©All the material in this website is copyrighted to Kathleen L. Fowler unless explicitly indicated otherwise.  Permission is granted to use and distribute this material freely but please attribute properly by retaining the full header information.  11/16/99

Page Last Updated Sep. 17, 2002

Office:  E-222   Office Phone/Voice Mail: 684-7565    email: kfowler@ramapo.edu
webpage: http://orion.ramapo.edu/~kfowler
Office hrs: Mon. 3:45-6:00; Thu. 4:45-5:45

This course is a core course requirement for all Social Science and Human Services students in the School of Social Sciences and Human Services (SSHS) and is part of the Social Sciences major (formerly Metropolitan Studies major).

Course Description : A study of the historical development of major ideas about freedom, equality, political participation,  community, forms of governance, the construction of race and racism, the relation between individuals and society, relations between women and men, and the construction of gender., etc.

Texts on Reserve:
C&F :  Mitchell Cohen and Nicole Freeman, eds.  Princeton Readings in Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1996.
Davis:   Paul Davis et. al., eds.  Western Literature in a World Context: The Ancient World Through the Renaissance. St. Martin's, 1995.  On Reserve.
Kimmel:   Michael S. Kimmel and Charles Stephen. Social and Political Theory:  Classical Readings .  Allyn and Bacon, 1998.  On Reserve

(Most of the readings in C&F, Davis, and Kimmel are available through the web although often not in extract forms.   I will put a copy of each text on reserve, but encourage you not to delay in doing your reserve readings because in many cases several groups will have readings out of the same text.  Some readings will only be available on library reserve.

Other readings are only available on the web and you will be participating in assignments, discussions, etc. through WebCT, so plan on spending several hours a week with access to the web either on your own or in one of the campus computer labs. This course is electronically based so if this is completely unfeasible for you you may wish to take a different section.)

Student Responsibilities : Students  will be reading a wide variety of sources (some of the early ones directly from the web).  Since most of these texts are large and tend to be challenging reading, we will be reading extracts and sections of the texts rather than entire pieces.  You are responsible to have done all the assigned reading thoughtfully and attentively prior to coming to class on the day for which the work is assigned.  You will be working often in small groups.  For some classes (see the Assignment Calendar .) your group will be assigned a particular work.  Each of the members of the group will read this same work, and outline it according to the Presentation/Analytical Report Guidelines.   You will then be posting your outline to your WebCT Group Chat room prior to class and working with others through the chat group to integrate your outlines into a group product which will be posted for the entire class to read and respond to.  Both individual and group products will be graded.

This will allow us to learn about more social thinkers than we could possibly read as a class during the semester.   This course design will have the positive effect of allowing us to taste a rich sampling of the traditions of social thought (and there are multiple traditions!).  It will, alas, have the negative effect of experiencing these thinkers in fragmentary form, without full context, and without adequate time to examine them with the care and attention they richly deserve.  I hope that you will pursue the writers who most interest you in more depth on your own or in upper level classes elsewhere in the curriculum.

Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, students will
1.  be able to recognize and appreciate the ongoing evolution and dynamic interchange of thinkers about social conditions, social theory, and social change
2.  be able to discuss and compare themes, concerns, and approaches of individual writers
3.  be able to formulate interpretative and evaluative statements on a variety of texts of social thought
4.  have developed collectively a resource pack of material on a wide variety of social thinkers
5.  be able to express how their perceptions about social thinkers have changed or been refined as a result of this class
6.  be able to apply critical thinking and analysis to current social thought based on understanding of the construction of such thought and the political, economic, and cultural factors that shape such construction
7.  be comfortable with and competent in the use of WebCt tools

Student Responsibilities:
Reading:  You are responsible for the assigned reading for each class to be read before the date on the syllabus.  Where the reading is broken up by groups, you are responsible for all the readings listed next to your group's designation.  Where the readings are for everyone, you are responsible to read them all -- and with care.

Individual Presentation/Analytic Reports :  Students will be expected to produce 8 different Presentation/Analytical Report of texts assigned to their group according to the following guidelines : Each member of the group is to prepare a concise separate  analytical report of the key themes in the text(s), the questions about society, social issues, and social interaction that the piece seems to address, and the answers that it seems to propose to those questions.  The analytical report should be thoughtful and reflect careful reading and thinking about the material.  It should be 2-3 pages in length .  You can prepare your analytical report in Microsoft Word, save it as an html file, and then upload it to your WebCT Chat Group Room, or you can type it directly into the WebCT Chat Group Room.  In either case your outline must be posted and it will receive a grade based on the posted version.

Group Presentations/Analytic Reports :  Individual Presentations/Analytical Reports are to be posted by Friday of the week prior to the class they are due.  You should establish with your group a set time for all of you to be "present" in the Chat Group Room (coordinating with the other group that shares your Chat room so as not to be present simultaenously) once the  individual Presentations are posted.  The group should then read each other's Presentation/Analytical Reports, discuss electronically the common themes, ideas, etc. reflected in them all and come up with a collective Presentation/Analytical Report presenting the key themes, questions about society, social issues and social interaction that the piece seems to address, and the answers that it seems to propose to these questions.  This collective Presention/Analytical Report will be posted to your topic in the General Discussion of the WebCT before class starts so that everyone in the class can read to it.   Your discussion and development of this group product is recorded and I will read through it and give the group a collective grade based on the discussion and the final group product.  The group grade will be the same for each member of the group and will be added to your individual grades.

Exams:  There will also be brief, unannounced specific quizzes on the readings, an inclass midterm on Mon. Nov. 11 and a final exam during the week of Dec. 15.

Attendance: It is essential that you attend regularly and be fully prepared for the class discussion. If you miss more than two classes in a row you should confer with me. If you miss three or more classes you must confer with me before you will be allowed to return to class. Anyone who misses no more than one class will earn an extra A.  Tardiness over ten minutes or leaving the class early counts as 1/2 absence.

Class Participation: In class we will be approaching the texts through a number of techniques including large group discussion, small group exploration, sharing of text summaries, brief in-class writings, reading aloud and dramatizing. We are a community of readers approaching these works together to understand, to celebrate and to share. I expect all of you to participate actively in all of these forms of engagement with the texts and the minds behind the texts. And -- to encourage you to take an active role -- the more you talk, the less I talk! Participation is important and will count as 15% of your grade.

Note: The Ouch Rule: Because we are reading, writing about, and discussing very sensitive material -- and because we have all been acculturated in a society which remains racist/sexist/heterosexist/classist etc. at the most profound linguistic level -- we need to be aware when we make comments which are hurtful or offensive to others.  Hence -- "the Ouch Rule." If someone makes a remark which causes you pain or offense, say "Ouch." It is not necessary to explain why you have said "ouch," although you may if you wish. The word itself will cause us to pause and rethink what has just been said.

Note:  Collaborative Learning: I encourage you to work together in study groups -- in person and/or through your WebCT chat room to enhance your engagement with these materials.  This course should be collaborative rather than competitive.  Summaries should, of course, be your individual product but understanding should be our collective achievement.

Note: Honors Students: If you wish to take this class as an Honors option, you must notify me right away.  We will develop together a list of additional readings and assignments.

Note:  Students with Special Needs: Please let me know as soon as possible if you will have special needs or challenges in taking this course.  I will be happy to try to assist you in making appropriate arrangements through the Office of Specialized Services or  by other means.

NOTE:  Plagiarism and Cheating: Don't! Plagiarism and cheating are the theft of another's words or ideas and can result in penalties as serious as expulsion from the college. See the Student Handbook for guidelines on plagiarism and cheating. If you have any doubts about how to present material from other sources, please come see me for help. If I find a paper which I believe has been plagiarized I will forward it to the Vice President's Office for action.

"That which may be thought right and found convenient in one age may be thought wrong and found inconvenient in another.  In such cases, who is to decide?  The living, or the dead?"  --Thomas Paine