my.evergreen.edu
2011-12 Undergraduate Index A-Z
Have questions about the curriculum? Contact Academic Advising
Tips for Using the Catalog
Law And Public Policy [clear]
| Title | Offering | Standing | Credits | Credits | When | F | W | S | Su | Description | Preparatory | Faculty | Days | Multiple Standings | Start Quarters | Open Quarters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Michael Vavrus
|
Program | FR–SOFreshmen - Sophomore | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | This program will explore the origins and manifestations of the contested concept "race." We will investigate the broad question as to how considerations of one's race result in differential social, economic, and political treatment. To do this, we will analyze a racialized history of the United States in relation to dominant discourses of popular culture, science, psychology, health care, law, citizenship, education, and personal/public identity.By making historical connections between European colonialism and the expansion of U.S. political and military dominance in an era of globalization, students will have opportunities to investigate how the bodies of various populations have been racialized. Students will examine related contemporary concepts such as racism, prejudice, discrimination, gender, class, affirmative action, white privilege, and color blindness. Students will consider current research and racialized commentaries that surround debates on genetics vs. culture (i.e., nature vs. nurture).Students will engage race through readings, dialogue in seminars, films, and academic writing that integrate program materials. A goal of the program is for students to recognize contemporary expressions of race by what we hear, see, and read as well as absences and silences that we find. These expressions include contemporary news accounts and popular culture artifacts (e.g., music, television, cinema, magazines). As part of this inquiry, we will examine the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama in relation to discourses on race. As a learning community we will work together to make sense of these expressions and link them to their historical origins. We may also visit local museums to understand how issues of racial identity have been experienced in the Pacific Northwest.Students will also have an opportunity to examine the social formation of their own racial identities through their own personal narratives. Current approaches from social psychology will be foundational in this aspect of the program. Related to this is consideration as to what it can mean to be an anti-racist in a 21st century racialized society. | history, law, sociology, political economy, social work, education and psychology. | Michael Vavrus | Tue Wed Fri | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO | Spring | Spring | |||
|
Charles Pailthorp and Matthew Smith
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | Power can be as direct as a blow to the head or as subtle as the lyrics of a song. The dimensions of power, the way it operates in the world to constrain choices and provide opportunities gives shape to our daily lives. This program will examine different ways philosophers and theorists have understood power and assessed how it is deployed in politics and practice.We look forward to close study of works by: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Christopher Hill, Karl Marx, Adam Smith, David Harvey, Michel Foucault, Steven Lukes and others.Each student will be expected to gain authority over a controversy currently found in the news. The choice of controversies will be limited to a selection made by the faculty or suggested by a group of students. Each person will conduct their own inquiry into the chosen controversy, but each must find a small group whose members will support one another’s work. A preliminary list of possible areas: homelessness, reproduction, social revolutions, global warming, global economy, diminishing middle-class expectations, immigration, initiative campaigns, campaign finance, land policies, intellectual property and technology, collective bargaining... For others, follow the news. This work will culminate in a 15 pp. essay and a formal presentation of all work that meets a high standard.This program is an excellent choice for students new to Evergreen and for those returning to undergraduate study after a period of work or travel.Faculty will take care to introduce students to collaborative, interdisciplinary work, and research topics will be designed to make sense from a practical, applied perspective. Our understanding of power and how it is deployed will be directed towards the consequences of power in our daily lives and how our choices can help shape these outcomes. | history, philosophy, political science, law, journalism, politics and government, and public policy. | Charles Pailthorp Matthew Smith | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | ||||
|
Natividad Valdez
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | Su 12Summer Session I | The class will entail an overview of contracts, employer liability, intellectual property, antitrust, and benefits. The course will incorporate real-world business scenarios, and students will learn how to apply legal principles to those situations. Students will learn how to create a business and learn how to navigate prevalent legal issues. The class will include a guest speaker from the business community. | Natividad Valdez | Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
|
Jose Gomez
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 12 | 12 | Day, Evening and Weekend | Su 12Summer Full | This program will take a critical look at controversial issues in the criminal justice system, including police misconduct and interrogation, mandatory minimum sentencing, decriminalization of medical marijuana and prostitution, needle exchange programs, the insanity defense, children tried as adults, privatization of prisons, and physician-assisted suicide. It will be taught via the Internet through a virtual learning environment (Moodle), a chat room for live webinars, and e-mail. A one-time face-to-face orientation will take place 7:00 to 9:30 pm on Monday, June 25. Contact instructor for alternate arrangements for the orientation. | Jose Gomez | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | |||||
|
Anthony Zaragoza
|
Course | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 4 | 04 | Day | Su 12Summer Session II | In , we will examine together how crime is defined, who defines it, who is labeled a criminal, and who receives what punishment. We'll discuss meanings of "justice," social justice, and criminal justice. We will address questions about how justice is carried out and how it could be served. We will ask questions like: Why is there a disparity in investigation and incarceration between white-collar and blue-collar criminals? Is economic inequality a crime against democracy? Are environmental catastrophes crimes? Who are the criminals? We will research specific cases. And finally, we will explore the tools needed to indict such "criminals." | Anthony Zaragoza | Tue Thu | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Summer | Summer | ||||
|
Jose Gomez
|
Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | May racists burn crosses to express their supremacist views? May protesters burn flags to express their opposition to government policy? The First Amendment is most vulnerable to erosion when we fail to protect expression that some or many find unpopular, offensive, repugnant, indecent, subversive, unpatriotic, heretical, blasphemous, etc. This program will be a comprehensive and critical examination of the wide range of issues implicated by the protection and censorship of expression.We will use the case method to study every major free speech opinion issued by the courts. This intensive study necessarily focuses on the last 90 years, since it was not until well into the 20th century that the United States Supreme Court began to protect speech from governmental suppression. Our study of controversies will include the new challenges presented by hate speech, government-subsidized art, political campaign spending, and new technologies such as the Internet. Students will be expected to examine critically the formalist free speech paradigms that have evolved and to question the continuing viability of the "free marketplace of ideas" metaphor.Working in legal teams, students will develop appellate briefs on real free speech cases decided recently by the U.S. Court of Appeals and will present oral arguments before the "Evergreen Supreme Court." Students will also rotate as justices to read their peers' appellate briefs, hear arguments and render decisions. Reading for the course will include court opinions, Internet resources, and various books and journal articles on our subject. Study will be rigorous; the principal text will be a law school casebook. | social sciences, constitutional law, education, journalism, public policy, political theory, history and political science. | Jose Gomez | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | ||||
|
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | This program will explore the broad conditions that shape environmental health, both for humans and within the ecosystem context. We will be moving across and between questions of science, public policy (from municipal to international) and social justice: examining the workings of non-governmental organizations. With the use of regularly scheduled lecture, seminar, work shops and field trips, we will dedicate ourselves to bridging the understanding among scientific, policy and social perspectives. The program goals is to examine emerging strategies and solutions for ecological sustainability - from regional, community-based monitoring to UN negotiations. By means of a small group, quarter-long research project on a topical issue the chemical, biologic and physical risks of modern life will be considered, with an emphasis on industrial pollutants. We will examine models, evidence and debates about the sources, causal connections and impacts of environmental hazards. We will be learning about existing and emergent regulatory science in conjunction with evolving systems of law, regulation and a broad array of community response. This introductory, core program considers problems related to public and environmental health in a broader context of the key frameworks of population/consumption and sustainability. Throughout the program, students will learn from a range of learning approaches: computer-based analysis and collaboration with regional experts, officials and activists. : ? Website: | public policy; communications; political science; planning; public health; law; social welfare; environmental and natural resources | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Tue Wed Fri | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||
|
Liza Rognas
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 12Winter | Democracy assumes individual inclusion as critical components of its success as a structure of government. This program examines the tension between social, political and economic exclusion in American history and the inclusive assumptions but exclusive realities of democratic processes. Students will investigate the historical origins of exclusion in contemporary society as part of individual and group research projects.The program offers opportunities for meaningful intellectual engagement in social and institutional histories explored through program texts, informed seminar discussions, films, lecture and field trips. Student research topics may include contemporary issues related to ethnicity and race; gender and sexuality; religion; immigration and citizenship; labor and work. By integrating program materials and information with independent research, students will learn to recognize current political and social processes of exclusion and their historical roots. A specific focus on issues of justice will engage students in learning about current groups and political processes that address exclusionary policies with progressive ideas and practices. Books will include ; and . | Liza Rognas | Mon Tue Wed | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
|
Jennifer Gerend
Signature Required:
Winter
|
Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | W 12Winter | Individual Studies offers opportunities for advanced students to create their own course of study and research. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individual students may consult with faculty about their proposed projects or internships. The project is then described in an Independent Learning Contract. Students interested in urban planning, community and economic development, historic preservation, urban design, and urban history are encouraged to apply. | Jennifer Gerend | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | |||||
|
Jennifer Gerend
Signature Required:
Spring
|
Contract | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | Individual Studies offers opportunities for advanced students to create their own course of study and research. Prior to the beginning of the quarter, interested individual students may consult with faculty about their proposed projects or internships. The project is then described in an Independent Learning Contract. Students interested in urban planning, community and economic development, historic preservation, urban design, and urban history are encouraged to apply. | Jennifer Gerend | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
|
Nancy Anderson
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8 | 08 | Weekend | W 12Winter | The program will provide an introduction to the scope and tools of public health. Students will work individually and in groups to understand milestones in the history of public health, the basic tools of public health research, and the challenges to successful health promotion projects. The learning community will work in small groups to identify a significant public health problem, develop a health promotion/intervention, and consider methodology for evaluation of impact. The program will focus on public health issues in the United States but will also draw on international examples of successful interventions. | Nancy Anderson | Sat Sun | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
|
Yvonne Peterson, Bill Arney and David Rutledge
Signature Required:
Winter Spring
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | This program is for learners who have a research topic with a major focus on justice and community in mind, as well as for those who would like to learn how to do research in a learner-centered environment. Learners will be exposed to research methods, ethnographic research, interviewing techniques, writing workshops, computer literacy, library workshops, historical and cultural timelines, educational technology, and the educational philosophy that supports this program. The faculty team will offer a special series of workshops to support the particular academic needs of first and second year participants.Individual research will pay special attention to the relationship of reciprocal respect required in justice themes. Student researchers will pay special attention to the value of human relationships to the land, to work, to others and to the unknown. Research will be concentrated in cultural studies, human resource development, and ethnographic studies to include historical and political implications of encounters, cross-cultural communication, and to definitive themes of justice. We shall explore Native American perspectives and look at issues that are particularly relevant to indigenous people of the Americas.In this program, learners' individual projects will examine what it means to live in a pluralistic society at the beginning of the 21st century. Through each learner's area of interest, we will look at a variety of cultural and historical perspectives and use them to help address issues connected to the program theme. The faculty are interested in providing an environment of collaboration where faculty and learners will identify topics of mutual interest and act as partners in the exploration of those topics.Yvonne Peterson will facilitate a joint Theory to Praxis workshop for with students from Laws/Policies of Indian Education and Indian Child Welfare to allow for common conversation, presentations, speakers, community service and outreach to Indian communities, student presentation of academic projects, and to build a shared academic community.In fall quarter, participants will state research questions. In late fall and winter, individually and in small study groups, learners and faculty will develop the historical background for their chosen questions and do the integrative review of the literature and data collection. Ongoing workshops will allow participants to learn the skills for completing their projects. Late winter and into spring quarter, students will write conclusions, wrap up print/non-print projects, and prepare for a public presentation. The last part of spring will be entirely dedicated to presentations.In keeping with Evergreen's transfer policy, credit will not be awarded in physical education activities that are not accompanied by an academic component. | education, social sciences, multicultural studies, social work, public administration, human services and the humanities. | Yvonne Peterson Bill Arney David Rutledge | Tue Thu Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
|
Yvonne Peterson and Gary Peterson
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | This program will prepare learners to work effectively in institutions that have historically viewed Indians and their cultures as deficient and tried to force them into the mainstream. Learners will research the laws and policies of Indian Education and Indian Child Welfare from treaty time to present and select a topic for in depth coverage. Learners will learn techniques of "River of Culture Moments" to apply to documentary and interactive timelines. The learner-centered environment will provide an opportunity for students to be exposed to research methods, ethnographic research and interviewing techniques, writing workshops, computer literacy, library workshops, educational technology, and to learn how to develop inquiry-based curriculum. Individual research projects will pay special attention to "storymaking" by looking at Indian individuals attempting to make a difference in times of political encounters with laws meant to destroy Indian culture. Ethnographic studies will include historical and political implications of encounters, and cross-cultural communication. Learners will explore Native American perspectives and look at issues that are particularly relevant to Indigenous people of the United States. Learners will meet and learn from Indian educators and social workers, attend thematic conferences on the topic, and may travel to several Indian reservations. They will explore personal culture and identity through writing and recording their own cultural framework. Spring quarter will include an option for an in-program internship. Transferable cross-cultural and identity skills will be emphasized. Students will examine their own identity, values and life histories as a basis for understanding what they bring to a cross-cultural encounter and how it affects their practice as social workers and educators. | social work, K-12 education, tribal administration, social sicences, multicultural studies and human services. | Yvonne Peterson Gary Peterson | Mon Thu Fri Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
|
Anthony Zaragoza and Jeanne Hahn
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | The world is undergoing profound change at the global, state and local levels. This program will introduce students to the major political-economic concepts and historical developments necessary for a deep and usable understanding of these changes. It is intended to provide a foundation for advanced work in political economy and the social sciences as well as enable students to become effective citizens and social agents. We will examine the historical construction and interrelated nature of the U.S. political economy, including its place in the larger world system and its operation at the local level. We will also consider the role social movements have played and examine possibilities for social justice, self-determination and equality.The nature, development and concrete workings of modern capitalism will be a major focus. This means our study will draw on a range of social science disciplines, including history, political science, economic history, sociology and cultural studies to develop a multidisciplinary, multilevel understanding of the concepts, historical periods and social movements which will form our curriculum.In fall, we will study the U.S. political-economic trajectory from the early national period to the current manifestation, neoliberalism. There will be a particular focus on key events, processes and periods such as migrations, social movements, economic crises, privatization, and industrialization, deindustrialization and automation. Throughout we will attempt to include a global and local context. Our studies of transformation will examine the relationship between building movement (ongoing changing conditions) and movement building (responses to these conditions) and constructions of race, class and gender relations in the context of these transformations.The winter will continue to focus on the interrelationships among the globalization process, the U.S. political economy, and changes at the local level. We will study the causes and consequences of the deepening globalization and technologizing of capital and its effects on daily lives. We will pay attention to the human consequences of imperialist globalization and resistance to it. Beginning in the fall but focused in the winter students will engage in a research project in which they examine the political economy of their own hometowns over the last several decades.Films will be shown throughout the program. There will be a substantial amount of reading in a variety of genres, which will be discussed in seminars. Workshops and role-playing exercises in economics, globalization, writing and organizing for social change will be used. Students will write a series of analytical essays, and learn about popular education, participatory research, and academic methodologies. | education, labor, community and global justice, social services, history, law, nonprofit work, political economy and informed civic participation. | Anthony Zaragoza Jeanne Hahn | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall | |||
|
Artee Young, Frances Solomon, Arlen Speights, Barbara Laners, Erin Ceragioli, Dorothy Anderson, Peter Bacho, Lin Nelson, Tyrus Smith, Gilda Sheppard and Paul McCreary
|
Program | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | S 12Spring | This year's program is designed to help students discover new understandings of leadership and the various issues associated with effective leadership. We will focus on individual and community capacity building and the role that humanities, social sciences, mathematics, science, media and technological illiteracies play in informing our understandings of the world around us. A major emphasis of this program will be the examination of internal and external factors that influence one's ability to access, overcome and excel in spite of personal and institutional barriers. The expectation is that students will be able to demonstrate understanding, action and leadership in their areas of interest. This program takes a holistic approach to systemic change at the community level. For example, one area we will address is that of math, science and writing phobia. Communities need citizens who can advocate for their children, parents who can navigate and understand the law and caregivers and teachers who can assist our youth in understanding subject matter presented to them in the classrooms. Evergreen students who anticipate careers in education will be provided with a solid grounding in the humanities, science and math. This grounding will allow them to obtain endorsements for further studies in education and prerequisites for graduate school. Students will also have an opportunity to work with an award winning and nationally recognized after school youth program. During quarter, students will study historical notions of leadership, leadership theories, leadership styles and contemporary views of leaders and followers. Students will also focus on their personal experiences and the world around them in order to understand those inner and external factors that have limited or encouraged them to achieve, take on leadership roles and civic engagement. During quarter, based upon work done in the fall, students will identify, develop and explore models of educational leadership that have led to capacity building and systemic change. Students will enhance their knowledge of contemporary leadership theory and work actively toward the application of leadership principles through collaborative research projects. In quarter, students will bridge the gap between theory and practice. To that end, they will utilize a variety of expansive methods, from writing to media, in order to demonstrate and communicate their perceptions and findings to a wider audience. Students will present their collaborative research projects publicly. The information presented will be directed toward benefiting individual and community capacity as well as communicating a wider understanding of their findings to enhance their own lives, the lives of those in their community, and the world that we all share. | community development, organizational development, law and public policy, education, social and human services, public administration, communication and media arts, environmental studies and public health. | Artee Young Frances Solomon Arlen Speights Barbara Laners Erin Ceragioli Dorothy Anderson Peter Bacho Lin Nelson Tyrus Smith Gilda Sheppard Paul McCreary | Mon Tue Wed Thu | Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter Spring | |
|
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
Signature Required:
Spring
|
SOS | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | S 12Spring | This program is designed to support students interested in internships with public agencies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in public policy issues. Internship possibilities include but are not limited to: Department of Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, Department of Ecology, City of Olympia, a Water Resources agency or a Growth Management Board. There are also numerous local NGOs (e.g. Capital Land Trust, various fisheries commissions) that are focused on a variety of public policy.In addition to internship work, students will complete an extensive independent research project focused on a public issue that is related to the internship work. Research topics could include public policy, environmental, land-use, health, education, welfare or other similar issues issues. Program work will include weekly meetings, peer-review groups, research, writing and presentation of the final paper. Final research papers will also be distributed to the relevant organizations or agencies. | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Junior JR Senior SR | Spring | Spring | |||||
|
Sarah Ryan and Nancy Parkes
|
Program | FR–SRFreshmen - Senior | 8, 12, 16 | 08 12 16 | Evening and Weekend | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | Is the United States a “suburban nation?” Why do we have a unique pattern of urban/suburban development that contrasts with that of other nations? What do we need to know, and what do we need to do, in order to create more sustainable, equitable, and livable communities? This program will look critically at historical, sociological, and environmental aspects of suburbs, including the role of the federal government and financial institutions in structuring our landscape and living environments. Our work during both quarters will be centered in the historical study of suburbanization. During fall, we will look at the critique New Urbanists make of the configuration of suburban space and evaluate local areas as examples of problems or solutions. We will also acquaint ourselves with quantitative analysis through evaluating the story that census data tells. During winter, our focus will move toward the way suburbia is reflected in literature and film, and how this shapes us individually and collectively. During both quarters, students will continually have opportunities to consider proposed solutions as suburbs shift and change that will better meet challenges for housing, social equality, and both social and ecological sustainability. Our goals include an immersion in the historical roots of policies that resulted in suburbanization and an examination of the economics, class, race, and gender systems that underlie many urban/suburban problems. We will strive to understand how current suburban configurations shape popular culture, political power bases, transportation policies, ecological consequences, families, and educational opportunities. We will investigate successful alternatives to current suburban developmental norms and consider obstacles that inhibit individuals and communities from adopting more sustainable and socially just practices. We will examine whether suburbs establish islands of privilege that reject urban complexity and diversity and whether the laws and policies encouraging home ownership still meet the needs of individuals and communities. Our program will include a rich mixture of readings, interactive workshops, and lectures by both faculty and guests as well as opportunities to explore suburbanization in our own and nearby communities. Students will also have opportunities to strengthen their research, collaborative, and writing skills. Students registering for 12 credits will take on an individual project, connected to a group study of a specific suburban community, that will involve substantial historical, sociological, or geographical research, writing, and an interactive presentation. 12-credit students should expect to spend an additional 10 hours per week on this work. Students registered for 12 credits will also meet Mondays from 6-8 p.m.Students registering for 16 credits must have at least 20 daytime hours per week available to devote to an internship in land use planning or community development, in addition to the 20 hours per week for required for class and study time. The faculty have arranged some internships with local municipal government bodies that require references, referrals, and conferences with sponsors. Students are also welcome to arrange their own 20-hour internships in planning and community development in collaboration with faculty. Faculty signature is required for this registration option; please contact the faculty if you are interested or would like more information. | history, literature, environmental studies, planning, government, public policy | Sarah Ryan Nancy Parkes | Mon Wed Sat | Freshmen FR Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter | ||
|
Cheri Lucas-Jennings
Signature Required:
Winter
|
SOS | JR–SRJunior - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day and Evening | W 12Winter | This program will explore the broad conditions that shape legislation; it will examine models, evidence and debates about the sources, causal connections and impacts of evolving systems of law, regulation, governance and a broad array of community and political responses to wicked social dilemmas facing our state. Students apply to become interns for the 2012 Washington State Legislative session in the fall. Those who are selected work a regular, full week with the legislative office they are assigned to in the winter. Evergreen students also participate in a bi-weekly Seminar with focus on select readings and themes. Journal writings in response to these readings, discussion and experience in the 2012 session are a critically important feature. This is an upper division internship with a possible 16 credits to be earned, when combined with academic reflection and analysis on your work in the legislature. To receive full credit, each student intern will write about the challenges, learning and implications of this work. Students will also be making public presentations about their learning at the end of the session and participate in workshops with larger intern groups from throughout the state. Focused writings submitted to the faculty sponsor on a regular basis will be reflective, analytic and make use of appropriate legislative data bases and all relevant references. Students will develop and submit a portfolio of all materials related to their work as legislative interns and receive evaluation both from their campus sponsor and a legislative supervisor at the capitol. | Cheri Lucas-Jennings | Wed | Junior JR Senior SR | Winter | Winter | ||||
|
Jose Gomez and Michael Vavrus
|
Program | SO–SRSophomore - Senior | 16 | 16 | Day | F 11 Fall | W 12Winter | Howard Zinn (1922-2010), arguably more ably and comprehensively than any other historian, documented injustice and dissent as defining features of the United States from its founding to the present. His steadfast commitment to democratic values, justice and equality, along with his assurance that "small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress," have also inspired countless Americans to protest unjust laws, policies and practices. In this program, we will use Zinn's life and works as a framework to study the centrality of dissent to American democracy and the impact it has had on weaving the nation's social, political and cultural fabric. We will study how ordinary people, from pre-revolutionary America to the present, have stood up to power in order to redeem the Bill of Rights' guarantee of protecting people from the government rather than protecting government from the people. Along with our study of discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, class, age, disability and sexual orientation that continues to defy the constitutional promise of equality, we will examine how political dissent, so essential to correcting these inequalities, has been suppressed and criminalized from the 18th century's odious Sedition Act to the 21st century's reactionary U.S.A. Patriot Act. While there will be no clear demarcation of themes between quarters, events of the 18th and 19th centuries will receive our greatest attention in the fall quarter, and events of the 20th and 21st centuries will receive our closest scrutiny in the winter quarter. Program activities will include lectures, workshops, films, seminars, guest presentations, and group and individual projects. | law, education, public policy, political theory, history, and political science. | Jose Gomez Michael Vavrus | Sophomore SO Junior JR Senior SR | Fall | Fall Winter |
