Non-visible identities: who are my people?
This lesson is focused on the identities that people can't easily perceive when they meet you. Folks with these oppressed identities need to focus a lot on disclosure and information management. We explore the dynamics of closeting, disclosing, isolation and belonging (see Irving Goffman's Stigma for discreditable identities). Some examples of these oppressions are Homophobia, Ableism, Religious discrimination, immigration issues, Classism.
These are the preparation materials, which would traditionally be the more passive, lecture component of the class. These are the materials that my students work with before we get together in class.
Non-visible Prep materials.docxThis worksheet is what we would be doing in a 2-hour class period, where we have a chance to work together. This time is especially valuable because you can really apply the concepts you learned, while getting perspective and support from other folks. . The worksheet represents 2 hours of work in groups of 3.
This link will take you to a .doc file, for easier editing
non-visible identities Worksheet.pdfThis is a summary video I made for my online students. It might give you a sense of some of the ideas from the worksheet and an overall view of the ideas from that lesson.
Here are some great things that I couldn't include in the lesson, if you're interested, keep looking!
Non-visible Extra materials.docxConnecting to a previous lesson
This lesson is connected to the lesson on social identities, and the symbols on the social location map. I roughly categorized some of the dynamics around visibility and family patterns as a thinking exercise. None of the categories are perfect, or complete, but thinking about similarities might help us develop empathy.
social location map.pdf