This is a reading-intensive course. I choose my books carefully. By putting many of my readings on this syllabus and providing others as hand-outs, I hope to save you money. Please treat your books and other readings as objects of quasi-religious devotion. Because these are sacred texts, I expect you to read everything as closely and as carefully as you have ever done before.
BOOKS
Roy Scranton, War Porn
Darren Byler, In the Camps: China’s High-Tech Penal Colony
David Randall, Black Death at the Golden Gate
Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway
In addition to these books, we will read excerpts from the works of other great writers, such as Dante Alighieri, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Pope Francis.
CLASS DISCUSSIONS
Our class discussions are one of the three most important parts of this seminar; the others are reading and writing. They will only succeed if everyone in the seminar participates on a regular basis. I realize that we all have different personalities; some of us are talkative, others are quiet; some are more outgoing, others more reserved. In asking that you participate regularly, I don’t aspire to change your personality. Rather, I plan to work with each of you on an individual basis to ensure that you contribute to our common endeavor in the fullest way possible.
Our discussions will only work if you have the readings physically in front of you. Therefore, you are required to do two things:
1) Copy and print all of the readings on this site that are marked PRINT (otherwise, you do not need to copy them, but you must still read them);
2) Bring each required reading to class on the day we are to discuss it. To make your life easier, I strongly recommend that you print all of the required readings immediately and put them into some kind of orderly binder.
Our discussion will only work well if you have the reading right in front of you. I will expect you to cite from it directly as a way of undergirding your arguments.
GRADING
It is a special privilege to take a seminar. Seminars are small and allow for intimate and lively discussions. They also provide me with the pleasant opportunity to work closely with each of you as individuals. You should treat our seminar with the devotion it deserves.
My aspirations are modest. I simply want to teach you to speak, read, write, think critically, and persuade. If I accomplish these tasks in working with each of you, I will be pleased. These objectives are reflected in the breakdown of your grades.
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- Participation (35%)
- Two Reflective Essays (15% each)
- Final Essay (35%)
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Because I want to apply the same and fair standards to all of your classmates, I will reduce your grade by 1/3 of a letter grade for each day your assignments are late. If you are sick, let me know and please provide a note from the Health Center. If you anticipate missing a class–and have a good excuse–please let me know ahead of time.
ATTENDANCE
Class attendance is MANDATORY. Unless you are ill, you must consult with me beforehand if you anticipate missing a class. If you are ill, please send me an email and a doctor’s excuse so that I do not worry about you. Of course, university-approved absences are fine, but please remind me beforehand if you will be gone.
Don’t worry! I will definitely notice if you are not in class.
HONOR CODE
This course is all about communication. Therefore, I welcome all of the conversations you have with each other, inside or outside class. With the exception of your final essay, you may discuss your readings and writing assignments with each other. In fact, I encourage it. However, every writing assignment you turn in to me must be clearly, unmistakably, and unequivocally your own work! Everyone writes with a distinctive voice and I look forward to hearing yours.
OFFICE HOURS
I enjoy meeting with all of my students, and I hope to see each of you on a regular basis. You do not need to have specific questions about the class. Because I view your education holistically, I am open to any subject you want to discuss.
I hold my office hours on Tuesdays from 2:00-3:00 and on and Wednesdays 2:00-4:00, & by appointment (either in person or by Zoom). My office is 2080 Nanovic Hall, close to the main office of the Political Science department.
Effective teaching is always based on a one-on-one relationship with each student, even if it takes place in a large classroom. Thus, each of you is required to visit me at least once during the semester. Please do not make me sweat over whether you will live up to this requirement.
Visit me!
NOTE: Please leave your technology at home. This includes electronic devices of any kind, such as laptops, Kindles, iPads, Iphones, video cameras, video games, dog fences, or other personal digital devices. Bad Karma.
My class is a no-tweet zone. Some behavior is just not dignified!