CMN 205
Communication, Culture, and Community
Dr. Daniel Makagon
Office: SAC 596
Office Hours: Wednesday
1:00-2:00
Phone: (773) 325-7376
e-mail: dmakagon@depaul.edu
home page: http://condor.depaul.edu/~dmakagon/
Course
Objectives
This course examines relationships among culture,
communication, institutions, and public and private life. We will explore the
various ways in which people gather to form community, the role of public space
in community and public life, and the challenges people face as they try to
come together. Second, we will critically examine questions of commitment and
participation; place and identity; and issues of class, gender, race, and
ethnicity as they are inflected in various dimensions of contemporary community
conflict and cohesiveness. Finally, the course will provide a context where
students can experientially explore the practical, ethical, and moral problems
that arise in contemporary community life through service learning.
CMN 205
course fulfills the Junior Year Experiential Learning Requirement. The
experiential learning requirement engages students in the first-hand discovery
of knowledge through observation and participation in activities in an
unpredictable setting, usually (but not exclusively) off-campus. Students are
asked to reflect on what they have learned about themselves, others, and a larger
social context given the connection between course content and their
experience. To do this, they may have contact with a community, an
international setting, a workforce environment, or take on a role in the
classroom or laboratory that is substantively different than that of student,
such as model the professional behavior of a researcher or teacher.
You are
required to complete 25 hours of volunteer work (which includes training if
training is needed) during the quarter. If you do not complete those hours then
you have not completed the course (i.e., you will receive an "F" in the class).
Required
Texts
All course readings are available
on-line at http://condor.depaul.edu/~dmakagon/student
Course
Assignments
Class
participation 10%
Quizzes 30%
Mid-term
Essay (4-6 pages) 30%
Final
Journal 30%
You are
required to complete the reading assignments before you attend class. This will lead to more fruitful
discussion.
The
Mid-Term paper should serve as a think
piece on volunteer service and community life more generally. This assignment
asks you to write an analysis that grows from your engagement with course
material. The objective of this paper is to assess relationships among
volunteer work, community, and public life. In general, you should develop a
thesis that considers these questions: a) "What have I learned about
community?" b) "What is the value of community participation on the public and
private level?" and c) "How does volunteerism help shape community and public
life?" This paper requires you provide more than a description of your
experiences. You need to write an essay that establishes a claim about the
relationship between service work and community life. This assignment is truly
a mid-term in that it asks you to stay within the texts to ground your claims
rather than asking you to do outside research. This paper is due on April 30
in class.
Each
member of the class will keep a journal.
Your journal should consist of one of the following (or some combination):
(a) An entry focusing on your reflections about the
material you've read for class that week. For example, you can write questions
you want to raise in our class discussion, disputes you have with the
author(s), or general comments about the text.
(b) An entry describing your volunteer work for the week.
What did you do as a volunteer? What happened at the service organization that
week? How does it feel to work there as a volunteer? These entries should be
considered as fieldnotes and will contribute to your final analysis paper at
the end of the semester. If you do not volunteer during certain weeks then use
the second entry to reflect on the relationships between the reading and your
volunteer work. How does the reading help you understand your volunteer work in
general? How does your volunteer work alter/stretch/challenge the theories
advanced in the reading?
All of the entries should be at least two (2) pages in
length (typed and double-spaced) and should be written in essay form rather
than as a collection of random thoughts or free-floating sentences/bullet
points. Always keep your journal up to date and bring it to each class
meeting. I may collect them at any time during the semester. If you do not have
your journal, you will not receive credit for your journal at that time.
I will
grade your journal each time it is collected, and factor that grade (5% each
time) toward your total grade. If you do not turn in a journal until the end of
the term, or the journal is very incomplete when you do submit it, there will
be no way to earn an "A" for this portion of your grade. At the end of the
semester I will give you an overall grade for your journal, which will consider
improvement made throughout the semester. Your complete and final journal is
due June 11th by 3:30 PM.
Pop
quizzes will feature a mix of short answer
and multiple-choice questions. The quizzes will allow me to gauge how well you
understand the arguments made in the readings. Unlike your papers and class
discussion, where I am interested in your opinions about the issues and the
strength of the writer's argument(s), the quizzes are designed for you to state
the author's argument only. In other words, I am not striving to understand what
you think about the issues; rather, I am interested in how well you understand
the construction of the author's argument. If we do not understand what s/he's
saying then our critique of her/his work will not be properly grounded.
Possible points for each quiz question will be listed after the question
(usually 10 or 20 points per question for short answer 2-5 points per question
for multiple choice). Answers will be graded based on your ability to clearly
summarize the author's argument(s) and use examples from the reading to support
your answer(s).
Participation grades are factored by considering how often you
participate in class discussion and how that discussion advances our overall
learning (i.e., I will consider how your questions help us understand difficult
passages in course readings, how your contributions further discussion rather
than hinder discussion, how your comments foster lively debate, how your
participation grows from an engagement with the reading and college experience
rather than functioning to advance an autobiographical tale only). In short, I
consider quantity and quality of participation. If you miss very few classes
and your participation level is excellent, you can expect an "A" for this
portion of your grade. If you miss very few classes and your participation
level is above average (i.e., you participate every other class rather than
every class session), you can expect a "B" for this portion of your grade. If
you miss very few classes and your participation level is average, you can
expect a "C" for this portion of your grade. This grade will also be assigned
for students who attend every class but do not participate in discussion or who
refrain from asking questions. If you miss the most possible classes you can
miss without failing the class and your participation level is average, you can
expect a "D" for this portion of your grade.
Course Policies
Attendance
and Active Participation are
expected and required.
Promptness is expected as a general rule. If you are consistently
late to class, your grade will be negatively affected.
If
you miss more than two class sessions, you will receive an "F' in the
class (even if the absences are excused). Missing this many class sessions
undermines the integrity of the classroom experience. If you miss this much
class because of illness or a family emergency, you should meet with the Dean
of Students to discuss withdrawal options.
All
assignments are due on assigned days and times. There will be NO MAKE UPS. Documented illnesses or documented emergencies are
the only exception to this policy. Changes in work schedules, personal
celebrations (e.g., birthdays), or vacations are NOT considered to be
legitimate reasons for missing assignment deadlines or class meetings. If you
miss a quiz and have documentation for your absence then you will take the quiz
on the next date you attend class.
If
you know that you will be missing a class because of a religious holiday or an
official school function, let me know in writing at least two weeks before the
absence so we can make arrangements to make up missed work.
Students
with disabilities should provide me with documentation from the Office of
Students with Disabilities.
If
you have a cellular phone or pager, turn it off or set it to vibrate.
Plagiarism will be discussed below but for now you should note that all cell
phones must be put away during quizzes and you should not be sending or reading
text messages during class sessions. Unless you use a laptop to take notes,
there is no reason to bring a laptop to this class.
Please
make sure my e-mail address is listed on your approved list if you are using a
commercial e-mail provider.
Plagiarism
I
have often found that plagiarism becomes tempting if students are feeling
pressured. Remember, when in doubt quote. If you are quoting somebody directly
then you need to list the information within quotation marks and cite a page
number. If you are paraphrasing then you need to cite the person and a page
number. Never copy and paste entire documents into your paper and do not quote
others to the point where your ideas become indistinguishable from your
source's ideas. There is no reason to plagiarize given the resources available
to you (e.g., opportunities to meet with me; coaches in the writing center; my
handout on writing for the class; and DePaul's policy on academic integrity
available at http://studentaffairs.depaul.edu/handbook/code16.html).
If you do plagiarize, you will automatically receive a grade of "F"
in this class. Moreover, the Academic Affairs office will be contacted.
Grade Scale
93-100 A, 90-92 A-, 88-89
B+, 83-87 B, 80-82 B-, 78-79 C+, 73-77 C, 70-72 C-, 60-69 D,
0-59 F