Spring 1998 Office Hours:

Tu 9:00 -10:00 and 11:15-12:00
We 6:30 - 7:00
Th 9:00 - 10:00
and by appointment

ACIV 353

X2079

Pincus@UMBC.EDU
 

This is a seminar course for advanced undergraduates and graduate students. It will be a small class and students will participate in the designing and teaching of the course. It is my belief that students learn more when they feel they have control over the educational process. Therefore, I am committed to sharing power with members of the class.
 

The first task is to design the course. What follows is a suggested syllabus. EVERYTHING IS NEGOTIABLE -- topics, readings and the grading system. We will begin by reading Ira Shor's When Students Have Power: Negotiating Authority in A Critical Pegagogy. In this book, Shor explains the philosophy behind empowering students and provides detail about an empowerment experiment with one of his classes. We will spend the first two classes discussing Shor and designing the syllabus for this class.
 

After selecting the topics and readings, students will be assigned to co-teach the class along with the instructor and, possibly, with another student depending upon how large the class is. This presentation and the accompanying paper will be a major portion of the students' grade. All students are expected to come to class regularly, to do the assigned reading and to participate in the class discussions.
 
 

REQUIRED TEXTS:
 
 
Steven Brint and Jerome Karabel

The Diverted Dream: Community Colleges and the Promise of Educational Opportunity in America, 1900 - 1985. New York: Oxford, 1989.

Mildred Garcia

Affirmative Action's Testament of Hope: Strategies for a New Era in Higher Education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997.
 
Ruth Sidel

Battling Bias: The Struggle for Identity and Community on College Campuses. New York: Penguin, 1994.
 

Ira Shor

When Students Have Power:Negotiating Authority in A Critical Pedagogy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
 

Lawrence C. Soley

Leasing the Ivory Tower: The Corporate Takeover of Academia. Boston: South End Press, 1995.
 
 
John K. Wilson

The Myth of Political Correctness: The Conservative Attack on Higher Education. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1995.
 

(All of these books are in paperback and available at the UMBC Bookstore. They are also on reserve in the library.)
 
 

COURSE OUTLINE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:

(Readings with * are required for graduate students only)
 

January 28: Introduction
 
Discuss Syllabus

Shor When Students Have Power Chs. 1, 2, 3

Pincus "Higher Education Statistics: 1998" (handout)
 

February 4: Pedagogy of Empowerment
 

Shor When Students Have Power Chs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Finalize syllabus
 

February 11 Empirical Findings on Inequality
 

E.T. Pascarella and P.T. Terenzini How College Affects Students, Jossey-Bass, 1991.

Ch. 9 "Educational Attainment." (reserve)

* Ch. 10 "Career Choice and Development" (reserve)

Ch. 11 "Economic Benefits of College." (reserve)
 

February 18: Theories of Educational Inequality
 

1. W. Feinberg and J. F. Soltis School and Society, Second Edition, Temple University Press, 1992.

Ch. 2 "The Functionalist Perspective on Schooling." (reserve)

Ch. 3 "Functional Theory, Policy and Problems." (reserve)
 

2. F.L. Pincus "Marxist Theories of the Sociology of Education." (reserve)
 

3. R. Farnum "Elite College Discrimination and the Limits of Conflict Theory." Harvard Educational Review, 67, Fall 1997: 507-530. (Reserve)
 

REACTION PAPER #1 DUE
 

February 25: Political Economy of Higher Education
 

Nature of college-educated labor force

Funding crisis

Cost to students, etc
 

March 4: Higher Education and the Business Community
 

1. N.E. Bowie "Advantages of University-Business Partnerships" In University-Business Partnerships: An Assessment. Rowman and Littlefield, 1994, 45-49. (Reserve)
 

2. L.C. Soley Leasing the Ivory Tower.

Ch. 1-6, 9, Epilogue
 

3. Recent UM Document
 

4. T. Nugent With Honors? Is UMBC's Focus on Corporate Research Getting in the Way of its Classroom Mission? City Paper, August 27, 1997; (Reserve)
 
 
March 11: The Role of Community Colleges in Higher Education (1)
 

1. A. Cohen and F. Brawer The American Community College, Second Edition. Jossey-Bass, 1989.

Ch. 1 "Background: Evolving Priorities and Expectations of the Community College." (reserve)
 

2. S. Brint and J. Karabel The Diverted Dream, Oxford, 1989

Ch. 1-4
 

March 18: The Role of Community Colleges in Higher Education (2)
 

1. S. Brint and J. Karabel

Ch. 8

* Ch. 5, 6, 7
 

2. A. Cohen and F. Brawer

Ch. 13 "The Social Role: A Response to the Critics." (reserve)
 

3. F. L. Pincus "Customized Contract Training in Community Colleges" (reserve)
 
 
April 1: The Struggle Over the Curriculum
 
 N. Glazer

We Are All Multiculturalists Now, Harvard University Press, 1997 (reserve)

Ch. 5 "Dealing With Diversity, Past and Present"
 

J.K.Wilson

The Myth of Political Correctness, Ch. 1,2,3.
 
 
L. Soley Leasing the Ivory Tower

Ch. 7 "Right-Thinking Campus Think Tanks"

Ch. 8 "Servicing Their Patrons"
 

SECOND REACTION PAPER DUE
 
 
April 8: Racial Conflict on Campus (1)
 

T. Sowell
 
R. Sidel Battling Bias, Penguin, 1994

Half of book,
 

April 15: Racial Conflict on Campus (2)
 

R. Sidel Remainder of book
 

H. Ehrlich "Campus Ethnoviolence" (reserve)
 

H. Ehrlich, F. Pincus and D. Lacy

Intergroup Relations on Campus: UMBC, The Second Study.

Introduction, (reserve)
 

J. Wilson Myth of Political Correctness, Ch. 4
 
 
April 22: Gender Conflict on Campus
 

M. and D. Sadker Failing at Fairness: How Our Schools Cheat Girls. Touchstone, 1994.

Ch. 7 "Higher Education: Colder by Degrees" (reserve)
 

J.K.Wilson
 

The Myth of Political Correctness. Ch. 5: "The Myth of Sexual Correctness."
 

M.A. Paludi
 

Sexual Harassment on College Campuses (reserve)

Ch. 2: "Sexual Harassment: The Defintion and Measurement" by L.F Fitzgerald

Ch. 5: "Men in the Academy: A Psychological Profile of Harassers" by S.R. Zalk
 

M. Garcia

Affirmative Action's Testament of Hope

Ch. 8
 

April 29: Affirmative Action
 

S. Thernstrom and A. Thernstrom

America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible Ch. 14: "The Higher Learning" (reserve)
 

M. Garcia

Affirmative Action's Testament of Hope.

Ch. 1,2,3,4*,5,7,10,Conclusion
 

May 6: Open class: To Be Arranged
 
 

REACTION PAPER 3 DUE

CO-TEACHING PAPER DUE
 
May 13: Party
 

Course Requirements and Grading Criteria
 

Your grade will be determined on the basis of the following criteria:
 
30% 3 Reaction Papers Due Feb. 18, April 1 and May 6

20% Co-teaching Oral Presentation

20% Co-teaching Written Paper

20% Class participation

10% Attendance.
 

These criteria are all described below.
 

REACTION PAPERS This is an opportunity to react to the course and to what you have been reading and hearing. The choice of topic or theme is totally up to you as long as it relates to the specific section of the course and as long as it allows you to use the relevant course materials. You do not have to clear the topic with me but you may discuss it with me if you wish.
 

You may wish to comment on some personal experience of yours that serves as an example of what you have learned or that casts doubt on something that you learned. You may wish to write about how the course has helped you to think about something in a new way, or how you have learned little that is new (hopefully not). For example, do you agree or disagree with Shor's approach to pedagogy; do you have different feelings about a course in which you are empowered; does this have any relationship to any of the theories that we studied? Another example: Was there anything that was unexpected in the empirical findings section; where do you fit in; are you a typical or atypical member of the group(s) that you are in; does this have anything to do with the theories?
 

The first reaction paper is due Feb. 18 and covers everything up to that class, including the reading for Feb. 18. The second and third papers are due April 1 and May 6 and will cover those parts of the course. Papers should be between 700 and 800 words long, about 2-3 typed pages. Your paper should refer to specific readings and class discussions. The more readings that you discuss and the more different classes that you are able to talk about, the better grade you are likely to receive. Papers that do not discuss specific readings, or that discuss only one reading, or that are vague and general will not receive good grades. Remember, you must demonstrate that you are relating to the course materials.
 
 

CO-TEACHING ORAL PRESENTATION Students will be assigned to co-teach a specific class along with the instructor. As much as possible, this will be done according to student preferences. Co-teachers will be responsible for all of the assigned readings for that day. In addition, students will be responsible for finding at least two additional articles on the topic from professional journals in the library.
 

The first task is to do all the reading and find the additional two articles. Next, you must talk with the instructor at least one week prior to your presentation date and decide how to handle the class. It is much better to do this in person rather than by phone or e-mail. You are responsible for suggesting a plan of action. You should assume that everyone has done the assigned reading. Your job will be to briefly summarize some of the main points and to explain things that are not clear. Remember, you are doing this in conjuction with the instructor. You should also discuss the two additional articles that you read. You should also point out whether your topic has any relevance to other parts of the course. One of the goals of all classes is to provoke informed discussion among members of the class. Part of you task is to ask interesting questions in order to stimulate discussion. Remember, you are not alone; you are co-teaching along with the instructor.
 

Your grade on the co-teaching presentation will depend on how well-prepared you are, how much you take the initiative, how well you know the material, how familiar you are with the important issues about your topic, and how artiulate you are during the presentation. Remember, talking to the instructor in advance is both mandatory and helpful.
 
 

CO-TEACHING WRITTEN PAPER This is a write up of your oral presentation. It should include the following:
 

o What are the major issues about your topic that are discussed in the assigned readings?
 

o What questions are unclear or inadequately answered?
 

o How do the two additional journal articles contribute to understanding the topic? (Include complete references.)
 

o Did the class discussion bring up any important topics that you hadn't thought about or discussed things in new ways? Explain.
 

o Did your presentation have anything to do with other things that we have discussed in previous classes? Explain.
 

o What did you think of the co-teaching experience? Did you learn more or less than if the instructor would have been in charge of the whole class? Explain.
 

Your paper is due on May 6. It should be 1000 - 1200 words, about 4 - 5 typed pages.
 
 

CLASS PARTICIPATION This is very important if the class is going to be effective. Students will be expected to participate in every class. This means asking questions, responding to questions, offering opinions and insights, helping out the co-teachers. In order to do this effectively, you must have done the readings and thought about them. After each class, the co-instructors (i.e., the instructor and the students instructor) will grade each student according to the following: Outstanding participation, adequate participation, little or no participation.
 
 

ATTENDANCE Regular attendance is also important. Students are expected to arrive on time and stay until the end of class unless exceptional circumstances arise. This will all be reflected in the grade for this part of the course.
 
 

Final Exam??? If everyone keeps up with the work, there will be no final exam. If necessary, however, the instructor will administer a final exam that will be worth 25% of the grade. If this were to happen, the other assignments will be proportionately adjusted.