POLITICS OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT TESC, FALL 2001

PROGRAM COVENANT

To maintain enrollment in Politics of Sin and Punishment is to commit oneself to adhering to the content of the program syllabus and the conditions of the program covenant. The conditions spelled out in this covenant include the goals, focus and direction of the program, the scholarly expectations and responsibilities of faculty, the scholarly expectations and responsibilities of students, conditions for the award of credits, and the personal and professional responsibilities and expectations of faculty and students in building and maintaining a humane and dynamic learning community.

PROGRAM GOALS:

· To use learning materials from history, visual studies, social theory, and expressive arts to explore questions of social control and social justice through American institutions in ways that lay outside the competency of those disciplines alone.

· To integrate the information and insights presented in materials from the various disciplines into a dynamic, interdisciplinary understanding of contemporary conditions with a vision toward progressive social and political change.

· To maximize the engagement and personal responsibility that students take in structuring their own learning and academic development at The Evergreen State College.

· To increase students’ general educational level through acquisition of knowledge and improvement of their reading, writing, discussion, and analytical skills.

PROGRAM FOCUS:

The primary intellectual focus of this program is on building a broad understanding how conflicting notions of deviance and conformity fit into current practices of criminal incarceration and criminal justice in the United States, and how institutionalized inequalities of race, class, and gender have reflected and reinforced these notions over time.

PROGRAM DIRECTION:

The direction of our learning in this program is forward. In our study of history, we begin at certain points in the past and move across time in our discussion and study toward the present. In our study of visual studies and social theory, we go from simple ideas toward the more complex. In our progress through program content and assignments, we build our understanding comprehensively.

SCHOLARLY EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF FACULTY:

· To share responsibility for program coordination equally.

· To prepare for and lead workshops, exercises, seminars, and lectures that present for student assessment and integration the materials and themes of the program syllabus.

· To prepare, convene, and assist students in learning program content and applying their learning to their work in class discussions, in-class writings, formal writings, and other assignments in the syllabus.

· To read, comment upon, and return in a timely fashion students’ written work turned in for review.

· To respond to questions and concerns about the material, pace, or organization of the program.

· To attend all program activities and meetings, when not ill or absent for professional or agreed-upon activities.

· To maintain regular office hours and be available by appointment for individual or group student conferences throughout the program.

· To warn students in danger of losing credits in the 5^th week.

· To adhere to the college Social Contract and provide a program environment free from any kind of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination.

· To do whatever possible to insure that every student in the program develops personally, intellectually, and professionally.

SCHOLARLY EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS:

· To accept personal responsibility for full program participation and learning program content.

· To prepare for, attend, and participate fully in all scheduled program meetings, when not ill or absent for professional or agreed-upon activities.

· To complete required readings and program assignments competently and on time.

· To demonstrate substantial progress in learning program content in the completion and quality of assignments.

· To read and respond to program related emails.

· To initiate negotiations with faculty for any make-up activities that may become necessary due to unavoidable absences or delays.

· To demonstrate college level reading, writing, thinking and communication skills, and to conscientiously endeavor to improve those skills through engagement with program materials.

· To adhere to the college Social Contract and contribute to a program environment free from any kind of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination.

AWARD OF CREDITS:

Students receive credit for fulfilling program requirements and meeting college-level performance standards. At Evergreen, it is possible for a student to attend regularly yet receive reduced credit because of unsatisfactory performance or missing work. Assessment and award of credit will be based on faculty, peer, and self-evaluations of program members’ written and oral work, participation in seminar and group projects, and portfolios.

Students who accumulate more than two unexcused absences from class per quarter, or who exhibit a pattern of absence or missing assignments from any program activity can expect some loss of credit. In instances of excused absences (pre-notification of faculty for illness, etc), students must initiate negotiations for and follow-up on any make-up activities.

EXPECTATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROGRAM COMMUNITY:

· To take our work seriously and also maintain our sense of humor and positive collaboration.

· To support one another personally, academically, and professionally.

· To support one another in balancing diverse outlooks, life experiences, needs, and goals.

· To discuss fully, promptly, and openly any personal or professional disagreements with care and mutual respect.

· To refrain from drug or alcohol use in any on- or off-campus program activity.

· To maintain a pure standard of academic honesty.

· To engage any serious grievance or violation of the Social Contract through the Student Code of Conduct- Grievance Appeals Process (WAC 174-120-010).