Week 9 Blog: Student Activism

Dear Class,

Week 9 group chose to present you http://studentactivism.net/ This blog website (like one or two of the past ones) is very plain and simple. When you first get to the website, the screen that you are on is where all of the posts are located. There are not different pages for different topics, but there are tabs on the top to find out more about the author. The author, Angus Johnston, is trying to inform the readers and educate instead of persuade or advertise. Angus is a credible source because he is "a historian and advocate of American student organizing."

We picked this blog because we felt that Angus Johnston had a lot of good things to say. His audience is focused more towards college students like us and he frequently speaks on campuses. He also talks at "conferences on the history of student activism and student government and on the state of the American student movement today." He seems very interested in getting young adults involved in student leaderships positions and engagement on campus. We hope you find something informative and maybe you could compare this blog to "campus progress" because they have some similarities in common.

Group 9

Chao Wang, Tyler White, Colleen Zhu, and Rosie Zimmer

Week 8 Blog: Campus Progress

Dear Class,

Week 8 group presents to you Campus Progress. Unlike the blogs from previous weeks, this blog covers a wide variety of issues such as activism, religion, women’s issues and many others. Their slogan “young people working for progressive change” conveys that they’re calling to action young adults and encourages them to get involved by either donating, hosting an event, looking in to campus and local activism, as well as many other ways.

This blog caught our attention because it has something to offer for everyone. It has an abundance of information on multiple topics that are relevant to people our age today. Furthermore, Campus Progress offers a variety of ways to get involved. We hope that you’ll find something that interests you and are looking forward to hearing your responses!

Enjoy!

Group 8

Sarah Tirrell, Susan Pollack, Aaron Cunningham, Sean Tennant

Week 7 Blog:The Activist Blog

Week 7 bloggers provide you http://theactivist.org/blog/. These are blogs mostly about the current events across the world. This site is ranked quite high, and it is clear why. The blog is very well designed and easy to follow. Also, the blogs are very well written as well. It is sponsored by the Young Democratic Socialists.

The main reason why I like this blog is because the articles cycle around activism, and that's what this class is all about. It is also directed towards the younger generations. I hope you guys enjoy this. I am excited to hear what you guys think about this blog.

Heather Gorslin, Kevin Kim, Codie Owens, Michael Petrarca

Week 6 Blog: The Environmental Blog

Dear class:

Here Week 6 Group presents to you the Environmental Blog. Similar with treehugger.com, it discusses environmental issues. However, it focuses more on specific hot topics such as sustainability, energy, global warming, etc., instead of general and broad topics. It defines itself as an "environmental justice, human rights, green tech, green living, and sustainable online news magazine". You can also interact with the blog by sending over your own article and hopefully it will be posted on the blog someday!

Please browse through this blog and we do hope you can find something interesting. You are also more than welcomed to compare this blog with treehugger.com and tell us which you prefer and why. I think this will greatly benefit us when we write our own blogs. We do hope you enjoy this blog!

Week 6 Group

Kelsey Gerber, Michael Daugirdas, Alley Fisk, Meng Dong

Week 4 Blog: Treehugger.com

Dear class,

The members of the Week 4 Group present to you treehugger.com. Founded in 2003 it is one of the most frequently read environmental blogs on any subject. It is dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream and covers everything environmental from green news to eco-design and green products. This blog also invites its readers to get involved by interacting in their surveys and forums and encourages readers to take action by reading their "how to go green" articles, for example.

We really like this blog because it focuses on environmental issues within a wide range of topics from business and politics to fashion and beauty so please browse through the articles until you find something that catches your eye. We would love to hear what you guys think!

Enjoy!

Arielle Cowie, Tyler Ranft, Ming Guan and YJ Chua.

Week 3 Blog: Change.org

Dear class,

As a representative of the Week 3 Group, I present to you our featured blog: change.org. This website was launched in February 2007 and today, it is more than just a blog. It has blogs related to many activist issues so you can pick which issue you would like to read about. It is also a free internet petition host site where users can take action on various issues. Used by thousands of activists around the world, change.org is one of the few major activist blogs supported by multinational organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International.

When on the website, feel free to comment on any entry on one of the numerous issues. That is the best part about the organization. You can choose which issue you want to participate in. Also, within each general cause such as environment or health, there are various issues that you can navigate to such as air pollution or cancer. The website uses rhetoric techniques and pushes for direct action as well.

Please enjoy this week's blog!

Rishab, Nia, Tim, and Tingting

Featured Blog: Feministing

Dear Class,

Welcome to the class blog! Here, we will discuss, analyze, criticize, and debate featured blogs about some form of activism--blogs that you pick.

In keeping with the course theme of activism, I have chosen the blog site www.feministing.com. This blog has been ranked, time and again, as one of the best blogs on issues of feminism in the new century. Between now and next Thursday, I look forward to reading your posts about this blog.

Remember: you are not focusing on "what" the blog says - though you will probably have to mention it briefly to provide your reader some context - instead, your posts should focus on "how" a blog entry or the blog site as a whole in rhetorically significant. Be sure to check out carmen for further prompts on how to write these entries.

Good Luck,
Nick White