Instructor: Dr. Douglas A. HicksLearning Objectives- Class Contribution (20% of course grade)The deadlines for assignments are designed to create a framework in which students are treated fairly and equally and in which they are able to complete all assignments during the course of the semester. Requests for extensions will be granted only under dire circumstances. Computer crashes and other technological problems can be frustrating, but they are not a legitimate excuse for exceptions to the deadlines. Assignments will be penalized by one full letter grade (e.g., from B to C) for each day they are late. Topics and Assignments (Subject to change as the course progresses)Friday, January 23 Poverty in America—day 2J. S. Mill, “Utilitarianism,” in Justice, 31-47John Rawls, “Utilitarianism and the Distinction Between Persons” (on reserve)Friday, February 6 Libertarian justice: Locke on property rightsJohn Locke, “Of Property,” in Justice, 90-96Aristotle, The Politics, Book III, in Justice, 278-295Ivan Illich, “To Hell with Good Intentions” (on reserve)Martha Nussbaum, “Compassion and Terror” (on reserve)Friday, April 17 Journal entry #2 due: Write a journal entry that assesses what you have learned from the community-based component of the course. Have you changed from this experience, and if so, in what ways? What have you learned about society? Finally, in what ways do you believe that the person(s) you have served has (have) been affected by the service?Justice and Civil Society LDST 205 Section 4 Spring 2009 Course Syllabus Instructor: Dr. Douglas A. Hicks Office: Jepson Hall, Room 134 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 484-1601 (office) Office hours: Wednesday, Friday 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. and by appointment Class meeting time Wednesday, Friday 10:00 – 11:15 a.m. and location: Jepson Hall, Room 102 Course webpage: http://jepson.richmond.edu/academics/practicing/justice.html Purpose This course explores ancient and modern understandings of justice as they relate to contemporary society. Students will tackle readings on the nature of civil society, theories of justice, and analyses of poverty and related socioeconomic problems. Combining an intellectual focus on social needs and justice with a community-based learning component, the course encourages students to develop their understanding of “leadership as service to society.” Courses that incorporate community service have become increasingly common in higher education. Yet, the requirement that students complete a course integrating service and critical, academically grounded reflection upon justice and injustice in society is a unique feature of the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. This course reflects the goals that the University faculty members have for the Jepson School: to educate students for and about leadership and to “motivate students to seek positions of leadership as a vehicle for service.” Justice and Civil Society includes a service component in which students complete a concrete, specific task that permits them to apply what they have learned in class; to learn what competencies they have yet to acquire; to explore career interests; and to develop their competencies by applying and testing them. The experience is necessarily face-to-face service with persons in need—e.g., tutoring children, assisting refugees, visiting the elderly, or working with the incarcerated—under the supervision and auspices of a non-profit or public organization. As defined by the Commission on National and Community Service, service learning is “a method under which students learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences that meet actual community needs and that are coordinated in collaboration with the school and the community.” The course includes readings and discussion on conceptions and meanings of social justice and how service inhibits, furthers, or remains independent from the establishment of fuller justice in contemporary society. Concepts such as service, justice, charity, philanthropy, equality, and community will be explored in relation to contemporary social issues. As part ofthis reflection, students will develop their own normative account of a good and just society within which their service should be evaluated. This course aims to foster reflective practice—by which persons do something and reflect upon it to learn from it, in turn transforming themselves and their actions. This requires that students apply critical thinking skills while at the service site and in class and that they consider their efforts in light of careful social and moral analysis. This three-credit course is divided between 45 hours of class time and 30 hours of community-based learning, including 4 hours of social observation (see below) and 26 hours of service. This service should: • immerse students in a significant area of social need in a manner that permits them to learn from those in need and those doing something about it. • involve students in direct, face-to-face contact with the person, people, or group being served. • take students off campus and, preferably, among people new and unfamiliar. • take place under the auspices of an organization with a supervisor committed and able to provide the student with professional orientation, guidance, counsel, support, and evaluation. Students may complete up to 4 of their service hours for the course by undertaking a team project of assistance to a community agency or by participating in an agency’s project, e.g., a service project during fall break, repair of a community facility, etc. Direct, face-to-face contact is preferable for this work as well, though there are benefits from simply becoming involved in and learning about different organizations in the community. Learning Objectives To achieve its purpose, this course shall enable students to meet these objectives: • to learn about leadership as service; • to analyze social issues and problems in light of theories of justice; • to understand the needs of others in the context of social systems and problems; • to provide a service to persons in need through a specific and tangible task; • to explore and develop personal values and goals; and • to reflect on career and personal opportunities to serve society and work for justice.