This course provides an introduction to the feminist scholarship about women and gender. We explore how women’s lives differ across social categories such as race, class, sexual orientation, and age, with an emphasis on women in the United States today. Readings are drawn from both the humanities and social sciences to familiarize students with key questions, theoretical tools, and issues within Women’s Studies. A variety of topics are covered, including: violence against women; women and work; reproductive justice. The course grade is based on short written assignments, a group project, exams, and participation in discussion.

The nature, function, and development of law. Law and society. Problems of social control: why is law obeyed in societies without courts and in societies with courts. Dispute settlement procedures and the judicial process; civil and criminal law; principles of liability for legal wrongs; women, class and community; the impact of Western law on customary, tribal, or aboriginal law. Case studies from Africa, Middle East, Asia, Europe, the Americas. A good introduction to comparative law from an anthropological perspective. Requirements: four 3-5 page papers, or three 6-8 page student papers. Lecture/discussion format.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Sophomore standing.

This course examines how human rights ideas and instruments have expanded globally in the last several decades and how they have impacted local human rights practices across the globe. The course examines different theoretical approaches to global human rights politics and empirical studies on the history of global human rights and its impact on local politics. It will feature practitioners of human rights as guest speakers and culminates in two video conference sessions with the United Nations headquarters, where we will discuss the past, present, and future of human rights politics in international society with experts on human rights at the UN. The course will cover a wide range of issues such as civil and political rights, economic, social and cultural rights, children’s rights, women’s rights, indigenous rights, genocide, retributive justice, treaty compliance, state sovereignty, transnational social movements, and nongovernmental actors, and the readings will be drawn from various disciplines such as political science, sociology, history, anthropology and law.

Enforced Prerequisites:

Junior standing or above.

Archaeology is an endlessly fascinating subject for the specialists and the general public alike. For many, it calls to mind treasure hunts, exotic locales and perhaps even alien civilizations, but the real magic of archaeology is that it allows the reconstruction of ancient behaviors on the basis of the material traces they produced. Ordinary people like you and me lived complex lives in the past, and the only way for us to find out what they were up to is to look very carefully at the ‘footprints’ they left behind when they farmed, built, traveled and died. The course covers the major archaeological field methods, from excavation and survey to dating with carbon isotopes and tree-rings. Examples drawn from all around the world are used to illustrate what archaeologists do and how they sometimes discover ancient lifeways thanks to the faintest traces and the most puzzling clues.

This seminar evaluates media coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court, in the context of long-range factors affecting the ability of news media to function in a democracy. It examines the scope and content of print, broadcast, and new-media news reporting on major cases before the court. How accurately, fairly, and adequately do news organizations cover the cases as they proceed through the legal system? Does the media help the American public gain a sufficiently thorough understanding of the complex legal issues and social impact of each case? In addition to gaining a broad overview of media coverage of current and recent cases, each student will select one case from the current or past court term and study media coverage of it in detail.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

At least one 300-level course in COMM strongly recommended.

This course focuses on problems in journalistic ethics at a time of growing concern over standards of news coverage, as exemplified most recently in the Lewinsky case. The course provides an historic overview of traditional journalistic ethics. Coupled with that is a detailed study of changing values in news coverage as media decision makers adapt to social, economic and technological changes. The course highlights such problems as sensationalism, info-tainment, anonymous sources, hidden cameras, punditry, the lowering of the wall of separation between the business and editorial sides of news organizations, invasions of privacy, and the personal behavior of journalists. The course studies journalists' responsibilities to their profession and to the public, and examines proposed solutions to the problems of ethics violations.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

COMM 351 or 371 strongly recommended.

This course will examine the development, regulation and impact of the Internet in American society. In particular, we will focus on the expanding legal implications of this still relatively new technology and how the judicial and political apparatuses are trying to keep pace with the Internet’s ever-expanding influence in our society. This course will cover the history of the Internet, court cases applying existing laws to the Internet, legislative attempts at additional regulation and theoretical concerns over the technological implications the Internet poses to deeply rooted legal concepts such as fair use.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

COMM 351 or 371 strongly recommended.

Early in 2005, to help in the planned revision of Norway’s animal protection law, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government found that worms squirming on a fishhook feel no pain, nor do lobsters and crabs cooked in boiling water. Norway might have considered banning the use of live worms as fish bait if the study had found they felt pain. We don’t know what the inarticulate worms and lobsters thought about the whole matter, but we do know that Vice-President Dick Cheney, speaking with a talk show host in October 2006, appeared to embrace the suggestion that a “dunk in water” might be useful to get terrorism suspects to talk. “Water-boarding,” the “professional” term for dunking, is a torture technique banned under international law. Earlier in October 2006, President Bush had signed a bill outlawing the torture of detainees, but “quietly reserved the right to bypass the law under his powers as a commander in chief,” as The Boston Globe put it at the time.

This seminar is meant to encourage students, as good, engaged citizens, to think and care and write about the pain and the torture of others, despite the inadequacies of language. Elaine Scarry writes that “physical pain does not simply resist language but actively destroys it, bringing about an immediate reversion to a state anterior to language, to the sounds and cries a human being makes before language is learned.” Through theory, fiction, films, plays, memoirs, testimonies and legal documents, we will examine the ways in which language can(not) articulate the unmaking of the body of worms, lobsters and, especially, of human beings, through torture and pain — conceptualized, inflicted and narrated.

Students will be asked to write a 5-page essay, drawing on the weekly readings, and to present and discuss it in class; and to submit a substantial term paper.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Senior standing and concentration in Comparative Literature.

This is a one term introductory course in Labor Economics. The course begins by discussing the determinants of labor supply. We will consider a simple model of labor supply in which an individual chooses between labor and leisure. In this process we will also try to see how effective some welfare programs are in encouraging work. After this we will turn to the other side of the labor market in which firms decide on their hiring decisions. This will be the study of labor demand. We will discuss how regulations such as the minimum wage affect the hiring decisions of a firm. Additional topics include the study of labor market equilibrium, compensating wage differentials, human capital, and labor market discrimination.

The waitlist is managed according to standard departmental practice.

Enforced Prerequisites:

ECON 101 with a C or better.

Advisory Prerequisites:

ECON 102 (unless ECON 101 completed with B or higher).

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

     All sections of ENGLISH 325 focus on examining and employing effective academic argumentation. Academic argumentation here refers to the presentation and explanation of claims through written reasoning that utilizes appropriate evidence and writing conventions. The course refines skills learned in ENGLISH 124 and 125, while also offering an introduction to the selection and effective use of academic research in student writing, skills that will prove useful in a range of academic contexts and disciplines.

In this particular section of ENGLISH 325 we will focus on the rhetorics and representations of catastrophe. By speaking of the “rhetorics” of catastrophe, I mean to call attention both to the omnipresent sense of fear, panic, and looming disaster that surround us in everyday life and media—epidemics, natural disasters, famine, war, economic collapse, and so on, are in a sense the very stuff of news and current events—and to the fact that to call an event a catastrophe, to appeal to the emotions and associations that “catastrophe” evokes, is immediately to make a series of rhetorical choices: Who is it a catastrophe for? What language, tropes, or images are used to represent it? What sorts of public debate does this catastrophe provoke? What historical comparisons or allegories are referred to in naming a catastrophe?   I’ve selected this theme because it speaks to a wide range of disciplinary, cultural, and personal interests, including the environment, economics, public health, and foreign policy. Rhetorics of catastrophe are also a compelling site for investigating the limits and possibilities of language, power relations, and public discourses in a range of mediums.  “Catastrophes” are often very real events—one meaning of the word is a “violent and sudden change of the features of the earth”—that have material and other consequences—but at the same time they are constructions in language, metaphors meant to convey, exaggerate, or make a claim for the seriousness and urgency of a situation.  We will attend to the complex interplay between catastrophic events and the rhetorics of catastrophe.

     Thinkers like Aristotle and Cicero recognized that individuals needed tools to craft logical and compelling arguments, so they taught their students rhetoric—the practice of discovering the appropriate argument for any situation. “Rhetoric,” as contemporary rhetoricians Sharon Crowley and Debra Hawhee have noted, “helped people to choose the best course of action when they disagreed about important political, religious, or social issues.” In this course, we will study the theories that ancient and contemporary rhetoricians have developed in an attempt to learn how to analyze contemporary arguments about “catastrophes” past, present and future.  We will also use our knowledge of rhetoric to craft effective arguments of our own, not simply as a means of confronting opponents but also as a means of inquiry—a means of discovering and building knowledge about ourselves, the local communities in which we participate, and the world at large. We will begin by studying the ancient theory of rhetoric in order to build the scaffolding for the ideas we’ll discuss and the writing we’ll do in this course. From there, we will move on to contemporary arguments, considering how these ancient theories of rhetoric apply to our world today. Ultimately, you will choose to investigate a single “catastrophe” and craft a series of arguments culminating in an effective intervention into public debates.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

This course builds on strategies introduced in introductory English courses, serving as a more advanced examination of academic argumentation as well as a basic introduction to academic research.

In this particular section, we will pay special attention to analyzing the rhetorical and linguistic strategies that writers use in texts from multiple academic genres (including essays, research articles, application essays, recommendations letters) as well from multiple disciplines (including sciences, social sciences, and humanities). To guide our analyses, we will make use of analytic tools from the fields of text linguistics and discourse analysis that are useful for critiquing others’ arguments and for constructing argumentative texts of your own. We will use these analytic tools to examine how writers (both professionals and students) use language to create an argumentative stance, to appraise others’ arguments, to establish a dialogic relationship with the imagined reader, and to organize the discourse.

The aim of this analysis is:

1. to expand your critical repertoire for noticing, analyzing, and discussing the ways that arguments are constructed and expressed in texts and
2. to help you to refine your own argument writing in academic situations.

Seminar-style discussions and peer-review workshops will take up most of the class time. Both activities are aimed at encouraging you to articulate consciously your reasons for the way you react to a piece of writing. You will be expected to read and participate in the discussion of articles, write short critiques of self-selected texts based on analytic criteria set in class, write four papers, and offer assistance to your classmates on their analyses and writing. Throughout the course you will be expected to select topics to write on and texts to examine that are of particular interest to you and your academic goals.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Courses in argumentative writing often observe the profusion of "arguments" around us today. Drawing upon a wide range of materials, these courses seek to reveal the covert claims inside texts — myths about ourselves and about one another that threaten, time and again, to harden into the real. Taken from sources such as magazines, newspapers, journals, scientific studies, fiction, poetry, and from visual media such as advertisements, television, stage performances, and film, these "arguments" are a common centerpiece of classes. The idea is that by recovering the hidden truths within such materials, we can learn to cultivate more powerful, provocative, and above all persuasive forms of writing.

The present course shares similar assumptions about the nature of arguments and argumentative prose (in keeping with the title of our chosen text, Everything's An Argument). But by the same token, it also stresses that everything is not argument of identical importance, impact, rigor, resonance, or originality. Far from it: in fact, this course starts from the assumption that all arguments vary intensely in the quality of their appeals and in the effect of their particular points. This is because arguments are produced in vastly different circumstances, are inspired by varying purposes and procedures, have unpredictable outcomes, and are addressed to very different, even competing communities of readers. Over the course of the term, we will focus upon several strategies for judging the caliber of certain claims and for adjudicating between different sorts of claims. These entail close considerations of logic and reason, sentiment, and moral compulsion; forms of stylistic sophistication (which will include informal inflections and asides); innovative models of organization and structure; and, not least, the smooth integration of secondary sources into arguments of our own devise.

In this sense, the purposes of this course are really twofold. First, the class challenges you to break down the key elements of an argument. This means figuring out how to thoughtfully probe common conventions, assumptions, and habits of thought, and how to find forms of connection or compromise in the midst of opposing viewpoints. Second, and alongside this aim, the class asks you to build up a toolbox of rhetorical skills — a set of methods that you'll use to craft counterintuitive responses to the most urgent arguments that surround us today.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

As the title suggests, this class will explore the different ways we use argument in our personal and public lives. We will look at different ways to structure written arguments; what constitutes an argument—sometimes a personal story, for instance, is in itself an argument—and how to use other people’s arguments to strengthen your own. Though this is a writing class, a big part of what we will do here involves reading and interpreting different kinds of essays by other writers—both those of published authors and the work of your classmates—because I believe that students learn and come to understand what is good writing, first and foremost, by reading. We will also look at articles that discuss controversial topics; these articles are not necessarily arguments, but may raise questions and inspire argument. Expect to read approximately 50-77pages per week. This is a class where it can only help you to be opinionated! I highly recommend that students taking this course try to read a daily newspaper, either on-line or in hard copy. You can read the New York Times on-line every day for FREE by signing up at Nytimes.com. Some of the best ideas for arguments will come to you via periodicals. It is hard to argue about anything if you don’t know what’s going on in the world.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Instruction in composition with weekly papers and overall review of style and arrangement.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

In this course, you are assumed to have learned the basics of grammar and citation formats, as well as how to assemble a coherent argument. Here, we will explore ways to shape more sophisticated arguments. We will also work to develop a clear and personal writing voice, and  to present effective theses while avoiding logical fallacies. With those goals in mind, we will discuss ways to make use of the "Four Classes of Argument," and to eliminate the most damaging "Logical Fallacies."

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of department.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

This course is designed to improve a student-writer's proficiency in persuasive discourse — argumentative writing which seeks to persuade a reader to a specific point of view by means of reason. Most often the subject matter of argumentative essays is controversial and contemporary; yet, the forms for the delivery of ideas on those topics you will be introduced to are quite classical. By the end of the academic term the student-writer should be on the road to becoming an effective communicator, skilled in a number of literary techniques and, hopefully, be able to convey ideas in a precise, provocative and logical manner. In the past, literature was used almost exclusively as model and inspirational catalyst for analyses and essays on topics in written form. In this course, student writing, professional non-fiction, popular culture and, occasionally, literature will be employed as subject matter for discussions as well as in-class and out of class essays. This academic term the discourse will revolve around some specific issues and subjects: argumentation; black secular music; black male/female relationships (gender) ; and class and race. The essays you will write during the term will focus on these topics (and / or sub-topics within these areas).

Policies & Procedural Requirements:

Attendance is required. Four or more absences will adversely affect the final grade you receive, e.g., from a B+ to a B, a C+ to a C, etc.

Tardiness is also inexcusable. If you are late 3 times, this counts as an absence.

Late papers are unacceptable. Period. (If, however, there are legitimate and reasonable circumstances that necessitate you asking for an extension, you must ask for more time well in advance of the paper's due date.)

Revised Papers are due no later than seven days from the day the paper is returned to you. Only 2 papers (out of 7) can be revised.

Class Participation is very important and will be considered when computing your final grade.

Visual Stimuli.

Throughout the course of the academic term, I will show quite a few videotapes—documentaries, news segments, etc., — which are provided to supplement your knowledge on the topics, enhance your classroom experience and function as additional (and perhaps more recent) support for your arguments. These visual stimuli constitute “visual evidence. “ You are expected to watch these quietly, take notes and analytically consider the connections between these materials and the writing contained in the course-packs on the topics.

For Help With Your Writing:

Each student is strongly recommended to see me if s/he is really serious about improving his/her writing. Although my schedule is usually “open” to allow me the possibility of seeing students who just “drop by,” if you want help with your writing you should make a standing appointment with me by calling Ms. Della Weatherspoon at 764-9129. (I might also add that our review of a draft is no guarantee that your paper will receive an “A” because it was somewhat error-free at the time.) When you want help with your writing please bring the work on an IBM diskette (which will make it a lot easier to make the necessary revisions).

Written Assignments:

• Three (3) 4 — 6 page out of class (oc) essays, typed, double-spaced and substantiated by outside sources ( In other words, you'll be writing research papers which include quotes from authorities on the subject. Only 2 of these sources can be internet or www sources. )

• Four (4) in class essays, 2 — 3 pages (not skipping a line) on readings from the coursepack or issues discussed in class related to the readings.

• One (1) Mid-Term Examination

• One (1) Take-Home Final Examination related to the last topic covered in the course.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of department.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

ENGLISH 310 teaches students to use their creative skills and social commitments to facilitate the powerful expressiveness of high school and incarcerated youth. It is rooted in respect for the youths' abilities and voices, in excitement about an educational process that promotes creativity, and in imaginative collaboration with the school and facility faculty, staff, and administration. Working two to three hours a week at Henry Ford and Cooley High Schools and Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, and at the Adrian and Maxey Training Schools, Boysville, the Calumet Center, and Vista Maria, students assist youth in creating their own video tapes, plays, photographs, music, writings, art, etc. In two hour class meetings we discuss background reading, analyze and develop our work with the youth, and think out the implications of what we are doing. A further hour is devoted to meetings between each site team and the instructor. No exams.

Admission to the class is by permission of instructor. Check 3275 Angell Hall for specially posted hours for interviews for this course.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

In this class we will study published essays (Didion, Franzen, Vowell, Dillard, Strayed, Koestenbaum, Ford, among others) and student essays (in large group, in-class workshops) to further our understanding of the writing process and what it really means to build an idea and construct a compelling, carefully crafted argument that will move people to shift the way they think about or understand X, Y, & Z. This class is different from ENGLISH 225 in the way that the essays we write and study will not be "argumentative" in any conventional sense, and we will not study any formal, rhetorical mechanisms for building academic arguments. Our time will be spent on more nuanced aspects of writing nonfiction prose: what topics and subjects are most profitable for the essayist to spend time thinking and writing about, and why? What are the different modes of inquiry, and which yield the most engaging and complicated thoughts when applied to which topics? When your instructor writes "develop more here" on a paper you've gotten back, what does that really mean, and how are you supposed to do that? And similarly, when you get the word "awkward" written in the margin of one of your papers — what accounts for that awkwardness? And what can you do about it? What about abstraction — we hear all the time, "that's so abstract" — but is this usually a good thing or a bad thing? How can you use abstraction paired with detailed, physical material in your writing to expose something your readers might not have seen before? What, really, is analysis? Something else we hear a lot: "You should put W or Q in your writing and analyze it," but I find many of my students don't often know how to use their sentences in different ways to actually make analysis happen. Transitions: in sophisticated essays, transitions are not just words to connect paragraphs, they are important moments of movement in the writing — a good deal of the meat of an essay lives in the connective material an author articulates to help us move from A to B....

I could go on, but will stop here, adding only that grammar, punctuation, and usage, too, will be common topics of conversation in this class, so come with a dictionary and good style manual in hand.

And PS:  I'm not a fan of CTools, so beyond publishing this course description you won't see me use it much (if at all).

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Much like the ENGLISH 325 courses I taught during my first dozen years here, this course will focus on

1. improving your vocabulary,
2. strengthening your grammatical, mechanical, semantical, and syntactical skills, and
3. helping you find your voice.

Text: The American Heritage College Dictionary.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

The primary goal of this course is to teach you to write clear, sustained, compelling essays that, as Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz explain in the preface to their book on creative nonfiction, “have the power to persuade, explain, illuminate, evoke, depict, and inspire.” In this class we will move beyond the familiar modes of academic writing to develop complex works of nonfiction that couple the rigor of analysis and research with literary craft. By learning to combine fact-based, investigative writing with the lyricism of poetry and the rhetorical devices of fiction, the writer of creative nonfiction can create work that is individual, thoughtful, and enlightening—this is the “art of exposition.”

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

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“Try to be one of the people on whom nothing is lost!”

— Henry James

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This course asks of you what James asks of you: to be curious about not only the world around you but also your interior world, and to make something of your curiosity on the page, for what we write down is never lost.

All writing starts with a question or a hypothesis. You’ve had them—questions and hypotheses—haven’t you? Maybe it’s a family story that has several versions:

• what is being left out?
• Why?
• What really happened?
• Maybe you have a theory about why iPods are ruining our ability to appreciate music. How can you convince your reader?
• What examples, observations and evidence can you provide?
• Maybe you’ve always wondered whether you could get out of a locked trunk. What if you tried it?
• What might you learn?
• What could you pass along to the reader?

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“All thought is a feat of association; having what’s in front of you bring up something in your mind that you almost didn’t know you knew.”

— Robert Frost

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The worth of this course, you will discover, is not so much in the final grade as in our endeavor to pursue such questions and theories on the page with diligence, creativity and flourish, to explore an interior world filled with things, to quote Frost, “you almost didn’t know you knew.” As you can see, in this course we are moving beyond the skills you’ve mastered in lower level writing courses, pushing past literary analysis or position papers into the realm of creative non-fiction. While skills from your previous writing classes are certainly transferable—structure, developing organizing ideas, accuracy, economy or language, research—this class will pair these skills with new ones germane to the craft of creative non-fiction—narrative, description, emotional resonance, theme, etc. In so doing, you will engage with questions about people, places, ideas and objects, questions that may have been stirring inside you for some time now. But there are no easy answers. Bear in mind that as we explore questions on the page, the aim is to pursue truth, not so much to arrive at an absolute truth. The former intention acknowledges complexity and depth, a certain form of respect for the idea, whereas the latter more often than not ends up feeling didactic or forced. Yield to the complexity, check it out; readers respect this. After all, when a writer pursues a question or theory, it is often not so much to discover an absolute truth, but rather to move readers closer to a truth. 

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

Can essay writing be taught? That almost every American university offers courses in creative non-fiction suggests an answer in the affirmative. In this class it’s uncertain that you’ll learn how to be creative or how to fathom the mysteries of the human heart. What you will learn, among other things, are strategies to develop your writing and thinking, the virtues of revision, how to read as a writer, and craft. Craft—or technique—can be taught; and craft must be honed for your essays to have life. On this topic, the late Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson had this to say:

"Craft is what makes the will and daring work and allows playwrights to shout or whisper as they choose. A painter who has not mastered line and form, mass, perspective and proportion, who does not understand the values and properties of color, is not going to produce interesting paintings no matter the weight and measure of his heart, or the speed and power of his intellect. I don’t think you can ever know too much about craft...."

What is sound advice for painters and playwrights also goes for writers: learn thy craft. As such, this course will pay great attention to aspects of technique for the purpose of turning each of you into better writers and readers. An old adage says that an author must swallow a library to produce his or her own book. Fear not: you’ll only be expected to digest several books and numerous essays. You’ll read some fantastic and wide-ranging authors this term—everything from Montaigne to James Baldwin—ones selected with the aim of both inspiring and illuminating aspects of the writing craft.

Over the course of the term, you’ll write four, revised essays. Other requirements include reading responses, peer critiques, oral presentations, attendance at outside readings, and active class participation.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Completion of the First-Year Writing Requirement.

The signers of the United States Constitution declared our freedom of expression the most important right of United States citizens. Susan B. Anthony and dozens of other women used the only power they had, the power of language, to ensure women their right to vote in the United States. And the persuasive eloquence of Martin Luther King, Jr., changed this nation's consciousness. These were ordinary people doing extraordinary things with language.

What about you? Do you aspire to extraordinary things, or do you simply hope to land a great job or appeal a parking ticket? Either way, you'll need to use persuasive writing. This semester, we will increase our awareness of, respect for, and facility with persuasive writing. But our enthusiasm for and understanding of argumentative writing can grow only if we care about what we're doing (and even have some fun), so usually you will choose your own topics as we play with, analyze, and practice argumentative writing. To guide us in these challenging but rewarding enterprises, we'll use a textbook, Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students, and a handbook. We'll write almost daily, in the form of short exercises (hard copy and online), rhetorical analyses, and longer essays; plan on lots of informal writing and three formal essays of 4-8 pages each.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Open only to seniors who have completed the First-Year Writing Requirement.

This course will explore the environmental concerns of people of color and will specifically focus on the connections between environmental insults and communities of color and communities of low-income. We will grapple with questions such as:

• To what extent do people of color and low-income communities bear a disproportionate share of environmental pollutants?
• To what extent are they exposed to environmental conditions that threaten their health?

We will discuss and define environmental racism and environmental justice in this course as well as discuss and define race, white privilege, internalized oppression, and non-violence. To understand the above concepts more fully we will review the current research literature in the field as well as place the concepts into the analytical frameworks of culture and the social structure of accumulation. We will also apply the analytical construct of resource mobilization and social movement theory to help us understand people and their struggle to protect themselves and their communities against environmental harm. Although the course focuses on domestic issues, some attention is given to the international perspective.

To maximize our understanding as we explore the above questions and topics, several pedagogical techniques will be used such as lectures, videotapes, case studies, guided interactive group discussion, outside speakers, and UM Lessons, which is a computer designed (guided) interactive study program. Two examinations will be required — a midterm and a final as well as one paper.

If you cannot attend a class or a discussion group, please let the Graduate Student Instructor know in advance.

For more information regarding the course contact me by e-mail at: bbryant@umich.edu or slashley@umich.edu. For more information on past work of students consult the web page address below. http://www.umich.edu/~snre492/cases.html

This course is an advanced offering on environmental politics and the environmental policy-making process. The course considers both processes of policy formation and implementation, placing particular emphasis on the development of alternatives to conventional regulatory practices at federal, state, and local levels of government.

Advisory Prerequisites:

ENVIRON 210 or POLSCI 111.

This course looks at evidence for:

• the rise and fall of civilization;
• the introduction of revolutionary technological innovations;
• trade and the exploration of new lands; and
• the invention, loss and re-creation of a range of skills including the production of figurative art, monumental stone architecture, and writing.

Our context is the ancient Greek world between ca. 3000 and 31 BCE. Ancient Greece has famously given us the Olympics, democracy, history, and theatrical performance, all of which can be traced through the writings of ancient authors. Here, though, we will focus on the art, architecture and artefacts left behind, asking what they have to tell us about the lives of ordinary people, and how those lives were affected by social, cultural, and technological change. At the same time as offering an introduction to the major societies of the Greek world during this period, we shall also look at some of the major research traditions and methods which have been employed in Greek archaeology over the past couple of centuries, down to the present day.

The family is at the center of contemporary political debates involving social policies, gender roles, citizenship, marriage, and the role of the state. Politicians and commentators frequently invoke a mythical American family, one that is conflict-free, independent, and unchanging. These idealized depictions mask a far more complicated and richer historical reality of the development of family structures in the U.S. This course will examine both the diverse experiences of actual families in the American past, and changing ideologies about the family and its social role. We will examine in particular immigration, reproduction and childrearing, sexuality, work, leisure, and consumption. We will maintain a sustained focus on changing constructions of race, ethnicity, gender and class and the interactions of these social relations with social structures including the labor and housing markets, immigration and naturalization law, and the educational system. Through this exploration, we will see both how social structures including the family shaped individuals’ experiences, and how historical actors responded to and changed these structures. We will also gain a better understanding of what’s at stake in today’s debates about the family, and will conclude by asking how contemporary social policies could better address the needs of all families.

Course work includes readings, lectures, and active participation in discussion. Each student will have the opportunity to write a ten-page paper analyzing an aspect of his or her family history, or to complete an alternative research paper. Additionally, there will be regularly assigned short writing assignments, and two in-class exams, with identifications and essay components.

This course studies the history of American society, politics, and culture over roughly the first half of the twentieth century. A brief look backward will reveal how the country’s new industrial potential, continental scope, and global ambitions — along with its economic disabilities, social divisions, and deep fault-lines of power — were all revealed in the tumultuous 1890s. Then the course commences a study of how the contours of “modern America” took shape in the following decades, amid

• a force field of class conflict;
• women’s activism;
• two world wars;
• innovations in commerce, media, and art;
• sexual revolutions;
• economic catastrophe and revival;
• social reform; and
• the beginnings of potent campaigns for racial equality.

Changes occurred in American experience during these years as transformative as any in the nation’s past. We will examine them via primary documents, recent historical literature, and artifacts of sight and sound — particularly the movies and popular music from ragtime to the eve of R&B.

By 1945, the worldwide economic and military ascendancy of the United States was established almost beyond question, while a combination of war-weariness and national pride seemed to fix essential terms of “the American way of life.” The basic shape of a mass-consumer economy, limited public welfare provision, and an incipient national-security state apparently resolved problems that had troubled the U.S. since the 1890s. Yet these terms, sealed by the outcome of World War II, only set the stage for another long course of conflict, renovation, and reaction in decades to come. This class explains where things stood, and how the country and its inhabitants got there, at the middle of the 20th century.

Requirements: Weekly readings of approximately 150-180 pages, regular participation in discussion, midterm take-home essay, 10-15 page research paper due near the end of the term and a take-home final exam.

The Legal History Workshop features presentations by leading scholars from around the country who work in this interdisciplinary field. It will be attended by faculty from the Law School as well as a number of other University departments. Presentations will situate legal developments in social, political, intellectual, and cultural context, exploring a range of substantive and methodological questions arising in the course of legal-historical work. The papers will address historical questions at the intersection of law and society, especially the relationship of law and modernity. Students receiving academic credit for the workshop are not required to have a background in history — just a strong interest in learning about legal history and in taking part in the kind of enterprise this seminar represents; they will be full participants in the sessions and will be expected to prepare short critiques of the presented scholarly papers.

This course familiarizes students with the broad sweep of American business history, and touches on global business history as well. Much course content is personalized, that is, focuses on people, rather than institutions or events.

Course pack. No text.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Junior, senior, or graduate standing.

An intensive general introduction to Linguistics with data from a range of languages. Can be taken as a stand-alone course, but is also designed as preparation for all upper-division courses in Linguistics, and for language-related courses in other departments. Covers sound systems (phonetics and phonology, including spectrography), word-structure (morphology), syntax (the structure of phrases and sentences), prosody (tones, intonation), and meaning (semantics and pragmatics). Brief coverage of historical linguistics, sociolinguistics, and other topics. One general theme is this: given that sentences express complex concepts whose structure is hierarchical (like a mobile hanging from the ceiling, with many branches), how are these concepts expressed in a flat, linear sequence of consonants and vowels?

Students do weekly homeworks, based on data sets from various languages. Midterm and final exams. Sorry, no videos of monkeys trying to speak English.

Credit Exclusions:

Credit is granted for only one of PHIL 180 or 201.

This is a first course in logic and critical thinking. The course will be divided into two parts:

1. informal logic which involves analyzing and evaluating arguments using fallacy theory and theory of definitions, and
2. formal logic which involves symbolizing arguments and evaluating them using truth-tables and Venn diagrams.

This course will be helpful to those planning on writing standardized tests for law school, graduate school, or medical school. It is also good background for more advanced logic courses, and in general, it is a good course for improving reasoning skills with applications to any field.

Credit Exclusions:

Credit is granted for only one of PHIL 180 or 201.

An introduction to logic at the elementary level. Topics include discussions of such notions as the validity and invalidity of arguments, fallacies in reasoning, the nature of argument, and the justification of belief. Basic elements of deductive reasoning are considered, and there is a survey of fundamental principles of modern formal logic. Elements of inductive reasoning may also be discussed.

The course is taught in sections of 25 students, which should allow for ample discussion.

In this course we will survey some of the most important moral theories. Among the questions we will address are: What reasons do we have to act morally? Are there moral facts, and if so, how can we know them? What is the relationship between human nature and morality? What distinguishes morally permissible actions from actions that are morally impermissible? Grades will be determined on the basis of exams, papers, and class participation.

Advisory Prerequisites:

One philosophy introduction.

This course is an introduction to American politics, with an emphasis on the Constitution, the electoral process and political participation, and the decision-making process in Congress, the executive branch, and the federal courts. We will use theories of politics, as well as historical and current events, to develop an understanding of the structures and processes of our government. In addition to two lectures per week, you will meet twice a week in a discussion section led by a GSI. In these sections you will have the opportunity to discuss the readings, ask any questions you might have about lectures or readings, and address topics in more depth than the lectures permit. Your grade will be based on exams, participation in discussion section, and assignments from your GSI.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Primarily for first and second year students.

This course will explore varieties of political thought from its origins in the early distinction between nature and convention in ancient Athens to the emerging problem of political obligation at the end of the sixteenth century in Europe. As we develop an understanding of the various theories and how they build on or reject previous views, we will consider how fundamental assumptions concerning Nature, the basis of knowledge (epistemology), the existence of God, the status of the individual lie at the foundation of any coherent political theory concerned with problems of justice, equality, and the best political regime.

This course treats American national elections, both presidential and congressional, as institutionalized expressions of public opinion. The central purpose is to gain a better understanding of the democratic process in the US. Specifically, we will examine how much the average citizen knows about politics and how — and how well — they select their political leaders.

Advisory Prerequisites:

POLSCI 111 or upperclass standing.

State governments are alternatively ignored as irrelevant, squeezed fiscally by the federal government, or championed as policy laboratories and the providers of government tailored to fit local needs. The American union began as a compact of independent states under the Articles of Confederation, but has evolved to the point where the states often seem to be no more than administrative levels of government. No education in the American government is complete without a serious examination of its vertical construction. What is the relevance of state government to the American political system? How does federalism affect our economy, our domestic policy, our foreign affairs? And how do we voters control a government divided vertically? We will learn about important general principles including decentralization and efficiency, collective action problems, positive and negative externalities, the “race to the bottom,” and “voting with your feet.” These theoretical concepts will be embedded within a discussion of important policy realms, including education, welfare, and the environment.

Enforced Prerequisites:

POLSCI 111 or upperclass standing.

This course examines the effects of globalization on the international security environment. Topics will include economic interdependence, transnational organizations, terrorism, proliferation, and resource conflict. The course will explore these issues primarily through the lens of U.S. foreign policy, but the implications for other states and the international system will be considered as well.

Advisory Prerequisites:

POLSCI 160 or upperclass standing.

The paradigm for this course is how the LEGAL PROCESS can impact the POLITICAL PROCESS to bring about SOCIAL CHANGE. We will focus on court rulings that have precipitated change in our society, and conversely, social change that led to changes in the law. The class will include analysis of grass-roots activists working through the courts, with emphasis on their political impact on the legal process. In other words, we will see how a lawsuit, as it moves through the court, may affect the political process. Our discussion of legal activity will range from cases that historically had a strong and lasting social impact to current cases involving significant contemporary issues. One major focus will be the litigation leading to a moratorium on the death penalty in Illinois and the exoneration of death-row inmates wrongly convicted of capital crimes. The course will also examine Congressional, judicial, and political action toward elimination of racial discrimination, disability law, and social change in time of war. There will be guest speakers, including attorneys, plaintiffs, and public officials, who are actively involved in these issues and other cases covered in the class.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Seniors only.

This seminar will study the relationship between law and psychology within a general framework. We will examine a number of real cases that have been covered by the popular press (e.g., the trial of Lorena Bobbitt) as well as some fictional accounts (e.g., Grisham's A Time to Kill) with regard to how the law defines the limits of personal responsibility. We will also discuss the psychological import of legal issues such as the insanity defense, and battered wife syndrome. Each student will write a weekly commentary as well as a "closing argument" that will be presented to the class for one of the cases under consideration.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Enrollment restricted to first-year students, including those with sophomore standing.

Students will become involved in a one-on-one friendship with a child in the community age four through fifteen years. You will develop a meaningful individual relationship with a child in need of a role model, mentor, and companion. The program enables you to become involved in the larger Ann Arbor community as you and your little sib participate in free or low cost, educational and fun activities. The corresponding lecture series addresses various issues that impact childhood.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Prior or concurrent enrollment in an introductory Psychology course.

Help patients and families in medical facilities, community health clinics, elderly residential settings and community crisis centers. Opportunities include offering empathy, emotional and practical support, in the context of supervised care, and education. Work with a wide range of populations including children, adults, and the elderly. Learn about a variety of contemporary topics related to the field of health care and health promotion.

Advisory Prerequisites:

Prior or concurrent enrollment in an introductory Psychology course.

Abnormal psychology entails the scientific study of aberrant behaviors, broadly defined. However, there is no universal consensus on the definition, classification, and treatment of psychological disorders. As we shall quickly see, what is deemed abnormal and how it develops or is treated will partly depend on the particular perspective taken. Hence, a key goal of this course is to guide students toward a broad and critical understanding of 'abnormal behavior' from a number of different perspectives. We will accomplish this by exploring, evaluating, and discussing various strengths and weaknesses of different perspectives for understanding psychology based on the theoretical and empirical literature. Films may be used to illustrate some of the important concepts mentioned in the lectures and in the readings. Your final grade will be based on the total number of points you obtain from regular quizzes and exams. In addition, a paper may be required. Note, it is the student's responsibility to be in attendance for all lecture classes. Quizzes, which are given at the start of class, cannot be made up for any reason, and will be given starting the second lecture class. (Therefore, students who are interested in taking this course should make sure to attend the first lecture class.) Students who are late or who do not attend lectures risk missing quizzes and exams that cannot be made up. Missing lectures, quizzes, exams, and failing to complete a paper, will have a direct impact on your final grade.

Enforced Prerequisites:

One of the following: PSYCH 111, 112, 114, or 115. With permission of instructor.

This course introduces students to the field of social psychology by covering such topics as: social inference, schemas, attribution, conformity and obedience, altruism, stereotypes and prejudice, interpersonal attraction, aggression, and attitudes and persuasion. Students are evaluated by means of exams and classroom contributions, and through papers. Instructional methods include assigned readings, lectures, films, demonstrations, and weekly discussion sections.

Enforced Prerequisites:

[PSYCH 111 or 112 or 114 or 115 or 116] and STATS 350.

The main idea that we want to get across is implicit in the title: Systematic thinking — largely from the social sciences, but with the application of scientific methods and knowledge more generally — can make a difference in the way that we approach and solve current problems.

This will be a sophomore level course, offered for four credit hours. The class will consist of three hours of lecture and one section review each week. For each topic, there will be at least two faculty members, teaching a module together. Between 3 and 6 of these topics will be covered: vaccines and drugs for diseases that are more prevalent in developing countries; the Kyoto accords and policy related to global warming; No Child Left Behind and other national education policy issues; national health insurance; AIDS (national and international); intellectual property issues (such as the case involving Google); electoral college reform; affordability of higher education; globalization, trade and U.S. workers; and stem cell research.

Paul Courant served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan from 2002-2005. He is currently Professor of Economics and Public Policy and Faculty Associate in the Institute for Social Research.

Enforced Prerequisites:

ECON 101.

Advisory Prerequisites:

One additional introductory social science course.

This course for advanced undergraduates focuses on key current research in the areas family sociology and the sociology of marriage. The course will focus on three specific themes. The first theme will examine the research methods used by social scientists to study family change and variation. This theme will include attention to research design, survey method, ethnographic methods, mixed methods, calendar methods and longitudinal research. Though the focus will be on marriage and family, the methods we examine will be useful for research on a wide range of social science topics.

Reading List

1. Axinn, W.G. and L. Pearce. 2006. Mixed Method Data Collection Strategies. New York: Cambridge University Press.
2. Jayakody, R., A. Thornton, and W.G. Axinn (eds.). 2007. International Family Change: Ideational Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
3. Thornton, A., W.G. Axinn, and Y. Xie. 2007. Marriage and Cohabitation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

The second theme will be marriage and cohabitation in the United States. This theme will include a historical overview of marriage practices in Western civilizations, consideration recent changes and variations in marriage and cohabitation, an exploration of family and intergenerational influences on marital and cohabiting decisions, and an examination of the connections among sex and dating, religion, attitudes and beliefs, education, and work and marriage and cohabitation. This theme will offer a detailed look into the ways that marriage and family intersect with many other key dimensions of social life.

The third theme will be ideational influences on family change and variation around the world. This theme will take a global perspective, examining family practices and family change in countries representing every continent. This theme will juxtapose the role of change and variation in ideas and beliefs with the role of economic and institutional context in producing family change a variation.

Advisory Prerequisites:

One introductory course in Sociology.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

In this section, students will work with children at Pittsfield Elementary School in Ann Arbor. Primarily students will be placed in a classroom, under the direction of that room’s teacher. Their responsibilities may include: running reading groups, working with groups of children on class projects, math tutoring, and one-on-one instruction with children experiencing difficulty with the schoolwork. Opportunities are also available for students to work with the school’s ESL program (Pittsfield Elementary is home to a significant Spanish-speaking population), or to work in the media center with small groups of students on computers or media activities. Students interested in these specific opportunities should convey this information to their facilitator on the first day of class.

Students will be required at site for 4 hours each week between 8:48am-3:42pm, Monday-Friday. Transportation is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Latino Family Services (LFS) is a community agency that provides and coordinates comprehensive human services to residents of Wayne County with a particular emphasis on its Latino residents. Students in this section will be working with Latino Family Services in Detroit to assist students (K-11th grade) in an after-school program focused on academic assistance, mentoring, and recreational activities.

Students will be expected at site one day each week. Site times are Mondays-Thursdays on site from 3:30-7:00pm. In addition, please allow ample driving time (approximately 1 hour each way). Transportation is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

This section is designed to provide a unique opportunity for U-M students to gain experience working on educational outreach programs through the College Corps, a new program sponsored by the U-M Center for Educational Outreach.

Students enrolled this section will be part of the College Corps, and will provide academic support to high school students in Inskter, MI through after school tutoring, study skills enhancement, and advising on college a preparatory curriculum, as well as presenting a comprehensive curriculum of college awareness and information. Members of the College Corps will also participate in pre-scheduled activities created to provide high school students the opportunity to visit the UM campus once per semester. Additionally, the UM College Corps program will provide a college awareness open house for parents and school staff once a semester.

The purpose of the College Corps is to expose high school students to the opportunities made available to them through higher education, to educate them about the college-going process, and to prepare them for their journey toward the achievement of a college degree. Additionally, College Corps members will focus on instilling in the high school students the importance of a college education, the opportunities a college education can provide and, most importantly, the belief that a college education is absolutely an achievable goal. College Corps members will receive training on working effectively with youth in an educational setting and will be challenged to consider how programs can be designed and implemented to eliminate barriers to higher education among underserved populations.

Students will be expected at site for approximately 3-4 hours per week, including drive time. The exact schedule is still TBD, but students should be mindful to have time available for site in the afternoon. Students will also participate is special events through the site, including presentations and trainings. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: Participation in this section is by override-only. Students interested in enrolling should email Marie Ting, Program Manager for the Center for Educational Outreach, at maript@umich.edu, or call her at 734.764.1424. Students will be asked to complete a short application. If the section is a fit, an override will be processed, giving student permission to enroll in the section.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community pcinfo@umich.edu. In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will help to develop and implement children’s programs in Avalon Housing’s Carrot Way Community Center, and affordable housing development in Ann Arbor. During the after-school program, students will help the young residents of the Carrot Way community (ranging K-8th grade) with homework, and then participate in an outdoor walk or arts & crafts activity. The participating children go to school in the Ann Arbor Public School system, primarily at Northside Elementary and Clague Middle School.

Students in this section are expected to be at site once a week. The after-school program at Carrot Way is from 3:30-6:30pm Monday-Thursday, with priority given to having volunteer coverage on Tuesdays-Thursdays. Students will need to sign up for their regularly scheduled volunteer day on the first day of class. Students may need to attend an initial orientation that will be scheduled at the beginning of the term. To allow time for traveling to and from site, students should be available 3:00-7:00pm on their selected day of service. Transportation is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will work with middle and grade school students through the Peace Neighborhood Center in Ann Arbor. Students will assist with the after-school tutoring program and with other activities as determined by the Peace Center.

Students are responsible for volunteering twice per week Monday-Thursday from 4:00pm-6:00pm. Students should allow for driving time, beginning at 3:30pm on the days they volunteer. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

For any other questions, please contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

The EFEX Project is a community engagement and social entrepreneurship program created by Beyond Blue Productions and University of Michigan students and staff. The project uses the process of filmmaking as a comprehensive approach to teach young people how to live prosperous, socially valuable lives and to provide pathways to diversity in higher education. By partnering metro Detroit high school students, University students, and working professionals, we create a cross cultural mentor system that teaches media literacy, team work, goal setting, professionalism, and communication skills, while simultaneously producing a socially relevant product.

Students in this course will work collaboratively with program staff to facilitate workshops and tutor high school students on the many aspects of filmmaking. This includes scriptwriting and revising, location scouting, film budgeting, proposal writing, and directing. The University and high school students will work together towards the planning and organizing of the EFEX Project’s next feature film, to be shot in the summer of 2010. The theme will be global health issues and disparities in the local health system.

Students must be available for site work on Mondays or Wednesdays from 1:30-5:00 p.m. including drive time. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will work with elderly adults at the Sunrise Senior Living Community in Ann Arbor. Students may be matched with a resident in order to develop a relationship and identify a common area of interest to explore together. Students may also work as a group to set up and participate in activities with some of the residents at Sunrise.

Students will be expected at site for 3 hours each week. Site time is flexible and can be arranged around the student's schedule. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

The Shelter Association of Washtenaw County (SAWC), located in Ann Arbor and housed in the Robert J. Delonis Center, is dedicated to serving individuals experiencing homelessness by addressing basic human needs — such as emergency shelter, food, healthcare and clothing while assisting them in their effort to establish or increase income, save money and find sustainable housing. Over 1300 individuals are served at the SAWC each year.

Students in this section will work with the Shelter Association to assist in one or several of their programs (e.g., Night Shelter/Residential Program, Services Only, Warming Center, etc.). Students are generally involved in nearly every aspect of the Shelter's services, including serving breakfast to residents, conducting brief assessments, offering resources & information to clients, etc. More importantly, as student volunteers you will help to create a safe and caring environment where listening empathetically and talking to the clients are at the core of the clients' and volunteer experience alike.

Students will be expected to volunteer on site for an average of four hours each week. Most shifts are scheduled in 4-hour blocks (except for the "Breakfast" and "Front Door" shifts, which are two 2 hours in length); all shifts run between 6:00am-11:00pm. Times can be arranged according to the students' schedules. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: In order to participate in the program, students must attend mandatory volunteer orientation on either September 5th or 12th. You must give the facilitator your email address on the first day of class in order to receive the training packet to read before the training. Students who are unable to attend the training will be unable to participate in this section.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will work with Ozone House in Ann Arbor as crisis-line volunteers. Ozone House is an agency dedicated to improving the situations of runaway, homeless, and at-risk youth ages 10-20 and their families. The organization provides free and confidential services to at-risk and troubled youth.

To participate in this section, students must attend a mandatory orientation session and complete an application for legal purposes. The orientation will be in September (TBA).

After attending orientation, each SOC 389 student must complete 40 hours of intensive training to be eligible to be a crisis line volunteer. If you do not complete all training sessions, you will not be able to volunteer at Ozone House. The training dates will be throughout September and will be announced here, once they are established.

After training is completed, students in this section will be expected at site for one 3- or 4-hour shift each week. The possible shifts are 9:00am-1:00pm, 1:00-5:00pm, or 5:00-8:00pm, Monday-Friday, (no 5:00-8:00pm shift on Fridays). Students are also asked to make a 6 month commitment to Ozone House. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: All students registering for this section will have a background check run by the facility. Any student who thinks he or she may not be eligible to participate should choose another section.

NOTE: This section is override-only. To interview for a place in the section, please contact the Ozone House Volunteer Coordinator, Michelle Jones, at 734-662-2265, or email her at mjones@ozonehouse.org. After a student’s successful interview, an override can be processed.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will work directly with the University of Michigan’s Spectrum Center to develop a service learning program that connects students with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and ally community organizations. Educational objectives will include developing, sustaining, and evaluating LGBT identity focused programs. No previous experience is necessary, but students should be open-minded and enthusiastic about service around LGBT issues.

Students in this section must participate in approximately four hours of site-related work each week — two of which will be at a LGBT community site and two of which will be at the Spectrum Center. A student’s regular site time will be negotiated when the seminar meets at the beginning of the term, when each student will be asked to share related interests and availability. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: Participation in this section is by override-only. Students interested in enrolling should email Lauren Sherry, Assistant Director of the Spectrum Center, at lasherry@umich.edu. She will ask each interested student to respond to a few questions to determine if the opportunity is a good fit. If it is, an override will be processed, giving the student permission to enroll in the section.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community pcinfo@umich.edu. In your email, please give the name of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will volunteer with Planned Parenthood’s Public Advocacy department. Students will assist PPMSM (Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan) External Affairs staff in efforts to ensure broad access to reproductive health care information and services. Students will be involved in community outreach, grassroots organizing, and public affairs programs. Specific tasks will include assisting at visibility and awareness events, working with coalition partners, organizing the public around legislative issues and more. Educational objectives will include detailed knowledge of sexual health, community assessment, grassroots organizing techniques, and action planning. No previous experience is necessary, but students should be open-minded and enthusiastic about service that contributes to Planned Parenthood’s mission and philosophy.

Students will be expected at site every Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Transportation to and from site is offered by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: Participation in this section is by override-only. Students interested in enrolling should email Liz Vanalstyne, Public Advocacy Coordinator of Planned Parenthood Mid and South Michigan, at: ( liz.vanalstyne @ppmchoice.org) or call her at 734.929.9476. Students will be asked to participate in a short interview. If the section is a fit, an override will be processed, giving student permission to enroll in the section.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.

Course Notes:

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

Questions should be directed to the Project Community office, 1024 Hill Street, (734) 647-7767, pcinfo@umich.edu.

Students in this section will work at the Washtenaw County Jail, a facility for adult offenders, located in Ann Arbor approximately 10 minutes from campus. This section will be conducting creative writing seminars for male inmates in minimum-security blocks. No former creative writing experience is necessary, just enthusiasm and an open mind! Students will be expected to bring and share ideas to plan and facilitate the creative writing workshops.

Students will be expected at site 6:15-8:15pm on Mondays. Students must allow for driving time, beginning at 5:45pm on Mondays. Groups that arrive late to the facility may not be allowed to enter. Transportation to and from site is provided by Project Community and coordinated through the section facilitator.

NOTE: Students must be at least 18 years old to participate in this section, due to volunteer requirements at the site.

NOTE: All students registering for this section will have a background check run by the facility. Any student who thinks he or she may not be eligible to participate should choose a section in another program area.

Students enrolled in SOC 389 are responsible for regular attendance in a weekly seminar as well as participation at a designated community service site each week. In addition, students will complete weekly readings and reflective journal assignments, a midterm assignment, and a final paper/project.

If you have questions, contact Project Community (pcinfo@umich.edu). In your email, please give the name and number of the section about which you are inquiring.

Enforced Prerequisites:

With permission of instructor.