1 Sociology/Public Administration 342-001: Criminology Summer 1
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Sociology/Public Administration 342-001: Criminology Summer 1: June 9 2014 to July 10, 2014 Online - 3 credits Instructor Office Hours Kate Gunby via email and gchat [email protected] Course Description This course begins with a quick introduction to the multidisciplinary study of criminology and how crime and criminal behavior are measured. This class explores different theories of crime and criminality, including: structural, conflict, cultural, economic, social process, psychosocial, biosocial, developmental, and broken window theories, as well as Victimology and the consequences of crime and incarceration. Throughout the class we also focus on different types of crime, including: violent crime, drug crimes, public order crime, and organized crime. This course uses the acclaimed HBO television series The Wire to explore the fundamentals of criminology. Students will develop their ability analyze, synthesize, apply, and evaluate the course material through written memos linking each reading to the content in a specific episode or film. Students will further engage with the material and each other through online forum discussions. This class is guided by student goals, which are established from the beginning and reviewed throughout the term. Readings All of the course readings are on D2L. You do not need to buy any books. Almost all of the readings are excerpts from books or articles, so please download the readings from D2L so that you only read the portions that are required for the class. Episodes and Films All of the required media for this class is available for you to stream for free on D2L. Grade Evaluation Grade Scale Introduction and Syllabus Quiz 5% A 90-100% Goals Assessments 5% B 80-89.9% Discussion Posts 30% C 70-79.9% Daily Memos 60% D 60-69.9% E 0-59.9% I do not accept late work. A Note about Grades Your grade starts at zero and you must earn your points. You are not entitled to a certain final grade, rather you earn your grades throughout the semester and your final grade will reflect how well you demonstrated your learning during the term. Grades are simply tools that assess your academic performance and relay that information back to you. Your grades do not necessarily reflect your intelligence, work ethic, potential, progress, talents, or worth. 1 Introduction (2.5% of final grade) Due Jun 9 (M) at 11:59pm in forum in D2L Your first assignment is to submit a note in the discussion area that includes this information: Name Preferred email address Year in school Hometown(s) Major(s) and minor(s) Sociology and criminology experience – both classes taken and other exposure to these disciplines What do you hope to gain from this class? What other classes are you taking this term? What other responsibilities (employment, sports, extracurricular activities, family, pets, etc.) do you have this term? What else do you want the class to know about you? If there is anything else that you would like the instructor to know, but do not want to share with the class, please email Kate at [email protected] Syllabus Quiz (2.5% of final grade) Due Jun 10 (T) at 11:59pm in quiz area on D2L The syllabus quiz is worth 2.5% of your final grade, and should insure that you have thoroughly read the syllabus. This quiz is open note, untimed, and you can take it an infinite number of times. While your score on the quiz is not worth a large portion of your class grade, you must earn 100% on your syllabus quiz to pass the class. Goals Assessments (5% of final grade) Due June 9 (T), June 24 (T), and July 10 (Th) at 11:59pm in the quiz area in D2L By 11:59pm on the June 9 (T), you should complete the Learning Goals Inventory that is in the quiz section of D2L. Everyone receives full credit for completing this quiz; there are no right or wrong answers. The Learning Goals Inventory allows everyone to assess their personal goals for this class and reflect on their role as a student and their personal philosophy of learning. I will refer back to these goals assessments to better focus and contextualize my individual feedback. In the middle of the class, June 24 (Tu), there will be a new “quiz” that will ask you to assess your progress, (re)evaluate your priorities, and assess whether the class is helping you to meet your goals. Everyone receives full credit for completing this quiz. At the end of the course, July 10 (Th), you will complete a final goals assessment where you compare your performance in the class with the goals you set in your Learning Goals Inventory. This serves as a time for reflection on your progress in the course. Once again, everyone receives full credit for completing this quiz. 2 Daily Memos (60% of final grade) Due daily at 11:59pm in dropbox in D2L You should write 23 memos for this class, one for each day of class. Each memo should be four paragraphs long, and each paragraph should be at least four sentences long. Paragraph 1: Summarize the reading’s main point(s). You should NOT summarize everything that the author does in the reading, but instead you should synthesize the big ideas in a way that someone who had not done the readings would understand. Paragraph 2: Explain how something that happened in the episode(s) demonstrate and/or contradict the main points from the reading. You can write about just one specific example, or about broader trends. Paragraph 3: Apply ideas and facts from the reading and/or episodes to issues, events, phenomena, or information that you already know about. Paragraph 4: Question and/or critique at least one of the reading’s findings or arguments. Every memo should demonstrate your comprehension of the material and critical engagement with both what you read and what you watched. To receive full credit, please include page numbers and times from the episodes or films to properly cite both ideas and quotations. Discussion Posts and Etiquette (30% of final grade) Due daily at 11:59pm in the forum in D2L You are required to participate in discussions in the forum on D2L. For each day that there is a reading, you must start at least one topic by midnight and respond to two other topics by midnight the following class day. This means that discussions started on Fridays will need to be responded to by Mondays at 11:59pm. The only exception is that you will need to post both your topic starters and responses by 11:59pm on the last day of class, July 10th. In order for a post to receive full credit it must include a title that is descriptive of the discussion topic, have at least 100 words, include at least one citation from the reading (page number) or the episode (time in the episode), and deal with criminology in some way. Discussion posts can clarify confusing material, make connections to your own experiences, argue for a specific position, judge the ethics or morals of a specific decision, propose a solution to a problem, or something similar. Discussion posts should demonstrate critical thinking about criminological ideas in order to earn full credit. Do NOT simply react to what happened on the show (ex: “OMG, can you believe what McNulty did?! He needs to get his life together!”) Discussion posts do not need to read like formal academic writing, but they should still reflect substantial engagement with the course materials. Your discussion posts can be about similar ideas to what you wrote about in your memo, however you may not use the same writing for both your memo and your discussion posts. You should not copy and paste what you wrote from one into the other and submit both for credit. Your discussion posts should be respectful, courteous, and friendly. You are accountable for what you post. Whenever possible, provide context for your comments – explain where you are coming from and what you’re thinking. It can be hard to convey tone in online discussions, 3 so feel free to make your tone explicit or add in casual indicators (such as “haha”, or the occasional smiley face) to avoid confusion and hurt feelings. Online Classes Taking a three-credit class online in just 5 weeks presents unique challenges. I have organized the course so that you may work ahead of schedule to accommodate for your obligations and summer activities. You may log in whenever you like and complete tasks as early as you want. If something comes up and you need more time to complete a task, contact me ASAP and I will try to be accommodating. Online classes can feel isolating. The introduction assignment and mandatory discussion posts are designed to aid interactions with your peers. I hope that you will take full advantage of the discussion tools to connect with your classmates. I encourage you to contact me via email, and also to chat with me by appointment or anytime you see that I’m logged in to gchat. We can also set up a time to meet in person. TurnItIn.com The instructor reserves the right to utilize electronic means to help prevent plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all assignments are subject to submission for textual similarity review to TurnItIn.com. Assignments submitted to TurnItIn.com will be included as source documents in TurnItIn.com’s restricted access database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism in such documents. Students can view the originality reports for their own work in dropbox.