Note: Because of the unique nature of this course, the best way to get a jump start is to 1) become thoroughly familiar with the entire program website (syllabus, seminar protocol, faculty advice on how to approach this course, announcements, technical advice,  etc.) and 2) to take care of all technical problems as soon as possible.  As to the latter, most of you will not have any technical problems, but one or two "newbies" may experience some difficulties. If you do, don't pull your hair out.  There's no need for that; every problem has a solution.  By the way, 99% of the technical problems involve the chat room.  So, once you have access to our Web-X site, please give ample attention to making sure the chat room works properly on your computer and to making the suggested adjustments if it does not.   See the Announcements page for troubleshooting.

On the Announcements page there are instructions about what you must do to make technical preparations for the course. One of the things you must do is to register in Web Crossing. Again, see the Announcements page for details. You will be notified by e-mail once you have been given access to our Web-X site (after you register and inform the instructor, as per the Web-X registration instructions). You may also wait until our in-person, hands-on orientation to register in Web Crossing.

PLEASE NOTE FOR 2007 SUMMER COURSE: The reading and debate topics for weeks 1 to 3 have now been revised. You may rely on the listed topics, debates and reading for those weeks. Three new topics for weeks 4 and 5 are under development and will be uploaded by the end of week 1. You will see blank spaces in weeks 4 and 5 for topics under revision.

Don't forget to reload/refresh everytime you visit this or any page for this course. If you don't reload/refresh, you may be seeing an outdated version of this page that is stored in your hard disk's cache file. --J.G.

Normally there are two topics/questions each week. There is no actual "topic #1" for the first week because you need to get oriented to the course, to learn to fully navigate the course website as well as Web Crossing, and to get beyond technical problems that inevitably will arise for some of you. In lieu of studying a topic for the first part of the week, you are expected to:

1) spend time reading the course website to fully understand how this course works,

2) register in Web Crossing and to let me know you have done so, so that I can then put you on the Web Crossing access list,

3) spend time becoming familiar with the Web Crossing site, where you will post your writing and enter the chat room for your twice-weekly real time seminar,

4) test one of the chat rooms in Web Crossing to see if you need to clear up technical problems (see the course announcements 1-4 for details),

5) work on clearing up technical problems you may encounter with the chat room well before your first online seminar on Thursday or Friday.

For suggestions from your faculty about how to approach the work in this course, click here.

REQUIRED STUDY: 

Listen:

Debate : “Gunning for Control: The Struggle over the 2nd Amendment”

Read:

YES : Violence Policy Center, “License to Kill IV”

NO : Jeffry R. Snyder, “A Nation of Cowards"

 Best Information on the Net ; The Second Amendment Annotated

 

REQUIRED STUDY: 

Listen:

Debate: “Deterrent or Disgrace : America`s Death Penalty”  

Read:

YES: Jack Greenberg, “Against the American System of Capital Punishment"

NO: Ernest van den Haag, “The Ultimate Punishment: a Defense”

OPTIONAL STUDY LINKS:

Death Penalty Information Center; Frontline (PBS): The Death Penalty Pro and Con

Listen:

Debate: "Locking Up Everyone? A look at prison policy"

Read:

YES: Decian Roche, "Mandatory Sentencing"

NO: Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, Speech on Sentencing Guidelines

Prison Policy Initiative; PrisonSucks.com, "Incarceration is not a equal opportunity punishment"; Daniel Macallair, "Prison: Power nobody dares mess with"; Arthur Stamoulis, "Prison Policy in a Media-Driven America; Gail Russell Chaddock, "US notches world's highest incarcaration Rate"; AACLJ, "Truth in Sentencing"

Listen:

Debate : "Terrorism and the Media"

Read:

YES : John Ashcroft, Former Attorney General's FOIA Memorandum of October 12, 2001

NO : Homefront Confidential, “Freedom of Information”

Bush Executive Order on Classified National Security Information, to amend executive order 12958, signed March 25, 2003 (Edited Version reflecting changes made to EO 12958.) Project on Government Secrecy; Ashcroft letter 10/15/02; Public Citizen: BushSecrecy.org; Joe Strupp (Editor &Publisher), "Media Vows to Pry Open Closed Doors in Washington"

Listen:

Debate: “A Free Press During Wartime” 

Read:

YES:

“Homefront Confidential”, a report prepared by The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press 

Note: This report, available as in both HTML and PDF format, is over 70 pages long. You are not required to read all of it, but read the "Forward," the "Chronology" and the first pages of each of the eight sections. By reading and skimming, you should become familiar with the entire report.

NO:

 "Rumsfeld Interviewed on Government-Press Relations in Wartime" (April 10, 2002)

Armed Forces Information Services; Truthout.com story; Mike Vernon (CBC reporter), “The War We Couldn’t Report” (Aug. 12, 2002); ABCNEWS Poll: War and the Media: Americans Favor Military Secrecy Over Press Freedom During Wartime; Chris Hedges, "The Press and the Myths of War"; Orson Scott Card, "Why We Need a Free Press During Wartime; Ted Rall, "Meet the Press: the Corruption of Journalism in Wartime"

WEEK FOUR: MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Listen:

Interviews and Debates: "The Power of One: Are Singles Getting a Fair Shake?" (Note: One of the interviewees is Evergreen Faculty Member Stepanie Coontz, a national exPert on family and marriage)

Read:

OVERVIEW:

Wikipedia: Rights and responsibilities of marriage in the U.S.

YES:

Peter Sprigg, Family Research Council, "No Wedding, No Benefits" AND Allan C. Carlson, Ph.D., Family Researh Council, "Marriage on Trial: Why We Must Privilege and Burden the Traditional Marriage Bond"

NO:

Unmarried America, Briefing Paper, "Federal Issues Affecting Unmarried: The Nation's New Unmarried Majority is Burdened by Marital Status Discrimination"

OPTIONAL STUDY LINKS:

General Accounting Office (GAO) 1997 Report; GAO 2004 Update to Report; Stephanie Coontz, "Marriage Cannot Be the Only Accepted Commitment"; Michelle Depoali, "Rethinking Marriage"

Listen:

Debate: "Lesbian and Gay Adoption"

Read:

YES: Timothy J. Biblarz and Judith Stacey, "(How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?"

NO:Timothy J. Dailey, "Homosexual Parenting: Placing Children at Risk"

OPTIONAL STUDY LINKS:

Gay Adoption Debate and Poll; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force;The State of the Family: Laws and Legislation Affecting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Families [PDF] (see chapter three); "Let Him Stay" -- on Florida's Gay Adoption Ban; ACLU Fact Sheet, "Overview of Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care" 

WEEK FIVE: MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Listen:

Discussion/Debate: The Supreme Court Tackles Abortion: A Look at Mandatory Parental Involvement Laws

Read:

YES and NO:

Debatabase: Abortion, Parental Consent

OPTIONAL STUDY LINKS:

The pros and cons of compulsory parental involvement; Mary Beth Bonacci, "Parental Notification Saves Lives"; Issue Brief: Parental Notification or Consent for Abortion; Abortion Laws for Teens by State; ACLU: Laws Restricting Teenagers'Access to Abortion

PLEASE NOTE: The Washington Supreme Court's July 26, 2006 ruling on same-sex marriage does not affect this topic. The court's ruling did not settle the question of whether or not same-sex marriages should be allowed. In fact, more than a majority of the justices expressed the view that permitting same-sex marriages may be desirable. What the court ruled was that Washington's Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman, is constitutional. Whether or not to allow same-sex marriage, the court said, is a question for the legislature to decide.

The court's decision was a weak one, decided by a plurality opinion. In other words none of the opinions that were issued in the case was joined by a majority of the justices. Only two justices (C.J. Alexander and C.W. Johnson) joined Justice Madsen's opinion. Two other justices, R.B. Sanders and J.M. Johnson) agreed with the judgment of those three justices but not the rationale. The opinion that garnered the most votes was a dissenting opinion, written by Justice Fairhurst and joined by Justices Bridges, Chambers and Owens. The court's opinions are listed as optional reading below.

REQUIRED STUDY:

Listen:

Debate: Justice Talking: Jun. 27, 2004 "Gay Marriage"

Read:

YES: Scott Bidstrup, “Gay Marriage: The Arguments and the Motives"

NO: Stanley Kurtz, "Cultural Antidote: Why we need a Federal Marriage Amendment"

OPTIONAL STUDY LINKS:

Washington Supreme Court ruling (7/26/06) on Defense of Marriage Act; Discussion: "The Ties That Divide: A Conversation on Gay Marriage with Andrew Sullivan and Gerard Bradley," Wednesday, April 28, 2004; Robert H. Knight, "The Real Costs of 'Gay Marriage' and Civil Unions"; Presidential Proclamation of George W. Bush, “Marriage Protection Week, 2003,”; Marriage Watch, “Parenting Studies”; The Economist editorial (Feb. 26, 2004), "The case for gay marriage"; Kavan Peterson, "50-state rundown on gay marriage laws"