Victoria Martinez Larranaga

Argentina Fulbright Academic Prep

Jennifer McSpadden

9 February 2017

Annotated Bibliography

Graff, G. (2010). Hidden Intellectualism. In G. Graff & C. Birkenstein, They Say/ I Say: the

moves that matter in academic writing (2nd ed., pp. 198-205). New York.

In the article Hidden Intelectualism, Gerald Graff questions the common

assumption that the activities and topics in which teenagers are usually engaged are not

intellectual nor academic. Based on his own experience, he describes the difficulties many

teenagers face as they try to develop an identity that sometimes differs from the one expected

in an academic environment. To overcome this conflict, he proposes teachers to take into

consideration studentss preferences when writing the curriculum.

Furthermore, he argues that "schools and colleges are missing an opportunity when

they do not encourage students to take their nonacademic interests as objects of academic

study." In other words, he warns teachers that students may experience a loss of motivation if

their personal aspirations do not match up the established academic goals. I'm of two minds

about Graff's insistence on incorporating kids' interests into school. On the one hand, I agree

that this would ease the access of these young people to new, more complex readings. On the

other hand, I`m not sure if his proposal would be easily applicable. I think many teachers

might hesitate when suddenly being forced to modify the design of their courses, evaluation

methods, etc. I truly believe the school community should join in to work on this issue, in

order to create a more inclusive and diverse academic culture.

Prieto, J A. (2017). In Defense of the Violence at Berkley. Medium.

https://medium.com/everyvote/a-defense-of-the-violence-at-berkeley-

aae88937776a#.lmgp5itxn

In his article "In Defense of the Violence at Berkeley," Juan A. Prieto describes the

incidents of last week at the renowned UC campus as the only possible act of resistance

against hate speeches. According to the Berkeley student, neither the peaceful protesters nor

the university itself did anything to stop or cancel Milo Yiannopoulos' speech, an event that

would collaborate in the expansion of White Supremacy and Alt-Right ideas threatening

undocumented or minority students on campus. Prieto laments that his college "was not bold

enough to stand against hate and cancel the speech", even when it had been reported that

Yiannopoulos wasn't there just to talk, but had "planned on launching a campaign against

undocumented students and sanctuary campuses." The essence of Prieto's argument is that

allowing such an event has nothing to do with Freedom of Speech -like President Trump tried

to point out- but it's just an act of cowardice. Instead, the radical measures developed by the

anarchist groups were accurate to prevent the spread of White Supremacy in Berkeley, so he's

thankful to them.

Prieto seems to have a good argument about the current conversation on Freedom of

Speech in campuses; I agree with him on pointing that Alt-Right theories don't try to create

arguments nor collaborate with the intellectual arena. They are just a tool to disguise fascist

ideas. On the other hand, I cannot endorse his final conclusion that violent measures are the

only solution to resist their advancement. I think there are many other possible actions: if the

college administration hesitates on this subjects, more pressure has to be put on it by

demonstrating and marching on campus even before this sort of event. Students' and teachers'

associations should join in to resist the advancement of fascism in school, and develop

solidarity ties to protect undocumented students and minority communities, instead of relying
on violent actions that could eventually give the government more arguments to harass them.