Instructor: Craig T. Kocher1 Justice and Civil Society LDST 205-01 Fall 2011 Course Syllabus Instructor: Craig T. Kocher Office: Wilton Center E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 289-8500 (office) Office hours: by appointment Class meeting time Monday, Wednesday, 12 – 1:15pm. Location: Jepson 102 Purpose This course is shaped by the following three foundational questions: 1) What is justice? 2) What is justice in society? 3) What does justice mean for me? Together we will explore ancient and modern theories of justice as they relate to society. Readings will focus on the nature of civil society, theories of personal and communal expressions of justice, and social and moral analysis of significant challenges facing contemporary society. This course includes a service component in which students engage with the lived experience of social deprivation within an approved site in the city of Richmond or the immediate surrounding area. The service component is designed to help students integrate what they are learning in class with the practical, hands-on experience of working in the midst of social inequality while seeking to advance the mission of a particular non-profit institution. The service-learning component gives students an opportunity to develop relationships with people of difference beyond the University; integrate their classroom experience with life beyond; reflect on the intentions, risks, and possibilities of service; develop practical skills; and further their own values, interests, and career aspirations. Thus, the course offers a purposely broad and diverse set of learning experiences, putting students into conversation with the readings, one another, the instructor, and their service activity in seeking to discern the answers to the three foundational questions of the course. The course is divided between 45 hours of class time, 26 hours of community-based learning, and 4 hours of social observation. The 26 hours of service component should: • Immerse students in a significant area of social need in a manner that permits them to learn from those in need and those working to support them. • Involve students in direct, face-to-face contact with the person, people, or group being served.2 • 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 guidance, counsel, support, and evaluation. The recommended activity for social observation is participation in the Richmond police department’s citizen ride-along program. To sign up, please notify Dr. Kerstin Soderlund ([email protected]). You will be required to sign a consent form prior to your ride-along. Note: During the police ride-along there is a possibility you may be exposed to volatile and potentially dangerous situations. Students in pervious classes have described the ride-along as one of the most intense and interesting experiences of the time at UR. However, if you are uncomfortable with this, you can participate in an alternative social observation activity, attendance at a session of juvenile court. Dr. Soderlund can help make these arrangements. Learning Objectives In seeking to answer the three foundational questions, the course shall enable the students to meet these objectives: • learn about the relationship between justice, contemporary society, and hands-on engagement; • analyze social challenges in light of different theories of justice; • understand the experience of others in the context of social structures; • develop relationships across lines of difference within a community-based non-profit; • explore and develop personal values and goals; • reflect on career and personal opportunities to advance justice in society. Course Requirements 1. Attendance and active participation in each class session. 2. Completion of 26 hours of service in an approved site within the city of Richmond or the immediate surroundings. 3. Four additional hours of social observation. 4. Attendance at the following out of class justice learning opportunities: a. Center for Civic Engagement and Chaplaincy Poverty Simulation, Monday, September 19, 6-8pm, Alice Haynes Room. b. One Book, One Campus lecture with Sheryl WuDunn, Wednesday, November 9, 7:30-9:00pm, Camp Concert Hall. http://chaplaincy.richmond.edu/programs/one-book.html c. Weinstein-Rosenthal Forum on Faith, Ethics, and Global Society with Eboo Patel. November 14, 7-8:30pm, Alice Jepson Theatre in the Modlin Center for the Arts.3 Note: You will write a 2-3 page response paper on two of these learning opportunities. Attendance is required at all three. In exchange for attending these sessions, there will be no class on November 2. Required Texts (available for purchase in the UR book store) Farmer, P. and Kidder, T. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World. New York, NY: Random House, 2003. Kristoff, N. and WuDunn, S. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2010. Ryan, James. Five Miles Away A World Apart: One City, Two Schools, and the Story of Educational Opportunity in Modern America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010. Slandel, Michael J. Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2009. Tyson, Timothy B. Blood Done Sign My Name. Three Rivers Press, 2004. Graded work • Class participation (15%) • Two response papers (10%) • Community-based learning component and two journal entries (20%) • Mid-term paper (25%) • Final paper (30%) Graded work defined • Class participation: This means attending class prepared and alert. High marks will be given to students who engage thoughtfully and regularly with the readings, the content of the lectures, and the reflections of their peers. Students are allowed one unexcused absence and then will be penalized by three percentage points from their final grade for each additional absence. • Response papers: You will write two 3 page response papers. They will be written in response to two of the out of class learning opportunities you attend (poverty simulation, Weinstein-Rosenthal lecture, and One Book lecture). A strong response paper will integrate material in the