Discussion Toolkits - July 2015
Please read the instructions thoroughly to prepare for group discussions.
Build Your Community
We hope that this course will become a launching point for the future, not only an isolated moment in your education. Thus, we are emphasizing the community-building element of this class! The open online format offers you a unique opportunity to build a network by reaching out to learners, practitioners, experts and activists from all around the world—and to find other passionate people in your own hometown. Discussions each week happen in three easy steps:
Step 1. Find a Group
Step 2. Select a Discussion Toolkit
Step 3. Submit Discussion Group Report
Build Your Community
We hope that this course will become a launching point for the future, not only an isolated moment in your education. Thus, we are emphasizing the community-building element of this class! The open online format offers you a unique opportunity to build a network by reaching out to learners, practitioners, experts and activists from all around the world—and to find other passionate people in your own hometown. Discussions each week happen in three easy steps:
Step 1. Find a Group
Step 2. Select a Discussion Toolkit
Step 3. Submit Discussion Group Report
Step 1. Find a Group
From our experience, forming a group and scheduling regular meetings will help you stay on track, accountable and engaged. When this course is taught in-person at Stanford University, students form groups that meet weekly to discuss the class materials and their own reactions. Discussing the videos and readings will challenge you to consider new perspectives and novel applications of the course content. We encourage you to form your own group and to meet as regularly as possible.
From our experience, forming a group and scheduling regular meetings will help you stay on track, accountable and engaged. When this course is taught in-person at Stanford University, students form groups that meet weekly to discuss the class materials and their own reactions. Discussing the videos and readings will challenge you to consider new perspectives and novel applications of the course content. We encourage you to form your own group and to meet as regularly as possible.
Option A. Connecting In Person
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1) Invite Friends. Is there a pre-existing group that may value this course? Consider asking your friends, your co-workers, your book club, your family, or even your field hockey team to join this experience with you. Direct them to the course website (www.internationalwomenshealth.org) to find out more and to sign up.
2) Use the Forum. Interested in connecting with other students taking the course who live in your vicinity? If you are searching for people in your city or region to form an in-person discussion group with, please visit the "Search for Teammates" page on the Forum. Existing groups can also search for additional members. |
Option B. Connecting Online with Talkabout discussion groups
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We also offer you an opportunity to connect with online discussion groups via Talkabout, an online tool hosted at Stanford University. Please visit Talkabout to join a discussion section.
Online discussions are an exciting way to meet people from different countries, with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints. We believe the Talkabout tool is an excellent way to enable group discussions. You will choose a preferred time, and then it will automatically sort you into a group with new students in this course when you come online for that discussion. On occasion, the community TAs on our teaching staff may even join in on some of the discussion sessions. They are all Stanford alumni or current students who have previously taken this course with Professor Murray. The TAs will be there to help facilitate and improve your experience! (However, please remember that there are many more global participants than TAs, so please don't be disappointed if a TA does not enter your section.) You and your peers have many stories to share, and we believe all participants can learn from each other. |
Step 2. Select a Discussion Toolkit
Choose from the following toolkits to help orient your conversations. Each week, we will update this with a new toolkit. A set schedule for online discussions begins next week. In-person discussions can happen any time you and your group want to meet!
NOTE: You do not have to answer all of the questions in each discussion toolkit! This is simply a tool to get you started in your conversations.
(May require your lagunita.stanford.edu or class.stanford.edu login)
Choose from the following toolkits to help orient your conversations. Each week, we will update this with a new toolkit. A set schedule for online discussions begins next week. In-person discussions can happen any time you and your group want to meet!
NOTE: You do not have to answer all of the questions in each discussion toolkit! This is simply a tool to get you started in your conversations.
(May require your lagunita.stanford.edu or class.stanford.edu login)
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Week 1. Human Rights
Women's Rights = Human Rights. What is the condition of human rights in your society? Week 2. Education Education is often regarded as a "magic" intervention. Week 3. Adolescent Health Female Genital Cutting/Mutilation & HIV/AIDS Week 4. Reproductive Health Marriage and early childbirth, pregnancy, reproductive choice, sexually transmitted infections, sexuality Week 5. Violence Against Women Violence to maintain power in patriarchal societies. If violence were an infectious disease we would declare an epidemic Week 6. Women in War and Refugee Circumstances Refugees, including LGBTI refugees, conflict as violence intensified. Week 7. Escaping from Poverty Globalization and Women's Work. Sex trafficking and sex work. Week 8. Aging and End of Life Challenges facing the elderly. Caregiving and how the elderly contribute to society. |
Step 3. Submit Discussion Group Report
Before you conclude the meeting, the group will craft a brief summary about what was discussed. Each time you meet, only ONE summary is needed per group. Please submit a new report every time you meet, so your participation is catalogued!
One volunteer team member will submit a report on behalf of the whole group. He or she will need some information from the group to complete the report, so please do not end your conversation before getting him or her that information. Use the online Sharing Portal to submit your report.
We wish you and your group a great intellectual and socially-aware adventure!
NOTE: If you want a Statement of Accomplishment from Stanford University, you also need to submit your own short reflection about the discussion experience in the section Submit Your Writing Assignments (Statement of Accomplishment) under Courseware. You should try to meet with a group at least three times during the course, though of course more regular meetings are encouraged.
Before you conclude the meeting, the group will craft a brief summary about what was discussed. Each time you meet, only ONE summary is needed per group. Please submit a new report every time you meet, so your participation is catalogued!
One volunteer team member will submit a report on behalf of the whole group. He or she will need some information from the group to complete the report, so please do not end your conversation before getting him or her that information. Use the online Sharing Portal to submit your report.
We wish you and your group a great intellectual and socially-aware adventure!
NOTE: If you want a Statement of Accomplishment from Stanford University, you also need to submit your own short reflection about the discussion experience in the section Submit Your Writing Assignments (Statement of Accomplishment) under Courseware. You should try to meet with a group at least three times during the course, though of course more regular meetings are encouraged.
