Question A.  https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/  

1. What did the children’s body language indicate about the impact of discrimination?

2. How did the negative and positive labels placed on a group become self-fulfilling prophecies?

3. From what you’ve seen in this film, who do you feel is responsible for the existence and elimination of racism in our society? The school? Your parents? Religious leaders? The government? The heads of major corporations? The legal
system? You?

B.  Week 6 – Breaching Experiment

Question 2 Spend a day breaking a norm (a norm, NOT A CRIME).  What was your experience like? How did it feel? How did people respond to you? Why is it so difficult to deviate from the norm? (Don’t forget to respond to two classmates for full credit)

Here are some examples of norm breaking activities:

Doing laundry for a stranger at the Laundromat, dorm, apartment
Carrying groceries for a stranger
Buying a few gallons of gas for a stranger
Wear your clothes backwards for a day
Every time someone asks, “how are you?” answer them honestly – do this for 3-4 days and keep a log of the reactions
View the “Free Hugs Campaign” on youtube – repeat the behavior or come up with your own idea (get it approved)
Go to the market and stand in line backwards
Buy something with cash and when the clerk gives you change refuse
Stand backwards in an elevator
Go to the mall and ask someone if they would like a dollar
Stand in a crowded area of the mall and do nothing for 20 minutes)

Question C. Compare what you think can be done about gender bias in the class room, to what the theory identifies can be done.

Question D. Why are women more easily influenced than men? Is this an advantage or a disadvantage for women?