Joint Syllabus
Our vision for paired classes
We believe the best and deepest learning happens when learning from several classes overlaps, and your mind is asked to grow continually and in unified directions.
We also believe the best learning happens when you’re encouraged—and given adequate time—to think about the same issues from more than one perspective.
So we designed these paired courses. What does that mean, exactly?
It means we’ve synchronized our Social Problems and Comp 2 courses, so that you get to think and write about current societal dilemmas in two disciplines. In these linked courses, you’ll work with a combination of sociological pieces and real-world essays all focusing on some of the most pressing issues of right now: race, class, gender, and sexuality. We’ll investigate the complicated impact of these issues on each of our lives and how knowing more about these issues can positively influence our relationships with others. We’ll investigate the ways writers write about difficult and nuanced situations, and how they capture the voices of those most impacted by our current social system. As we investigate, we’ll simultaneously learn to think and feel and write more effectively and efficiently, working to voice complex ideas about complex issues.
Your learning in these linked courses will fit together. We’ve designed the courses with that fit in mind. And we believe that fit will help you learn more deeply.
There’s also a particular reason for linking writing to Social Problems. It’s a huge buzz kill to look at lives broken or strained or depressed by systems that seem bigger than all of us—economic forces, the United States’ educational system, deep-seated cultural beliefs about gender and sexuality and race and class. The difficult realities unearthed by a semester of Social Problems often make students want to go directly to the parking lot and run over their own heads.
That’s where writing comes in. Strong writing tools can help you manage this information better—in a more balanced, less despondent way. Learning to have a thoughtful, skillful voice in the world, and to harness the ways that writing can provide a home for that voice, is a crucial step to your growth in a civil society.
Okay? In terms of your education, do you see where we’re going with this?
Our other hope is that a strong, inspiring community will form in our classroom. As we read and write and investigate our own experiences, we’ll share a lot of what we see. And what we’re confused about. And what we know, or believe, or wish for. Six hours a week is time for a lot of sharing, investigating, reading, and writing together. We intend for all of us to become valuable resources to one another—because as social justice advocates all over the world know, forming a strong community base is vital to undertaking huge adventures in learning. When groups trust and feed one another, amazing learning and growth takes place.
Ready for more details? We have a few of those.
Meeting Times and Office Hours
Social ProblemsSarah B., instructor
Office: 225 Cedar Hall, Ext. 5932
http://www.kirkwood.edu/faculty/sbarfel / Comp 2
L. Heal, instructor (People call me “Heal.”)
Office: 117i Linn Hall, Ext. 5988
Class meets 11:00-11:50 MWF / Class meets 12:00-12:50 MWF
Office Hours:
Monday through Friday 3:00-4:00
and by appointment / Office Hours:
Tuesday 10am – 1:00pm
Thursday 9am – 11am
and by appointment
Required Texts and Materials:
Crossroads Reader / For Comp 2:
The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing
Nickel and Dimed
Course Description and Objectives: Social Problems
The Social Problems course will highlight the interconnectedness of major issues in society, especially those related to social class, race/ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and educational inequality. Our goal will be to see how we have “constructed” each of these problems. If you choose to participate in service learning (which we hope you do!), you will be helping agencies dedicated to eliminating social problems. You will also be communicating with students in a Social Problems class in Los Angeles County in order to see the differences and similarities in how social problems affect people in different parts of the country.
For additional departmental objectives, see Appendix A below. For additional information on Social Problems assignments, see Appendix B below.
Course Description and Objectives: Comp 2
In essays, exercises, and short assignments, I’ll ask you to write about the world we’re living in, and the complex ideas Social Problems makes you consider. I’ll ask you to do some fearless self-investigation, looking at who you are and how that affects the ways you move in the world. My job is to challenge you to go well beyond sound-bite writing, stretching your skills of building sentences, paragraphs, and papers that can hold the complexities of your expanding minds.
We’ll do a lot of writing here, both in and out of class. Some of that writing will be shared with me, either as a formal essay or as a Reader Reaction. Some of it will be shared with other people. Some of it’s kept private. Through it all, you’re working on sharpening your skills of studenting, skills of writing, and skills of critical inquiry—all outlined in Appendix C below.
What You’ll Have To Do Here
· Read the texts! We’ve chosen spiffy things for you to read, and those spiffy texts will be the basis for how we understand the subjects at hand. There are a lot of readings, and some of them will be difficult. We’ll help you with that. But you’ve gotta do your part. You’ve got to read.
· Respond to those readings with Reader Reaction papers, which will ask you to incorporate elements of both classes.
· Participate in an on-line forum with students from Cerritos College in Los Angeles County. They’re studying the same social problems we’re studying, and reading many of the same texts we’re reading.
· Participate in a Service Learning project (which means volunteering a total of ten hours during the semester at one of the class’ approved Service Learning sites) OR become a Research Consultant, which means you’ll write a semester-long Answer Paper, a lengthy research-driven project based on a question the entire class assigns you.
· Participate in a Group Project, based on your Service Learning site.
· Write four major essays—each of which will go through peer workshopping and a revision process.
Where Your Grade Comes From: Social Problems
35% Reader response papers and discussion question writing
35% Service learning OR research paper assignment
10% Group project and presentation of group project
10% Online forum participation and response papers
10% Participation
Where Your Grade Comes From: Comp 2
60% Major essays
20% Reader responses, peer responses, and other short assignments
10% Midterm and Final Portfolios
10% Participation
Our Expectations of You
We expect a high level of skill and polish in the basics of good college studenting: Come to class awake, alert, and alive. With your work done. And open ears, and an open heart. Challenge yourself to find out more about people who are different from you, and do the difficult work of self-investigation: why are you you?
Attendance Policy
We’ll make this easy: You have to come. You have to come alive, alert, and well-prepared—for both the Social Problems part of this course, and the Comp 2 part of this course. We rely heavily on each other’s brains and hearts in this course. We’ll rely heavily on the community we’ll build. So you have to come.
If you absolutely have to miss a session, here’s what you need to know:
§ It’s your responsibility to discover what you missed. You’ll be held accountable for all material presented and all assignments given during your absence. (In-class activities and quizzes cannot be made up.)
§ We feel differently if you’re absent because you’re participating in a college-sponsored activity. When you know something like that is happening, let us know as far in advance as you can—and then remind us when the day gets closer. If you’ll be missing class on a quiz day, or on the day an assignment’s due, we can make alternative arrangements (which may mean giving me your work earlier, rather than later).
§ No matter who you are, we’re always friendlier when we know why you were gone. So come talk to us.
§ You’re allowed three absences before your grade starts being affected. If you miss classes beyond those three, you must meet with the instructors to talk about your continued participation in the community.
Late Work Policy
All assignments are due on the due date announced. In the event of emergency, extreme illness, or some other circumstance we’ve discussed, we may accept your work a tiny bit late. We’ll make these decisions on a case-by-case basis, so come talk to us. If you have to turn in something late, points will be deducted from your assignment’s final score.
And we do not accept assignments sent by e-mail. You must bring them in person, on paper.
The Classroom Climate
Growing as writers, thinkers, and humans involves exploring opinions that will probably differ from your own—especially this semester, given the focus of this class. Bringing an open mind to the classroom, and respecting each other’s points of view, will serve you well here. Being respectful—to us, to your classmates, and to yourself—is absolutely required.
We want you to do well in these classes. We want you to be generous in helping each other understand and practice your growing skills. We want our classroom to be a challenging, interesting, and supportive place we all look forward to visiting.
Here’s what our college believes: “The best learning takes place in an environment where faculty and students exhibit trust and mutual respect. Students promote trust by preparing honest and thoughtful work, and by expecting evaluation based on performance. Faculty members promote trust by setting clear guidelines for assignments and evaluations, by giving honest feedback, and by assigning bias-free grades.
Students show respect by being prepared and attending class on time, by paying attention, contributing to discussions, listening respectfully to others’ points of view, meeting deadlines, and by striving for their best performance. Faculty folks show respect by their timeliness and preparedness, by taking students seriously, by valuing their goals and aspirations, and by providing honest feedback.
In a productive learning environment, faculty and students work cooperatively, recognize and respect differences, model the values of character and citizenship, and become lifelong learners.”
Yahoo. Believe it or not, not every college thinks this way.
Plagiarism
The words you’re about to see aren’t our words. (Know how you can tell? We won’t ever laze out and use a dictionary definition as a first sentence. And once you’re done with this class, you won’t either. You won’t need to.) They’re Kirkwood’s words, because our college takes plagiarism so seriously we must warn you against it using these exact words. So.
“To plagiarize, according to Webster, is ‘to steal or pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own…to use created productions without crediting the source…to commit literary theft…to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.’
Kirkwood students are responsible for authenticating any assignment submitted to an instructor. If asked, you must be able to produce proof that the assignment you submit is actually your own work. Therefore, we recommend that you engage in a verifiable working process on assignments. Keep copies of all drafts of your work, make copies of research materials, write summaries of research materials, retain Writing Center receipts, keep logs or journals of your work. On assignments and papers, learn to save drafts or versions of assignments under individual file names on computer or diskette.
The inability to authenticate your work, should an instructor request it, is a sufficient ground for failing the assignment.
In addition to requiring a student to authenticate his/her work, Kirkwood Community College instructors may employ various other means of ascertaining authenticity—such as engaging in Internet searches, creating quizzes based on student work, requiring students to explain their work and/or process orally, etc.”
Giving us work that’s not your own is just stinky. It wastes everyone’s time. It stops you from having a real learning experience. There’s always a better way than plagiarizing. If you have questions about that better way, or about the proper use of sources, or what to do when your thinking is spurred along by the thinking of other people, come see either one of us.
Support, In All Its Forms
Academic Support:
§ Personal Achievement Writing. If you’re concerned that your writing or reading skills are lagging, sign up for this weekly tutorial session. You meet each week to focus on the skills you need to improve. (Register for this course at any point in the semester, as long as openings exist.)
§ The Writing Center, located in 115 Linn Hall. It’s a great place to go for one-on-one help with specific writing issues. Sign up for appointments in advance.
§ Learning Services. Always able to help you learn more about your individual learning preferences, strengths, and struggles. Located in 133 Linn Hall.