Assignment #1

Hi, Mary; hi, Eric. I haven’t received a whole lot of ideas/preferences from either of you, so I guess I will make more of those kinds of decisions. (This is perfectly okay with me. I’m glad to provide a more structured plan for the course if that’s what you prefer.) I will create a syllabus and get it to you in the next couple of days. In the meantime, here is the first assignment to get you started.

Assignment #1: Reflection on Violence

During our first meeting, we discussed various forms of violence. While physical violence seems somewhat easy to define, other forms (i.e. emotional, deprivation, intimidation, neglect, etc.) are more difficult. In a short (200-250 word) essay, describe the essence of non-physical violence from your perspective. In other words, what acts occur in the world that strike you, personally, as the most violent?

Your essay should include detailed examples of actual human behavior. You may use examples from your own life, but you are not required to. Please don’t include anything you aren’t comfortable discussing in our group.

It may help for me to include here the definition of violence that I gave in class. This definition might help you get started, but I hope you won’t feel limited by it:

Violence: Intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another, or a community which either results or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.

That is a textbook definition. Your task now is to add your own interpretation by completing the sentence, “Violence to me is _________________.”

Please email your response to me by 8:00 A.M. on Monday January 27^th. This will give me time to respond prior to our in-person meeting on the 28^th.

Let me know if you have questions or problems.