Final Syllabus for 2015 Will Add Material on Social Movements

Ed Pol 111 Syllabus1

Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies

DRAFT

Final Syllabus for 2015 Will Add Material on Social Movements.

ED POL 501 will meet with 111 and will have additional readings and requirements

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

School of Education

Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies

Introduction to Community Organizing, ED POL 111, M-W10-11:15am,Enderis 516

Fall 2014

Instructor:Aaron Schutz

Department of Educational Policy and Community Studies

Enderis 535

Phone: 229-4150 (Note: if I don’t answer it goes to “google voice” and the voice-mail you leave gets sent to me through email)

Email:

Office Hours: M 11:15-12, Tu 3:20-4:20

Course Objectives:

This course will examine basic techniques for organizing communities. The objectives of the course are:

--To understand the differences between different approaches to community change.

--To learn the history and theory of organizing and its relationship to social movements in America.

--To learn how to conduct a one-on-one interview to identify self-interests and build relationships.

--To learn strategies for building networks within fragmented communities.

--To learn skills for locating targets, cutting issues and building effective tactics and strategies.

--To learn different approaches to community organizing: institutional and individual approaches.

--To understand the differences between public, private, and civic roles from an organizing perspective.

--To explore ways to identify the key concerns of a local community and identify self-interests that an organizer might work to bring a community together around.

--To develop a sense of some "nuts and bolts" issues related to community organizing

Texts

1.Schutz, Aaron and Sandy, Marie. 2011. Collective Action for Social Change: An Introduction to Community Organizing. (Palgrave: New York). [Note: we make almost nothing on these books ourselves, and donate what we get to local community efforts.]

2.Assorted articles on-line at the course’s D2L site. We will be using the 111 D2L site, and all 501 students will be added to that. Please contact me ASAP if something is missing.

Requirements

Participation. Classes will be based on a seminar format. Participation is an important part of this course. Students will be expected to take part in all class discussions; reflect understandings from the readings; receive alternative perspectives in a constructive and respectful manner; listen well to the comments of others; share and negotiate meaning; ask questions for understanding; and contribute to the growth of others.

Attendance. Students will be expected to attend all classes. Students who miss more than two class periods must make-up this period with assignments to be negotiated with the instructor. Students who miss more than five classes, for any reason, will fail the course. Students who are late more than 20 minutes will be counted as not present. After missing two classes for any reason, students will lose points equivalent to the percentage of points represented by each day (e.g., if the class was 25 days long, and participation was worth 25 points, students would lose 1 point for every day past two).

Reading. Students will be expected to complete all course reading prior to attending class.

Daily Responses. All students will write 250 word (Graduate Students 400 word) daily responses to the readings if no other assignment is due. These should include a discussion of a few key points from the reading and students’ response to these points. They should provide evidence that the student has read and thought about the entire reading. These should be posted to the D2L discussion page for the course by midnight the day before class. These cannot be made up. Students who prefer not to post on D2L may email their responses to me instead.

Paper 1: Critical Response to Course Readings. A detailed description will be passed out in class. Students failing to turn paper in on time or failing to turn paper in by rewrite date will lose 1/3 of a grade unless an acceptable reason is given or prior arrangements are made with me.

Research Paper (Graduate Students). Topics and structure will be negotiated with Dr. Schutz

Brief Presentations of Extra Readings (Graduate Students). Graduate students should come prepared to summarize key points of extra readings.

General Information on Papers: Papers should be written in grammatical form, typed, give evidence to support conclusions. They should do more than simply report data. Successful papers will make an argument that brings your opinion, ideas, and experience in contact with the material we have examined. Successful papers will not simply make assertions, but will bring evidence and reasoning to bear on the material at hand. More detailed guidelines will be passed out. Papers may be rewritten for better grades, and I will often request that papers be rewritten.

Take-Home Exam. This will cover material up to the point at which it is passed out. Students may use the material in the course readings to complete this exam. Because we will spend extensive time in class discussing this material, students are expected to complete the exam without assistance from their classmates.

Undergraduate RequirementsWeight

Participation, class preparation20 points

Responses25 points

Paper #125 points

Take Home Examination30 points

(Failure to attend classes, write daily responses, and to make up classes will affect a student's participation grade.)

Graduate RequirementsWeight

Participation, class preparation15 points

Responses15 points

Paper #120 points

Take Home Examination20 points

Research Paper30 points

(Failure to attend classes, write daily responses, and to make up classes will affect a student's participation grade.)

Scale

Other Class Policies

Academic Misconduct

The University has a responsibility to promote academic honesty and integrity and to develop procedures to deal effectively with instances of academic dishonesty. Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others' academic endeavors. Papers submitted for this class must have been written expressly for this class. Unless explicitly negotiated with the instructor, papers or parts of papers turned into more than one course will be treated as academic misconduct. Quotations taken from articles and/or books should be indicated with quotation marks.

Accommodation for Religious Observances

Students will be allowed to complete requirements that are missed because of a religious observance.

Grade Appeal Procedures

A student may appeal a grade on the grounds that it is based on a capricious or arbitrary decision of the course instructor. Such an appeal shall follow the established procedures adopted by the department. These procedures are available in writing from the department chairperson.

Incompletes

A notation of "incomplete" may be given in lieu of a final grade to a student who has carried out a subject successfully until the end of the semester but who, because of illness or other unusual and substantiated cause beyond the student's control, has been unable to complete some limited amount of term work. An incomplete is not given unless you prove to the instructor that you were prevented from completing course requirements for just cause as indicated above.

Participation by Students with Disabilities

If you need special accommodations in order to meet any of the requirements of this course, please contact the instructor as soon as possible.

Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is not tolerated by the University, and threatens the edicational experience and well-being of students, faculty, and staff. The University will not tolerate behavior between or among members of the University community which creates an unacceptable working environment for anyone

Missing Papers

You should always keep a copy of any major paper or exam you pass in to me. If the paper is somehow misplaced, and you do not have a copy, you will need to rewrite.

Links to UWM Syllabus Policies on a range of issues can be found here:
Course Outline

Ed Pol 111

Note: All classes may have extra readings added, and this schedule is open to change.

9/3Introduction

9/8Overview of Community Organizing

Read:Schutz/Sandy, Introduction and Ch. 1

9/10What Organizing Isn’t

Read:Schutz/Sandy Ch. 2

9/15Take Back the Schools Example

Read: “Introduction to the Latino Civil Rights Movement”

This response can be briefer than usual—the reading is brief

9/17Organizing Overview

Read: Richard Harmon, “Making an Offer We Can’t Refuse”

9/22Public vs. Private

Read:Schutz/Sandy, Ch. 9

9/24One on Ones I

Read: Schutz/Sandy Ch. 10

Brown on D2L

9/29One on Ones II

Read: Schutz/Sandy Ch. 4 (we will discuss this on 10/1)

10/1History of Community Organizing I

Read:Schutz/Sandy Ch. 3, pp. 47- top of 69

10/6History of Community Organizing II

Read: Schutz/Sandy Ch. 3, 69-85

10/8Obama and Stories

Read:Schutz/Sandy Ch. 5

10/13Saul Alinsky I: In His Own Words

Read:Reveille for Radicals (Chs. 4-6)

Watch: Alinsky Video Part I

10/15Saul Alinsky II: In His Own Words

Read:Reveille for Radicals (Chs. 7-8)

10/20Gender and Collective Action

Read:Stahl and Stoecker, "Community Organizing or Organizing Community?" on D2L

10/22House Meetings and Fred Ross

Read: Fred Ross on D2L

10/27Leadership: In-class exercise

Read:von Hoffman, “Finding and Making Leaders” on D2L

Assignment: Paper 1 Due. (No response paper due)

10/29Faith-Based Community Organizing

Read:Schutz/Sandy, Ch. 6

Miller, Community Organizing: A Brief Introduction, Ch. 1.

Watch: Alinsky Video Part II

11/3“Door-Knocking” Community Organizing Groups: ACORN

Read: Schutz/Sandy, Ch. 7

Schutz ACORN INTRO on D2L

Brown, pp. 148-152

Play this game:

Assignment:In your response, talk partly about your experience playing online game.

11/5Power and Targets

Read:Schutz/Sandy, Ch. 12

11/10Cutting an Issue

Read:Schutz/Sandy, Ch. 13

11/12Cutting an Issue: Practice

11/17Tactics

Read:Read Brown, Chapter 11

Schutz/Sandy Ch. 14, 261-280

11/19Strategy

2-page “Strategy” assignment passed out in class

11/24Strategy, Research, and Tactics, Part II

Assignment:2-page "Strategy" Plan Due

EXAM DISTRIBUTED

11/29Community Organizing vs. Movement Organizing

Read:Cloward and Piven, “Disruptive Dissensus” (D2L)

12/3Organizing Against Globalization

No Reading

EXAM DUE

12/5The Occupy Movement and Organizing

Reading: TBA

12/10Guest Lecture Reading TBA

END OF CLASS