HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT 4:

ClassWeb Magazine | Syllabus | HW Assignments | UCLA AAS 116 | Resources

Homework Assignment 4

This assignment is due by February 7.

This homework assignment will serve as the basis for a later mobilization assignment for our class educational project.

All UCLA students exist within dense networks of social relationships: within networks of family, friends, and roommates (who may or may not be close friends). In addition, students are often members of student organizations and community groups.

Although no one at UCLA tells students this, acquiring social skills in social relationships is part of a college education and will be knowledge that students will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Those students who gain the most from their UCLA education are those who participate in student groups and learn about group dynamics, decision-making processes, steps for getting things done, and ways of tapping into networks of social support to deal with stress and other difficulties. (Unfortunately, through participation in student groups, UCLA students — for some unknown reason — also learn about how to create bureaucracies and become adept at becoming mired in bureaucratic roadblocks, but this will be the focus of a future homework assignment.)

1. Are you a member of a campus group? If so, which one(s)? What does the group do? What do you do in the group?

2. Are you a member of any off-campus community group? If so, which one(s)? What does the group do? What do you do in the group?

3. Among the campus and community groups that you participate in, would it be hard or easy to raise issues related to peace and justice that we have discussed in class? Why?

4. Participation in grassroots movements for peace and social justice also provides opportunities for social and political networking — i.e., the chance to learn about and reach out to new groups. Is there a particular group on campus that you want to learn more about? Why? How can your work in this class help you to network with this group?