This document provides guidelines for a positionalilty paper where students reflect on how their identity and position in American society shapes their perspectives, values, and ideas about the country. The purpose is for students to systematically reflect on their own identity and how it affects how they relate to American culture. Students should address how their gender, age, social class, race, foreign experiences influence their beliefs, values, biases about aspects of American society and culture they like or dislike.

1. Guidelines for Personal Reflection (Positionality) Paper
describing your positionality in American society, how this
shapes your perspectives, values, and ideas about America
Purpose The Purpose of the paper is to give you an opportunity
to reflect in a somewhat systematic way on your own position
and identity in American society, and to reflect on how this
affects and shapes your values, beliefs, attitudes, biases, and
tastes. It can help you see how and why you relate to American
society and culture as you do. We engage in this reflection near
the start of the course, and return to it again near the end of the
course to see if we have any more insight or difference in
perspective. It is one way to see the relevance of the course to
our lives as we live in American society and culture. Structure
You should address the following areas of positionality and
formation: •How do you define or identify yourself as to
ogender (male) oage (26) osocial class orace (Arabian) oforeign
travel or experiences living abroad ohow informed you stay re.
local, national, and global news •How does you identity and
position as you describe it (above) influence or shape you in
relation to your: obeliefs ovalues obiases, prejudices, likes,
dislikes re. American society or a group therein oaspects of
American culture you especially like or dislike –what are you
most critical of? •Any other experience that has really
influenced or shaped your attitude or relation to American
society or culture?