Participants are required to submit an autobiography that details their experience as a member of a particular race and/or ethnic group. This is a descriiptive and analytical essay in which you will situate your own life into course themes by integrating ideas and readings from the course into an analysis of your experiences. In other words, you are being asked to write your own autobiography from a cultural perspective – that is, looking at issues of ethnicity, race, and your intersecting identities, answer the following question: What are your beliefs about ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, and the other facets of your identity and what role did your community and the broader world have in shaping these beliefs? How do society’s assumptions about the different parts of your identity shape the world around you? Have you resisted these assumptions (why or why not?)
This essay is expected to integrate themes, concepts/terminology, and perspectives from the readings and lectures into your story. Participants should:
Give their essay a descriiptive title (not, for example, “My Autobiography”)
Have a minimum of 1000 words written (no max), double-spaced and include citations (any format is fine).
Explicitly integrate themes or ideas from at least two of the readings.
Demonstrate consideration for the flow and structure of their essay. For example, you might discuss issues chronologically (i.e., as a child first learning about race and being exposed to cultural expression, as a teenager, current media representations) or in some other order based on themes that you wish to highlight.
Consider intersectionality – how does your gender, sexuality, religion, dis/ability, etc. impact your experience?