being opinionated perspective. That's the challenge that we often try to give to them in that space. If you're going to tell me this, help me to understand where it's coming from and why you've adopted or gravitated towards this.

LaNitra: 22:14

I agree completely with how feedback is given matters a lot. And that's also a form of writing. So the students are learning from how you write the feedback and because we're grading so many papers, and across so many different classes, we don't always have the time to give the feedback that we want to the extent that we want. So we have to be really mindful as to how we're phrasing things. A student could take a sentence that we wrote as feedback the wrong way and think,"Oh, I'm a terrible writer. I shouldn't be writing. My idea isn't good." So really trying to be a little more emphatic with using exclamation points. If it's a really good sentence, I will use an exclamation point so they can understand that I'm cheering them on in their writing and that they don't take it the wrong way. And I do when pieces are greater, even when students have improved if it was a C paper and it went up to a B plus, I'll say,"Look, you have improved so much. I'm so proud of how far you've come." It may not have been the best paper in the class. But that particular student has made some improvements, and I want them to be proud that they've made those improvements. So it's really, it's, it's challenging. I'm not gonna lie. I'm not gonna make it sound like it's not. We're all working, a lot. We're teaching more classes. We're trying to grade more papers. We're being asked to help students improve their writing by employers. So there's a lot that we're trying to do in the classroom. And I think, by and large, students are coming with good intentions to the classroom. They are trying to learn, and faculty are trying to help students become better students, better graduates, better citizens. It's hard. It's hard for everybody around, and I think that we're doing the best that we can, so to give ourselves that grace that we're doing our best is also important.

Rachel: 24:19

Absolutely. This is the hard work. This is the feedback. These are the challenging number of hours. This is everything. As we're looking at how students express themselves, how we help students bring their whole selves and we bring our whole selves that are relevant to the classroom into these spaces. So as we wrap up today, could one of you summarize in a sentence or two how you feel this represents a keystone concept in teaching?

Richard: 24:49

I think LaNitra said it best, and you as well, Rachel. This is the hard work. I have this saying in terms of Communication, our area of discipline,"Communication is the art and the science of being human." And that's the hard thing in terms of navigating life and understanding. We are all very different, but we're similar in a lot of ways and trying to recognize those things and communicate and have engagement. And so spaces of our nature in classrooms and in writing our intent to help develop and improve individuals and societies collectively.

Rachel: 25:25

Thank you, Dr. Craig. And thank you so much, Dr. Berger, Dr. Craig, Dr. Massie, for joining us for this episode. I really appreciate your time. And we can't wait to share our next episode with you in two weeks on Keystone Concepts in Teaching. So thank you so much.