{"id":2405,"date":"2019-05-22T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/?p=2405"},"modified":"2020-03-23T18:28:19","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T23:28:19","slug":"using-rock-climbing-to-teach-about-sexism-racism-and-colonialism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/2019\/05\/22\/using-rock-climbing-to-teach-about-sexism-racism-and-colonialism\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Rock Climbing to Teach about Sexism, Racism, and Colonialism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/laurelfan\/17291758736\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/files\/2019\/05\/17291758736_480fddc9b4_z-600x450.jpg\" alt=\"Photo looking down on a person climbing up the side of a rock face. The person is wearing a blue helmet and a long sleeve shirt and is holding onto the rock with two hands. \" class=\"wp-image-2413\" width=\"503\" height=\"394\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Photo by Laurel F, Flickr CC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With the recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/oscars-free-solo-wins-best-documentary-feature-1189358\">Oscar\nwin for <em>Free Solo<\/em><\/a>, many students\nare likely to be interested in rock climbing. <a href=\"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/engagingsports\/2019\/01\/07\/whats-in-a-name-sexism-in-rock-climbing-route-names\/\">Jennifer\nWigglesworth\u2019s research and recent post on Engaging Sports<\/a> about the sexism in rock climbing route names\nprovides a perfect way to think about established concepts using popular\nculture phenomenon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is an interactive activity designed to get students out into their own communities and seeing them with new eyes. During this three-part activity, students will think about history and specifically how naming practices privilege or marginalize certain groups and histories. The activity begins with a critical examination of a pop culture concept &#8212; rock climbing &#8212; and then asks students to broaden that idea by examining the geography they circulate every day. The lesson concludes with an academic reading on the broader history of imperial naming practices in the United States. This activity would be good for Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Gender, Race and Ethnicity, Sociology of Sport, Sociology of Culture, Theory, and Urban Sociology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Materials:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><em>You bring:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>copies of the two suggested readings<\/li><li>white board and markers for report back and\ndiscussion<\/li><li>physical or virtual map<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Students bring: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>copies of the two suggested readings<\/li><li>notes on what sources they consulted and what they found<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Activity <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Assign Jennifer Wigglesworth\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s in a\nname? Sexism in rock climbing route names\u201d to be read by students in advance. &nbsp;<\/li><li>Discuss the reading in class. Focus on students\u2019\nreactions. Were they surprised? Upset? Do they feel like there is something\nabout the rock climbing environment that lends itself to these sexist naming\npractices or have they had similar experiences elsewhere? The discussion does\nnot need to be long but should give students a chance to talk through their\nfeelings about the piece. <\/li><li>Place students into groups of 4 and assign each\ngroup to find 3 local place\/site names to research: at least one should be on\ncampus, and at least one should be off campus. You may want to divide up a map.\nThis activity could be done either between class periods, students could leave\nclass during a long class period, or they could do it virtually over the\ninternet. It is ideal if students physically walk or drive around and find the\nplace names to research however so that they are seeing their environment with\nnew eyes. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For each place\/site name, each group should answer the following:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>What is the name?<ul><li>Who named it? When? What is the history of the name?<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>What does the name mean?<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Note: you may want to discuss in advance what\nsources of information are appropriate for this activity in advance. Because of\nthe local nature of this activity, I would suggest that any source that\nstudents can find would be OK (for example, Wikipedia will probably be very\nhelpful) but they should be encouraged to keep track of what sources they\nconsult. <\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>In class, have each group report back their\nfindings. Probe the groups for any thoughts or reactions. What surprised them? Do\nnot be disappointed at this point if most groups did not notice anything\nsurprising or problematic. Part of the exercise is to discuss why we might not\ninitially find a place name problematic, but as we dig deeper we may find\ntroubling roots.<\/li><li>Assign students to read C. Richard King\u2019s\nchapter \u201cDe\/Scribing Sq*aw: Indigenous Women and Imperial Idioms in the United\nStates,\u201d from <em>Unsettling America<\/em>,\n2013, Rowman and Littlefield, pp 93-106.&nbsp;\n<\/li><li>After students have read King\u2019s chapter, use it\nto revisit the previous two discussions with them. What might the group have\nmissed, and why? Looking at King\u2019s examples, are there local examples that seem\nless innocuous now? Is there anything in Wigglesworth\u2019s research that parallels\nthe history that King describes? In this discussion, using King\u2019s helpful\nexample of people\u2019s differing awareness and reaction to sq*aw, focus on\nexploring with students how racism and sexism become embedded in place.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Possible modifications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For methods or other upper level\ncourses, students could be assigned to mimic Wigglesworth\u2019s research and\nconduct interviews or surveys to understand how people negotiate the meaning of\nproblematic place names in their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Additional resources <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.startribune.com\/lake-calhoun-bde-maka-ska-here-s-the-dnr-s-thinking-on-the-matter\/509557352\/\">active struggle<\/a> over Bde Maka Ska\/Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/planetprinceton.com\/2017\/04\/18\/princeton-university-to-name-west-college-after-toni-morrison-woodrow-wilson-school-auditorium-after-arthur-lewis\/\">Removal<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/grade-point\/wp\/2016\/04\/04\/princeton-will-keep-woodrow-wilsons-name-on-buildings-but-it-will-take-steps-to-expand-diversity-and-inclusion\/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.01aac10f4a00\">Woodrow Wilson\u2019s name<\/a> from buildings at Princeton<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Resources for <a href=\"https:\/\/usdac.us\/nativeland\">land acknowledgements<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dr. Meghan Krausch studies race, gender, disability, and other forms of marginalization throughout the Americas and in particular how grassroots communities have developed ways to resist their own marginalization. Read more of Meg\u2019s writing at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/rebelprof.wordpress.com\/\"><em>The Rebel Professor<\/em><\/a><em> or get in touch directly at <\/em><a href=\"mailto:meghan.krausch@gmail.com\"><em>meghan.krausch@gmail.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the recent Oscar win for Free Solo, many students are likely to be interested in rock climbing. Jennifer Wigglesworth\u2019s research and recent post on Engaging Sports about the sexism in rock climbing route names provides a perfect way to think about established concepts using popular culture phenomenon. This is an interactive activity designed to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":2413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127407,127410,127403],"tags":[113746,36590,113686,25504,226,12905,993,55,253,1203,837,113749,23854,14,82,838,113753,103843,1528],"class_list":["post-2405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-class-exercises-activities","category-lesson-plans","category-teaching-resources","tag-activities","tag-class-material","tag-classroom-activities","tag-classroom-exercise","tag-colonialism","tag-discussions","tag-exercises","tag-gender","tag-history","tag-interactive","tag-materials","tag-name","tag-naming","tag-race","tag-racism","tag-readings","tag-rock-climb","tag-rock-climbing","tag-sexism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/files\/2019\/05\/17291758736_480fddc9b4_z.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2405"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2611,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2405\/revisions\/2611"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/teaching\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}