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Course Detail

Course Name Community-Based Participatory Action Research for Human Rights
Course Code HRTS 520
Program Master of Social Work (MSW)
Campus Amritapuri, Coimbatore

Syllabus

Syllabus

Other Course Policies

Code of Academic Integrity

Selling class notes and/or other course materials to other students or to a third party for resale is not permitted without the instructor’s express written consent. Violations to this and other course rules are subject to the Code of Academic Integrity and may result in course sanctions. Additionally, students who use D2L or UA e-mail to sell or buy these copyrighted materials are subject to Code of Conduct Violations for misuse of student e- mail addresses. This conduct may also constitute copyright infringement.

Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See: http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/academic-integrity/students/academic-integrity.

For other issues of academic integrity, see the UA Code of Academic Integrity at: http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/academic-integrity/students/academic-integrity

Appropriate Conduct

Our virtual classroom is a place where everyone is encouraged to express well-formed opinions and their reasons for those opinions. We also want to create a tolerant and open environment where such opinions can be expressed without resorting to bullying or discrimination of others.

Notification of Objectionable Materials

This course contains material that some students may find objectionable. If you believe material to be covered will be objectionable, you should consult with the Instructor as soon as possible to discuss potential alternative materials and assignments.

Confidentiality of Student Records

As required by law under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), student records are confidential. This law and its applicability to your educational records may be accessed at: http://www.registrar.arizona.edu/personal- information/family-educational-rights-and-privacy-act-1974-ferpa?topic=ferpa

Changes to the Syllabus

Information contained in this course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policies, may be subject to change with reasonable advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.

WARNING!

Cheating and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Plagiarism includes not only the exact duplication of an author’s words but also an unacknowledged close paraphrase. When in doubt give a citation. Students should be especially careful when cutting and pasting material from cases, briefs, and other sources. Use quotation marks and/or citations where appropriate.

Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See: http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/codeofacademicintegrity.

Course Requirements

  • Participation in the Class Discourse (50 Points): Research is a craft that can only be mastered through a combination of “doing” research and observing others who are good at “doing” research. Short assignments will be assigned throughout the semester to help you get a feel for conducting research and to encourage you to critically reflect on the research of others. Specific assignments will likely include combinations of critical analyses of previous studies, reflections on the readings and our guests, and preparing questions and follow-ups for the video discussions. We will have five (5) VoiceThreads based upon the readings and films and each is worth ten (10) points.
  • Class Project: Lost Boys from Southern Sudan and Rohingya Refugees (40 Points): Small groups of students (likely 3-4 students each) will work on some aspect of advancing human rights among refugee populations in two contexts. The first (two groups) is based on an incredible data set of interviews of the Lost Boys from South Sudan made available by the Lost Boys Center for Leadership Development. One group will work on preparing a research proposal on intergenerational trauma while the other group will likely conduct a quantitative analysis related to the journey of the Lost Boys.
  • The second project relates to the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Two groups of students will develop research ideas and possibly a proposal based upon conversations we will have with faculty from North South University and the NGO Artolution.

IMPORTANT POINTS:

  1. Groupsof students will work with the Instructor to decide on the scope of the assignment and the schedule for completing it.
  2. All students must complete the CITI human subjects training found at:https://rgw.arizona.edu/compliance/human-subjects-protection-program/hspp- training.
  3. All students working with the Lost Boys archive will need to fill out a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
  4. IfI get the sense that some students are not pulling their weight in the groups, I will have each group member fill out a Group Member Evaluation Form.

Portfolio and Journal (10 Points): Each student will turn in a research portfolio that includes copies of scholarly articles, field notes, notes from films and class presentations, journal entries, and a two page reflective essay. Basically, you should begin to take critical reflection notes from Day One. More details will be provided during the semester.

Meetings with the Instructor: Two or three times during the 7.5 week course session, students (either individually or in small groups) are expected to meet virtually with the instructor to discuss their participation in the class research project. The students should submit an agenda for this meeting by the morning of the scheduled meeting

Late Papers: Since timely completion of the assignments will greatly facilitate class discussions and our joint work on the research project, all late assignments will be docked 5 points for each day it is late.

Required(?) Books (Selections of Each – from the UA Library Website)

  • Browse the journal Action Research using “Find a Journal” on the UA Library website. Cammarota, Julio and Michelle Fine. 2008. Revolutionizing Education : Youth Participatory
  • Action Research in Motion. New York: Routledge
  • Greenwood, Davydd J. and Morten Levin. Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishing, 2006. (Paperback, $50.95), (ISBN= 1412925975).
  • Israel, Barbara A. et al., 2013. Methods for Community-Based Participatory Research for Health 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. (Selections, available Online through the UA Library Catalog)

Course Outline and Readings

Rhythm of the Course

The general flow of the course: I post a PPT to VoiceThread on Sunday or Monday. It will include background information, a discussion of the required readings as well as your mission for the week. Over the next several days you will do the readings and viewings and participate in the VoiceThread. You should try to incorporate insights from the course material into your group projects. You should be ready with very thoughtful, nuanced questions for our guest speakers, especially for our more focused discussions starting in week 4. You should also prepare follow-up questions for our speakers to delve deeper into the material.

Pre-Week: Introduction to the Course and Each Other and a Chance to Breathe March 11 – 14

  • Videos: Internet Sources on the Rohingya and the Lost Boys
  • Assigned: VoiceThreads: Personal Introductions and Introduction to the Class (0 Points)

Week 1 Introduction to CB-PAR and Our Class March 14 – 20

Readings:

  • Stoecker, “Are Academics Irrelevant? Roles for Scholars in Participatory Research” (Library)
  • Lac and Fine, “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: An Autoethnographic Journey on Doing Participatory Action Research as a Graduate Student” (Library)
  • Sarah De Los Santos Upton “The Co-Conspiring Methodology: An Invitational Approach to Action Research”
  • Simmons, “Notes on Community-Based Participatory Action Research and Service Learning for the HRTS Program”
  • Cornwall and Jewkes, “What is Participatory Research?” (especially section on Problematizing Participation)
  • Greenwood and Levin, Chapters 1 and 10
  • Cammarota and Fine, Chapters 1 and 2 (Recommended)
  • Simmons and Feldman, “Critical Ethnography for Human Rights” (D2L, Recommended)
  • Simmons, “Making the Teaching of Social Justice Matter”, p. 256-261 (D2L, Recommended)
  • Video: Cultural Humility in Community Based Participatory Research & Education (YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaSHLbS1V4w&t=482s) Assigned: VoiceThread – Intro to Action Research (10 Points)
  • Decide on Groups for Group Projects

Week 2 The Two Class Projects: The Lost Boys and the Rohingya March 21 – 27

Readings:

  • Save the Children, The Unaccompanied Minors of Southern Sudan (D2L)
  • Frieder, “The Rohingya Artolution: Teaching Locally Led Community-based Public Art Educators in the Largest Refugee Camp in History” (Internet)
  • UNICEF, “Art Brings Light to Darkness: UNICEF- Supported Community Arts Projects in the Rohingya Camps” (Internet)
  • Fortify Rights, “The Torture in My Mind” (Internet)
  • Sultana, “Rohingyas in Bangladesh: Owning Rohingya Identity in Disowning Spaces”
  • Simmons et al., “Positive Peacebuilding between Rohingya Refugees and Host Communities” (D2L)
  • Carlson, Cacciatore, and Klimek, “A Risk and Resilience Perspective on Unaccompanied Refugee Minors” (Library)
  • Articles on Poly-Victimization as Relevant Simmons, “Human Rights Winners” (D2L) Other Background Readings on Class Projects
  • Videos Jany Deng, TedTalk (YouTube) The Good Lie (UA Library Catalog)
  • BBC, Return of the Lost Boys of Sudan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6eI- YM1EsE)
  • Lost Boys Found Oral Histories (ASU Website) Emmanuel Jal: The Music of a War Child (YouTube) The Lost Boys of Sudan (POV Website, Optional) Marlowe, Rebuilding Hope (Library)
  • God Grew Tired of Us (Optional)
  • “Rohingya Refugees Find Hope through Art” (YouTube) “The Boy and the Tiger” (YouTube)
  • Other Videos TBA
  • Guests: Kuol Awan and Jany Deng, Lost Boys Center for Leadership Development Suza Uddin and Max Frieder, Artolution and Ishrat Zakia Sultana and Bulbul Siddiqi, North South University
  • Assigned: VoiceThread on the Lost Boys and the Rohingya, Including Some Information on Crafting Literature Reviews (10 Points)

Week 3 Ethical Issues Working with Communities Including Sustainable Relationships March 28 – April 3

Readings:

  • Greenwood and Levin, Chapters 4, 7, and 8 (Recommended)
  • Duran et al., “Developing and Maintaining Partnerships with Communities” (Internet)
  • Flicker et al. “Developing a CBPR Partnership – Getting Started”
  • Greene-Moton et al., “Trust and Communication in a CBPR Partnership: Spreading the “Glue” and Having it Stick” (Internet)
  • Israel, B. A., Krieger, J., Vlahov, D., “Challenges and Facilitating Factors in Sustaining Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships: Lessons learned from the Detroit, New York City and Seattle Urban Research Centers” Journal of Urban Health, 83(6), 1022-1040.
  • Glass et al., “The Ethical Stakes of Collaborative Community-Based Social Science Research” (Library)
  • Brydon-Miller and Greenwood, “A Re-Examination of the Relationship between Action Research and Human Subjects Review Processes”
  • Internet Readings on Creating Literature Reviews
  • Assigned: CITI IRB Training Certificates and VoiceThread on Ethical Issues in CB-PAR (10 Points)
  • Draft Annotated Bibliography of Academic Sources for Each Group (5 Points)

Week 4 Action Research as Science and Knowledge Co-Generation April 4 – 10

Readings:

  • Warren et al. “Is Collaborative, Community-Engaged Scholarship More Rigorous Than Traditional Scholarship? On Advocacy, Bias, and Social Science Research” (Library) Greenwood and Levin, Chapter 7
  • Valerie Miller and Maria Suarez Toro, “Resonance and the Butterfly Effect: Feminist Epistemology and Popular Education” (D2L)
  • Minkler, M. (2010). Linking science and policy through community-based participatory research to study and address health disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 100 (Supplement 1), S81-87.
  • Israel, et al. Chapter 6 (Recommended)
  • Tashakkori and Creswell, “Envisioning the Future Stewards of the Social-Behavioral Research Enterprise” (Recommended)
  • Video: A Bridge Between Communities
  • Assigned: VoiceThread on Knowledge, Ignorance, and CB-PAR Updates on Group Projects
  • Guests: More Focused Discussions with Our Community Partners

Week 5 The Academic Literature Review and Its Place in CBPAR April 11 – 17

  • Readings: Leedy, Review of the Related Literature (D2L) Other Readings TBA
  • Assigned: Updates on Group Projects: With Draft Literature Review (10 Points)

Week 6 Participatory Media Methods in Human Rights Projects April 18-24

  • Readings: Milne et al., Handbook of Participatory Video (Especially chapters 14, 15, 16, 24, Library)
  • Walsh, “Critiquing the Politics of Participatory Video and the Dangerous Romance of Liberalism” (Internet)
  • Flum, M. R., Siqueira, C. E., DeCaro, A., & Redway, S. (2010). Photovoice in the workplace: A participatory method to give voice to workers to identify health and safety hazards and promote workplace change – a study of university custodians. American Journal of Industry Medicine, 53(11), 1150-1158.
  • Allen, D., & Hutchinson, T. (2009). Using PAR or Abusing Its Good Name? The Challenges and Surprises of Photovoice and Film in a Study of Chronic Illness. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 8(2), 116-128.
  • Lykes and Scheib “Visual Methodologies and Participatory Action Research: Performing Women’s Community-Based Health Promotion in Post-Katrina New Orleans”
  • Concept Paper: “Their World: Experiencing Forced Migration through the Eyes of Rohingya Children” (D2L)
  • Simmons et al., “Using the UN Principles and Guidelines in Local Participatory Campaigns to increase Dignity, Empowerment, and Inclusion among Individuals Who Have Personally Faced the Challenges of Leprosy: A Comparison of Three African Countries” (D2L)
  • Videos: Participatory Video Filmmaking – Short Films on YouTube Videos from the “Leprosy” Project
  • Assigned: VoiceThread on Research Methods Appropriate to Group Projects and Other Relevant Issues (10 Points)

Weeks 7-8 Class CB-PAR Project April 25 – May 5

  • Readings: TBD
  • Assigned: Groups should expect to have a draft of their final project and to meet with the Instructor early during week 6. (10 Points)

At the beginning of week 7, students post draft reports on their group projects on Voice Thread. Their colleagues comment on the draft reports. We’ll also compare the 4 projects especially in the context of the course material. Last day of class – revised class project reports are posted on VoiceThread. (15 Points)

Introduction

Catalog Description

This course focuses on how to plan and implement community-based participation action research projects relevant to protecting and advancing human rights in marginalized communities. Students will learn to work collaboratively with communities in developing research questions, choosing and implementing data collection methods, interpreting findings, and sharing/presenting of results. Community ownership of the research process and conducting research ethically will be emphasized. A wide variety of case studies of community research that resulted in empowerment and transformation will be presented. Students will work with faculty and community members on at least one community-based action research project.

People don’t usually do research the way people who write books about research say that people do research.

— Arthur Bachrach

Action research is a dynamic, collaborative, and open-ended process. Research questions, community partners, the scholarly literature, and practical considerations should drive the research design, hypotheses, data collection, data analysis, and the interpretation and presentation of the results. Such a process is often messy and rarely follows a linear path.

In this course, students will be involved in all aspects of a CB-PAR project from developing the research question, to conducting a review of the relevant literature, building community partners, developing the research design, securing Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, and, if time allows, collecting the data.

The overall class objectives are to help you develop a “scientific research attitude” and an “action research ethos.” A scientific research attitude includes a skeptical but informed stance toward previous research, a certain amount of hubris about your ability to contribute to scientific knowledge, a substantial amount of humility before your data, an acceptance of the provisional status of empirical results, and a strong commitment to conduct research ethically. An action research ethos reorients our thinking about research to simultaneously emphasize action, research, and participation (see Greenwood and Levin 2007, 6-7). We will work together throughout the semester to create our own understanding of these terms and their inter-relationships.

This course breaks down many artificial borders that are common in university research courses. It is learner-centered, community-embedded, inter-disciplinary, and trans-disciplinary. I am a strong proponent of mixed-methods research. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have their place and researchers should have facility in both without disparaging either. The success of the course will require a willingness to be respectful, open-minded, and a willingness to learn from each other. We all must do our part to make the course a success.

Take the scientist. If he has matured in the scientific tradition, he is willing to give up every particular of his scientific findings (they are all preliminary, never final), but he will never give up the scientific attitude, even if a tyrant should demand it of him.

— Paul Tillich, Ultimate Concern

Objectives and Outcomes

Course Objectives

During the course, students will

  1. Read important recent works on theoretical, ethical, and practical issues that arise indoing community-based participatory action research.
  2. Analyze and make presentations on a number of published case studies of community-based participatory action research.
  3. Learnfrom leading practitioners of CB-PAR through video conference guest
  4. Workwith the Instructor and community members on a community-based participatory action research project.

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of the semester, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a good understanding of action research including its historical andtheoretical contexts, ethical and political considerations, and an overview of major “methods” of action research.
  2. Acquire an increased facility in selected qualitative and quantitative research techniquesthrough reading examples of these techniques and the development of an action research
  3. Crafta quality academic literature
  4. Make substantial contributions to action research projects, especially the development ofa research design on a current human rights More specifically, students will have
  5. Participated in the design, planning, and implementation of an action research study,
  6. Experienced the process of developing and designing participatory communityresearch
  7. Experience negotiating the ethical and political challenges in conducting action research on a human rights issue
  8. Gained important experience working in research

Communicating with the Instructor

I can be available through different modalities, but please first email me to set up a time. I regularly check my UA email. I am available on Zoom or WhatsApp (please schedule through an email). I will try my best to answer emails within 24 hours of receiving them.

Attendance:

Grades

Accessibility and Accommodations

At the University of Arizona we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience physical or academic barriers based on disability or pregnancy, you are welcome to let me know so that we can discuss options. You are also encouraged to contact Disability Resources (520-621-3268) to explore reasonable accommodation

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