http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/ | social justice | higher education | technology | Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:47:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.7 http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-35761 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:35:51 +0000 http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-35761 We played this game in one of our CSSA classes this year, and it was an awful experience for the co-hort. The point was lost the first time that one of our classmates got their feelings hurt, and the rest of "game" was spent doing everything we could to make sure that everyone felt comfortable. What was intended to be a learning, facilitated game ended up being 2hours of us ignoring the rules, trying to back each other up and hoping/praying we wouldn't land on a spot that required sharing. While the game is supposed to take 3or4 hours, we played the game in 2, 30-minute rounds and class ended before we could have any discussion. Instead, any sort of debrief happened on the way out of class and over facebook, as cohort mates left wall posts for each other. not really a "game" that is fun to play. We played this game in one of our CSSA classes this year, and it was an awful experience for the co-hort. The point was lost the first time that one of our classmates got their feelings hurt, and the rest of “game” was spent doing everything we could to make sure that everyone felt comfortable. What was intended to be a learning, facilitated game ended up being 2hours of us ignoring the rules, trying to back each other up and hoping/praying we wouldn’t land on a spot that required sharing. While the game is supposed to take 3or4 hours, we played the game in 2, 30-minute rounds and class ended before we could have any discussion. Instead, any sort of debrief happened on the way out of class and over facebook, as cohort mates left wall posts for each other. not really a “game” that is fun to play.

]]> http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-11255 Tue, 05 Jun 2007 21:06:34 +0000 http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-11255 I have played this game and met with the creators. I did not find it lead to tokenizaton or marginalization. The "goal" of the game is enlightenment, but by playing the game one really finds out how hard it is to achieve enlightenment. It really opens your eyes to oppression in all its form, gender, race, sexual orientation and challenges you on how you define oppression. There is the need for a facilitator for the game, which the rules require, but the game is one that is not over when someone wins, the challenge is continuing the discussion of reactions to the game once the game ends. Please consider playing the game yourself or talking to more than one friend before determining your opinion. I played the game with a large group of people of color and no one expressed negative reactions, but then again that was one group. I have played this game and met with the creators. I did not find it lead to tokenizaton or marginalization. The “goal” of the game is enlightenment, but by playing the game one really finds out how hard it is to achieve enlightenment. It really opens your eyes to oppression in all its form, gender, race, sexual orientation and challenges you on how you define oppression. There is the need for a facilitator for the game, which the rules require, but the game is one that is not over when someone wins, the challenge is continuing the discussion of reactions to the game once the game ends. Please consider playing the game yourself or talking to more than one friend before determining your opinion. I played the game with a large group of people of color and no one expressed negative reactions, but then again that was one group.

]]> http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-225 Tue, 31 Jan 2006 08:27:39 +0000 http://ericstoller.com/blog/2006/01/22/the-game-of-oppression/#comment-225 Have you read Road to Wigan Pier? I really liked it and the book addresses poverty and oppression quite intelligently I think. Have you read Road to Wigan Pier? I really liked it and the book addresses poverty and oppression quite intelligently I think.

]]>