Individuals, Society, and Justice
CJS 102
Contact Information and Course Overview
Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey A. Walsh
Office: Schroeder Hall Rm. 412
Phone: 309-438-3221
Office Hours: T/Th 12:30-1:30 and by appt. I am available online daily during the week and can plan for online chat, Zoom, email or telephone communication.
Email: jawalsh@ilstu.edu - use this email address to communicate with me NOT the Reggienet in-course email. I do not check the Reggienet email enough and I can not reply to it from a mobile device.
Welcome to the CJS 102 - Individuals, Society, and Justice.
This is an overview survey course designed to explore and examine diverse issues related to justice and civic life including an eclectic variety of both historical and contemporary topics of inquiry. The course seeks to increase student awareness of social issues related to justice, injustice, inequality, civic engagement, power differentials in society, and social responsibility. The rule of law as it relates to justice and injustice will be examined and how this has impacted society. We will explore several historical examples and some that are more contemporary in an effort to explore some interesting, informative, and formative social events in society. Students will be exposed to and examine in-depth a wide range of topics to include civil society, poverty, economics and social structure, eugenics, genocide, slavery, criminal justice/criminology, drug policy, incarceration, and health disparities & disease epidemiology. Controversy and human consequence surrounds many of the topics we will be discussing and students will need to hone their critical thinking skills and apply these skills to each issue throughout the course. Reradings will supplemnent the lectures but students should also do their own inquiry utilizing reliable and reputable resources avaiable to via the internet and Milner Library. In sum, my hope is to inform you about some significant events that have deeply impacted society and our conception of justice and, maybe more importantly, injustice.
I am pleased you have signed up for this course and I am very excited about offering this course to you. This course has quickly become one of my very favorite classes to teach. I am obtimistic that you will enjoy the material and find the topics thought provoking. As with most things in life, you get out of this course what you put into it - I encourage you to do the supplemental readings, review the supplemental material, and do some investigation on your own. Remember, knowledge is power so and education is the path to knowledge. The internet is an incredible tool to acquire additional information on the topics we talk about - be discerning but use it and explore areas and interests that you have!
Requirements and Expectations
Technical Requirements: You must have access to a computer, a reliable internet connection, and a video player. Also, you will have access to the powerpoint decks that I lecture from (after the lectures) so you will want to be able to open those on your computer. If you have technology issues please contact the ISU Help desk as soon as possible to get some help resolving that. Most things are pretty easy to resolve but you've got to seek the solution. Much of the reading material for this course is run through Reggienet so you will also need to familiarize yourself with Reggienet if you have not done so in other courses. If you have not had any experience with Reggienet please locate the online resources at the university - there are sme great tutorial and get started guides. You will want to knw how the system works for most of your courses on campus. I will take you through the basics on the first day of class related to our specific course webpage so you know where things are located.
Instruction Format: This is a large lecture course with approx. 300 people registered in the course. If you are taking the course in-person please be on-time to the classroom to make sure you have a spot to sit where you want and to minimize disruptions of other students in the course. I will do my best to create opportunities for anyone who wants to contribute to the discussion to be able to do so. I can commit to you that I will bring my own enthusiasm for the topics we cover and will introdue you to some events and ideas that you will find interesting and thought provoking. There will be supplemental readings available in the Resources tab of the Reggienet course page. This information is used to help convey important information to you and contextualize events beyond the classroom experience.
Here is a link to a variety of ReggieNet tutorials and information sheets to help you get started.
Required Textbook:
1. Bales, K. Blood and Earth. Spiegel & Grau: Random House. (This is not a textbook and can be purchased online or through Amazon etc. - you will have two quizzes over material in this book). I do not lecture from this book and while the material overlaps with parts of what we directly cover this book is to be read independently. You will be surprised and appalled by what you learn.
2. There will be a number of readings posted on the course webpage which will correspond to each week's topic of discussion. These readings are supplemental to the lecture material but you are strongly encouraged to read some of these to round out your knowldge on the topics. I will also make additional respources as needed available to you. It does not really matter to me whether you read them prior to class to be familiar wth the topic we will be talking about, or if you read them after class to round out what was just discussed. Do what works best for you in terms of acquiring the knowledge and the social contexts for the events we are discussing so that you can retain the information.
Much of what is presented throughout the course is a compilation of materials I have gathered from my own research and readings in these areas. It is important that you listen to the lecture material, watch the videos, participate in the discussion boards, and hear the stories. Class lectures where the vast mojority of exam material will come from. Quizzes will also be largely drawn from class material and required readings from the book required for the course.
Class Tolerance Policy: I expect that everyone will be tolerant in their views and respectful in their comments and opinions both. It is important that everyone be cordial and respectful.. I know sometimes people have strong opinions about topics of discussion but part of being an adult and a professional is finding the right way to make your opinions heard and not to overtly offend others with your views.
Attendance & Participation: It is expected that all students enrolled in the course will stay current with course material and participate in discussion, activities, exercises, quizzes, and exams at their designated times. I also encourage you to get to know some classmates so that you can have others to bounce ideas off of and share notes and exam preparations, etc.
Exams: There will be four (3) exams throughout the semester typically on Thursdays of the weeks they are scheduled. They will not be comprehensive exams and each block of material is independent from the other class material we will cover. Each exam is worth 100 points. You will know well in advance when exams will be given. I suspect/anticipate that exams will be given around the 6th, 12th, and 17th (Final Exam) weeks of class. As you can see the bulk of your points are established by the points you earn on these 3 exams. It is very important that you prepare well for these and this includes readings, listening to lectures and taking notes on the material, and participating in discussions. I will tell you more about the type of exam, length, etc. at a later date. Please plan accordingly and do not miss an exam. Given the size of the lass I do not have procedures in place to accommodate missed exams or quizzes. Please plan to take all exams and quizzes at their scheduled times or risk getting a 0. The only accepted excuses are Dr's. notes and ISU Dean of Students approved absences.
Quizzes: There will be two quizzes during the semester around the 9th, and 16th weeks of class. Each quiz will be worth 25 points, totaling 50 points of your final grade. Quizzes will reflect the lecture material and the Bales book you are assigned to read in this class. Quizzes will be administered in an online format during the scheduled class time. Again, you must plan acordingly to be available to take the quiz on the date and at the time scheduled. Discussion Boards/Forums: There will be 11 sets of discussion/forum questions that you must respond to corresponding to the material covered in the course. Some weeks have one questions and some weeks have multiple. You must respond to all questions asked. These are typically not right or wrong types of questions/answers and will not be graded as such. These are opportunities for you to express your views or ideas and insights on topics of class relevance. Each set of questions is woth 2 points and these are the easiest points to earn in the class, totaling 22 points of your final grade. Just provide a meaningful contribution to the discussion and you will earn the points. Discussion board posts are due on Sundays by 11:55pm to be counted for that week. Late posts will not be counted or assigned points. As you are reviewing the weekly outline for the course in this syllabus you will notice that the discussion question weeks are denoted in the assignment section for the week.