Module 1.2 Reflections on DEIA Terms by Jennifer McCandless

Reflections on DEIA Terms

2023-10-11 14:49:32 UTC

As both a recipient and observer, I am familiar with the term privilege. As a white woman, I have automatically receive "entitlements" others do not.

I may shop anywhere without suspicion.

I can move into any neighborhood without causing a stir.

Positionality is a term I do not understand.

Reflections on DEIA Terms - Jun Ma

2023-10-11 22:38:53 UTC

I am familiar with the term "Personal Identity", which is often based on individual taste that helps define a person as unique. For example, I enjoy teaching and mathematics, so I choose to become a math instructor as my profession.

I was not previously familiar with the term "Positionally". I have now learned that it recognizes how one's identities intersect in a particular moment, bestowing and/or limiting power, and considers one's privileged and marginalized identities.

Reflections on DEIA Terms - Chris Bertucci

2023-10-14 14:27:26 UTC

I am familiar with the term "privilege," because as a white man this is something I've had to come to terms with as I work toward more equitable practices.

I was not familiar with "personal identity" as it is used here, and I am still a bit confused why it seems to be separated out so neatly from power and oppression. The example of one's profession, for instance, is still very much loaded with social biases: tell somebody you work at Burger King and see what happens.

Reflections on Vocab--Sarah Innes

2023-10-16 22:29:20 UTC

I was interested in the differences between intersectionality and positionality as they were listed here. I am familiar with intersectionality, in the sense that I have often heard people describe their complex identities and the challenges of each one...a black lesbian woman, for example, might feel pulled in different directions by the different identities in different groups or contexts. I was not familiar with positionality, or with this distinction--that intersectionality is about marginalized identities only, while positionality is about ALL the identities, both priveleged and marginalized...and since it seems like everyone must have both priveleged and marginalized identitites, at least in some small portion of themselves, aren't we always talking about positionality? I'm not sure why I got hung up on this distiction, but I would like to understand better when to apply each of the terms.

Reflections on DEIA Terms--Leo Fong

2023-10-20 01:00:00 UTC

I was familiar with the term "intersectionality" as the formation of multiple identities across race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, ability, etc., and how these identities compound and reinforce discrimination and oppression; I recall reading one analogy that compared intersectionality with a busy traffic intersection where different paths converge, and when a crash occurs it's difficult to determine its source because of the multiple streams of traffic present. The term "positionality" was new to me. From the term itself, I can see how it's about self-awareness of one's position as it is formed through the combination of multiple identities.

Reflections on New Terms--Paul Calkins

2023-10-24 01:07:04 UTC

I am familiar with "intersectionality." I think that I remembered this term because it pointed to a complexity often missed in the day-to-to-day political discussions that come up on mainstream news. It seems that what mainstream news audiences recognize as "other" depends on racial categories and nothing else. But a closer look reveals that what people understand as "other" usually entails an overlapping of categories, like race and class, for instance.
Positionality is new to me. Frankly, I believe that I would try hard to find another word (or words) to say the same thing in writing. But I do see how the word is trying to address something more dynamic in social life, the potential of cashing in on privilege or struggling with marginal status simply by virtue of where one happens to be in a social context in a given moment.

Reflection on DEIA terms – Brittany Wiley: The term “equity minded” resonated with me because it is a practice and perspective I seek to embody, especially professionally. As an instructor of Ethnic Studies, I teach about intersectionality, power, power structures, and privilege so this vocabulary is familiar to me. Positionality and personal identity are constant things I consider as a person of color working at institutions of higher education.

2023-10-25 05:30:46 UTC

Reflections on DEIA Terms Casey Schurig

2023-10-26 23:13:57 UTC

Power Structure

This is similar to or maybe it's the same concept that is discussed in Business classes. A manager has power over the employees they supervise. Often a manager is unaware of this power and will influence behavior of those around them just by being in the same room or through offhand comments about a project. Employees will then avoid topics they could speak freely about due to fear of misunderstanding from the manager being present in the room. Regarding offhand comments about a project, an employee may take the manager's comment as a directive and then put extra time and effort into achieving a task that maybe wasn't important all because the manager did not understand the power structure and their place within the structure. In the framework of equity people can be unaware of this power structure and cause inequity through their actions and decision making that will unfairly impact others. Would be good to know if this is on point or if more understanding would help me with this concept.