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Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: April 11, 2008
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

Spring 2008 CRMJ/SOCA 353 Criminal Justice/Social Justice

Spring 2008 CRMJ 353 Boxes

CRMJ 353: Criminal Justice/Social Justice

You will be held accountable for purposes of grading for the readings and exercises listed here. There will be no "testing." That means that you will not have to live in anxious anticipation of what we will ask and how much you will have to know. Instead, we will provide weekly discussion questions, lectures, essays, and concepts we feel that you should know as a result of having taken this course. You will assure us of that learning and receive your grade for the questions and concepts about which you choose to write and talk with us. In addition you will find detailed explanations and examples on our grading policies in the first week's reading.

* * * * *

Week 13: Week of April 13, 2008

Topic: Only Justice Can Save Us/...Christian Identity.../...Youth Culture

Preparatory Readings:

• Cornel West. Democracy Matters. Chapters 5 and 6
• Paul Loeb. The Impossible Will Take a Little While. Chapters 45-49.
• Martha Minow. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness. -- entire book.
• Documentary: "---" (to be shown in class)
  
  

Lecture related links:

• Try making an origami earth.
• Actively participate in the Community Building discussion group.
  
• Paul Loeb's website
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Administered by the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice.
  

Concepts to be covered:

• Christian fundamentalism
• prophetic Christians
• Ida B. Wells-Barnett
• separation of church and state
• Constantinian Christianity
• rap and hip-hop
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission
• retributive justice v. restorative justice

Discussion Questions:

Note: You will need to incorporate this week's readings and the documentary, "-----" into your answers.

1. Do you agree or disagree that "only justice can stop a curse"? Why. Relate Chapters 5 and 6 in the Cornel West book to Paul Loeb's Part 9, "Only Justice Can Stop a Curse." What are some connections between the two books. Where do the readings differ? How? Why?

2. What are some characteristics of today's youth culture? Compare and contrast the youth culture of the 60s with today.

3. In Loeb's introduction to Part 9, he includes the following quote by Doestoyevsky:"Each one of us is responsible to all others for everything," (p.357). Do you agree or disagree with this perspective? [from Loeb's website]. How does this quote encompass the readings in this section of the book? Also, relate this back to the Cornel West book.

4. What is the difference between "retributive justice" and "restorative justice," which Tutu encouraged? How do we break endless cycles of vengeance? Does Tutu's Truth and Reconciliation Commission give us some clues? What elements have to be included? [from Loeb's website]. Now, connect all ths back to Minow's book.

Self-Assessment Questions for each Visual Project:

1. List the names of the individuals in your group. What did you do exactly for this visual project? (If in a group, explain the division of labor and your individual contribution to this visual project).
2. Briefly explain how your visual project relates to "criminal justice/social justice" (i.e., the readings, the documentaries). What did you learn?
3. Assess how the 6Cs apply to your visual project, with special attention on competence and creativity. What is your visual project self-assessment (provide a letter grade) ___ ? Why.

Suggested Creative Measures:

Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "criminal justice/social justice." Must be approved before starting your creative measure. Cannot be something that you are doing or have done for another course. Research cannot be 100% online (i.e., google, askjeeves). Must conduct library research using scholarly works, (not the popular press -- Time Magazine, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated). No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your idea.



• Read Ida B. Wells-Barnett's A Red Record. and relate it to Chapter 5 in Democracy Matters.
• Research an issue that focuses on the separation of church and state.
• Review "The Passion of the Christ" as it relates to Chapter 5 in Democracy Matters.
• Examine the role of rap and/or hip hop in today's society. Are the contributions positive or negative? Why.
• Visit the websites of groups such as MoveOn, and the Global Citizens Campaign.
• Research Cornel West related controversies -- past and present. What do these controversies tell you about him? Why.
• Explore the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. What did this commission accomplish? How? Why? Would such an approach work here? How? Why.
• Review the essay [by Terry Tempest Williams] to identify some elements about which you would like to know more information, and research it; for example, Operation Plumbbob, McCarthyism, Eisenhower's Cold War policies, nuclear testing today, the Atomic Energy Commission, etc. Share your findings with others in the class. Did you find out anything that surprised you? [from Loeb's website]
• What do you know about the history of the Israeli West Bank settlements? About the life and death of Rachel Corrie? About the nonviolent resistance efforts she was a part of. Have you ever seen a map of the settlements? Americans for Peace Now, the U.S. counterpart of the major Israeli peace group, has a map on their website Peace Now . [from Loeb's website]
  
  
• Make A Box a Week or some other visual presentation focusing on this week's topic.
• Select a current event and examine the left/right perspectives and other news source links on the Dear Habermas site (located in the middle of the front page). How do the different perspectives present this current event? Why.

Recommended Readings:

• Maya Angelou. And, Still I Rise.
• Alice Walker. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens.
• Alice Walker. Anything We Love Can Be Saved.
• Alice Walker . Now Is the Time to Open Your Heart.
• Terry Tempest. Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place.
• Terry Tempest. The Open Space of Democracy.
• Starhawk. Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising.
• Amos Oz. The Same Sea.
• Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness.
  
  
• James Hilton. Lost Horizon.
• George Orwell. 1984.
• Aldous Huxley. Brave New World.
• Margaret Haddix. Among the Hidden. series, especially her latest, Among the Enemy .
  
  
• Martha Minow. Breaking Cycles of Hatred: Memory, Law and Repair.
• Desmond Tutu. No Future Without Forgiveness.
• MoveOn.org. Move On's 50 Ways to Love Your Country.
  
  

• Instructions for making a box. Or, make an explosion box. .

Course Syllabus for CRMJ 353 Criminal Justice/Social Justice

takata@uwp.edu