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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Soka University Japan - Transcend Art and Peace
Created: July 27, 2003
Latest Update: March 11, 2009
jeannecurran@habermas.org
takata@uwp.edu

CRMJ/SOCA 352 Law and Social Change

You will be held accountable for the readings and discussion questions 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 9: Week of March 15, 2009

Saturday, March 14th through Sunday, March 22nd - Spring Break, (not one day sooner or one day later).

Email me your second visual project topic for approval before starting to research your topic.

Topic: Spring Break

Preparatory Readings

• Arrigo. Social Justice/Criminal Justice. Chapters 1 through 4, plus 9 .
• Mann, Zatz & Rodriguez. Images of Color, Images of Crime. Chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, & 16 .
• W.I. Thomas "Definition of the Situation
  
  
• Documentary: "-----" (to be shown in class)
  
• Curran and Takata. Sociology of Law Handbook
  -- Introduction
  -- Chapter 1, part 1
  -- Chapter 1, part 2
  -- Chapter 2

Lecture related links:



• Metaphor and Theory links to "The Blind Men and the Elephant" which applies to several concepts discussed in both classes. Eric K. mentioned this metaphor during one of our class discussions in "Law and Society."
• "My Role in Social Change" Poem by LaTricia White (Spring 2004)
  
• "They Ain't Us: Identity as an Anti-Norm"
  
• Those Infamous Grades and Letters of Recommendation
• "The Case Against Gold Stars" by Alfie Kohn.
  
  

Concepts to be covered:






Discussion Questions:

Note: In order to answer these discussion questions, you will need to view "-----" to be shown in class.

1. No discussion questions this week. (It's Spring Break!)

2. Email me your visual project topic for the second half of the semester. Your topic requires for approval.




Self-Assessment Questions for Visual Projects:




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). What small item did you create to "give away" to those visiting your visual project?
2. Explain in depth, how your visual project specifically relates to the course (i.e., the readings, the documentaries, class discussions, major concepts). Demonstrate how your visual project relates to "theory, policy, practice". 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) ___ ? Explain why this particular grade.

Suggested Visual Projects:

Note: Start thinking about ideas for your creative measures. Must relate to "law and social change." 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). You will need to submit a bibliography with each project. No term papers! Allow time to dialogue and present your creative measure in class. Email me your ideas ASAP!



• Read one of the recommended books listed below on African Americans. Email me a brief book review.
• Examine how stereotypes and the stereotyping of the African American. How and why have such stereotypes changed from the past to present day?
• Trace either prime time television or movie images of African Americans from past to present.
• Examine the legal case of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. or other African American leaders.
• Trace the historical and contemporary origins of "DWB" (driving while black).
• Explore some of the strategies used by African Americans (i.e., integrationism, separatism).

Recommended Readings:

• Derrick Bell. Faces at the Bottom of the Well.

• Derrick Bell. Race, Racism and American Law.

• Randall Kennedy. Race, Crime and the Law . (If you have not read it for my "Race, Crime, Law" class)

• Marc Mauer. Race to Incarcerate

• David Cole. No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Justice System.
  

• Jerome Miller. Search and Destroy: African-American Males in the Criminal Justice System.
  

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
  

• Walter Dean Myers. The Dream Bearer.

• Robert Blauner. Still the Big New: Racial Oppression in America.
  
  

  --- Jurgen Habermas. Between Facts and Norms.
  --- Martha Minow. Making All the Difference: Exclusion, Inclusion and American Law. Check out this link Martha Minow on the Dear Habermas site.

  
  
  

Course Syllabus for CRMJ/SOCA 352 "Law and Social Change"

takata@uwp.edu