Sonoma State University

Saturday Hybrid BA Degree Completion Program

Managed by the School of Extended and International Education

In partnership with the School of Arts and Humanities

SYLLABUS: LIBS 382, Work & the Global Future: Spring 2021

Instructor/Program Advisor Contact Information

Instructor:  Carlos Torres

Hutchins School of Liberal Studies

Office Location: Home Office

1801 E Cotati Ave

Rohnert Park, CA 94928

PHONE: Leave message w/Amy

Zoom Office hours:

Mondays 7–8:00 PM by appt.

https://SonomaState.zoom.us/j/743469273

Email: carlos.torres@sonoma.edu

Program Coordinator/Advisor: Amy Unger

SSU Extended Education

Office Location: Carson 63

1801 E Cotati Ave

Rohnert Park, CA 94928

Phone: 707-664-2601

Fax: 707-664-2613

Email: amy.unger@sonoma.edu

 

General Course Information

 

Class Days/Time: Saturdays:  1/30, 3/6, 4/17, 5/15: 9AM-2:30PM

Classroom: On Zoom

General Course Description

 

Moving from the focus of Identity and Society to the global, we will explore the relations between work and globalization from a number of theoretical perspectives: cross-cultural, gender, economics, sociology and political economy.  Since the 15th Century, the movement of capital across national boundaries has transformed culture. To understand this movement and transformation, we must study the nature of capitalism, the dynamics of colonialism and empire and the characteristics of modernization theory that are shaping our global future.

We will also assess globalization’s impacts. Who benefits from globalization? How can individuals act together in order to enact global change?  What would a humane economy look like?  Questions such as these encourage students to think analytically about how their life experiences relate to larger historical dynamics and help develop a greater capacity to understand complex relationships of political and economic systems.

Course Goals and Student Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives for GE D2: Upper Division Social Sciences

 

1. Integration: Synthesize and apply theoretical and practical perspectives from multiple disciplines to develop an understanding of complex issues.

1. 1. To accomplish this learning objective, we intend to apply orienting theoretical perspectives, and theoretical perspectives within the class to “real world” examples and case studies. For examples: we will review research literature on immigrants and work with a ethnographic research of a first-generations citizen of the U.S.

1. Creative Problem Solving: Apply knowledge, skills, and multiple perspectives in new situations to analyze and formulate solutions to complex problems with confidence and creativity.

1. 1. To accomplish this learning objective, we will develop a “pitch-deck” style presentation for our chosen non-profit, and discuss problem solving ways to act as an advocate for our chosen organization during our Saturday meeting prior.

1. Information Literacy: Iteratively formulate questions for research by gathering diverse types of information; identifying gaps, correlations, and contradictions; and using sources ethically toward a creative, informed synthesis of ideas.

1. 1. We will be attending an information literacy workshop mid-semester, and applying this research to our Final Retrospective Report.

Specific Skills to be developed:

Students will take away skills that can be applied both toward doing well in an academic and career settings:

Academic:

1. Close reading, critical thinking
2. Finding relevance and connecting themes
3. Analysis and evaluation of complex problems and solutions to those problems
4. Developing a “pitch-style” work-oriented presentation with learning presentation software as a Signature Assignment
5. Research and evaluation; writing an independently researched critical report

Seminar preparation

Being prepared for Saturday seminars means coming to class not only having read the week’s readings, but also participating by bringing well thought-out questions, and / or a set of issues that link to one or more of the readings. If you have a presentation due on a particular Saturday, make sure that you also allot time to do the assigned readings.

Attendance

We meet on Zoom so rarely that attendance at all class meetings is mandatory; missing seminar means that you are also missing workshops and field trips. It is often impossible to make up these experiences and learning-community collaborations. If an emergency comes up and you must be absent, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can make arrangements for pedagogically relevant alternatives.

Participation Expectations

• Completion of reading assignments on schedule, with timely weekly participation in online computer seminars.
• Participation in four full-day Saturday sessions on zoom.
• Completion of other assignments on schedule. You will be given detailed instructions about each assignment as it comes up; they are also described in this syllabus.

Online postings

Your participation in the weekly postings and responses to postings is crucial. This is part of your class attendance/participation grade; if you fail to post, or post late, your ideas will not be part of the discussion. Two or more missed postings will seriously lower your course grade and may result in a failing grade.

 

A NOTE ON ONLINE POSTINGS FOR LIBS 382: In LIBS 382 you are encouraged to use small quotes in your postings for providing evidence for your arguments and reflected in your posts. For LIBS 382, students should “stay close” to the texts: paraphrasing quotes (providing your own interpretation of quotes), analyzing quotes (providing your meaning), and connecting quotes to the broader meanings and themes of the course. We cannot argue bigger points without a host of small arguments and points to build from, and using quotes will also draw out for use what you found personally relevant in the readings. The goal of the online postings for LIBS 382 is to build your own review of the semester’s literature for your own Final Retrospective Report due at the end of class.

 

Also, for the first three weeks I will give you some directed questions to answer in your posts, to guide you toward what you should be looking for in evidence. Look for these questions as I post orientations for the readings Monday mornings.

Zoom Meeting Protocol

Please be attentive to all your classmates during discussions, show your face on video and refrain from using other devices during Zoom sessions. Do not record the seminars for your own review.  There are several reasons for these constraints:

 

• putting a premium on discussion
• limiting distractions that affect in-class activities
• prioritizing learning effectiveness
• creating a safe and effective learning environment
• the ethics of recording individuals without their informed consent

Presentations

Your instructor will review assignments that include presentations, and you will find details as well as in the Assignments section of this syllabus.

Saturday Once-a-Month Meetings

The Zoom meetings will include seminars, student presentations and scheduled course workshops.

Grading Policy

Grade Criteria

A to A-    Reserved for truly outstanding performance in all aspects of the course.

B+ to B-  Strong performance; above average.

C+ to C-  Satisfactory grasp of course content and adequate performance on writing assignments and in the seminar.  C- is the minimum grade required to have course count towards the major.

D+ to D- Minimum performance.

F             Inadequate performance.

Policy

We expect you to make a good-faith effort on all assignments and we encourage you to strive beyond proficiency, towards mastery. (*See The Self-Assessment Matrix in your Student Manual) Your course grade is based on the quality, thoughtfulness and timeliness of weekly computer postings and responses; the quality of your participation in the four Saturday seminar meetings; and the quality and timely completion of assignments.

Course Format and Instructional Methods

Instructional Methods

LIBS 382 is a dialogue-oriented course that takes place within a student learning community.  The majority of the content will be discussed and shaped within both the online weekly forums and the monthly on Zoom class meetings, facilitated by the instructor.

 

IMPORTANT:  All student work is to be submitted/posted online in Canvas, including assignments.  Do not e-mail assignments to instructor’s e-mail address.

Course Format

Because of the hybrid nature of the program, you will be moving between both the online classroom and the Zoom class meetings (asynchronous and synchronous). This requires attention to the needs of both formats.

• Canvas: Canvas is the online classroom used by SSU.  You will be posting and responding to at least one of your cohort’s postings weekly.
  • Your posting: This is due Saturdays at 3:00 PM, except the Saturdays when you meet on Zoom.
  • Your response: This is due by Sunday midnight.  Both of these are equivalent to your class participation.  Missing a posting or response is equivalent to an absence and may affect your grade.
    • It is important that you post by the deadlines. If you don’t post on time, you are not part of the conversation and your classmates did not get the benefit of your angle on the readings.  If you must be late for a serious and compelling reason, as a courtesy post a note stating that you will be late and then post your report as soon as possible after that.
  • Portfolio: You should maintain a portfolio of all of your postings and completed assignments. This will not only give you a sense of pride and accomplishment, but you will use these materials each semester for your final report and as a basis from which to launch your Senior Project.
    • Save all your materials in electronic files, to preserve in case of a Canvas crash.
    • Consider using the Portfolium, accessible when you log on to SSU Online Services

Withdrawing from Class/Program

 

If you must discontinue the course and/or the program for any reason, contact the Program Coordinator immediately so paperwork can be processed promptly and you can get the maximum refund, see http://web.sonoma.edu/exed/geninfo/drop-refunds.  Waiting to withdraw can lead to both financial and academic problems! The SEIE Calendar website web.sonoma.edu/exed/academic-calendar has the deadlines for each semester.  Speak with the Program Coordinator if you have any

Required Texts/Readings

Book & Magazine List

Many of these books have been around for some time and used copies are readily available online.  The ISBNs given are for the newest or specific versions.  A reader of articles will also be made available (to be purchased at Express Printing). Please note that all books are also available as audiobooks. If you choose to listen to them, we recommend you also obtain the printed copies, so that you can highlight sections in preparation for your coursework.  If you want to read ahead, we recommend choosing the books marked with an asterisk.

 

1. Raworth, Kate

2018 Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21^st Century Economist. Chelsea Green Publishing, 320 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1603587969

2. Gaspar, Phil (ed.) Karl Marx and Frederick Engels (authors)

2005 The Communist Manifesto: A Road Map to History’s Most Important Political Document. Haymarket Books, 224 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1931859257

3. Holmes, Seth2013 Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States (first ed.). University of California Press, 264 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0520275140
4. Orleck, Annelise

2018 “We are all Fast Food Workers Now”: The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages. Beacon Press,

288 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0807081778

5. Rushkoff, Douglas D.

2009 Life Inc.: How Corporatism Conquered the World, and How We Can Take It Back Paperback.

Random House, 304 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0812978506

6. Lakey, George D.

2017 Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got it Right-and How We Can, Too. Melville House, 320 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1612196213

7. Lappé, Francis Moore

2010 Getting a Grip 2. Small Planet Media. 215 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0979414237

Preliminary Assignment, due at first class:

FAMILY WORK HISTORY (Case Study 1) — Upload to Canvas & Bring/Present to first class 2—3 page paper (single-spaced) and in-class discussion

2—3 page paper (single-spaced, about 1500 words) and in-class discussion. Please makes sure you write as much for response numbers 3-5 each as you did for numbers 1 & 2.

1. Reflect: Briefly describe your own employment history, and that of your immediate family, placing it in the context of your family history.
2. Explain: Was there any significant geographical family movement? What place to place movement was there, exactly?
3. Explain: What were the “push” and “pull” factors that determined your/their decisions? (What “pulled” you and your family to California or other places in the U.S. or world? Economy, other family, weather, job outlook, etc.)
4. Evaluate: What patterns emerge? In other words, did you migrate or move because of the same reasons as the rest of your family or parents/grandparents? Why or why not?
5. Compare how your family’s experiences relate to wider historical, social, political, and economic issues. Did you and your family move because of declines in the economy, or job patterns moving—the same things that motivated other people to move? Did you and your family move to areas that were more favorable to your (or their) lifestyle, job markets, personal politics/sense of community?

The purpose of this assignment is to understand the societal dynamics that influenced you, not just to relate family stories. You will each have 5-8 minutes to present the main points of your investigation; after we go around the table we will move to a general discussion of the group’s findings to discover the common threads.

Assessment and Rubric:

 

This is a reflexive assignment based on your own history, but I will be grading questions 3-5 based on how well you integrate your responses with a web little research in the social sciences and history in particular. You will want to do a bit of web research of the geographies and migrations of where your family originated. You can integrate this research with what you learned from your own family history.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

READ THESE THREE SELECTIONS BEFORE THE FIRST CLASS, AS YOU WILL BE DISCUSSING THEM THERE:

 

(emailed to you)

Preface            Nash                            “Preface” to Mayan Visions, pp. ix-xix

Article             Orwell                         “Marrakech”

Book                Raworth                      Doughnut Economics: Ch 1 (all readings to discuss with videos–                                                                  see links below– for 1/30 afternoon workshop, Nash and Orwell                                                                       will be uploaded

 

Dates: Readings Meetings & Modules	Topic	Readings/Videos/Activities Readings for each week are presented in a particular order on purpose.  Please try to follow this pattern.	Due Dates
ON ZOOM  MEETING Saturday, 1/30	ON ZOOM MEETING AGENDA: 9-10 AM:                     Course Introduction and Syllabus 10AM-12 PM:            Present: Assignment Family History 12:30-2:30 PM:         Seminar: on readings, and videos: A Place Called Chiapas (video, 1’32”, https://youtu.be/HYgd9_Mr-LU,)  AND The Zapatista Uprising (20 Years later)(video, 12’) https://youtu.be/3HAw8vqczJ — watch online and read articles for today prior to meeting.		Be prepared to present Family History Report
Monday 2/1   MODULE 1: ORIENTING PHILOSOPHIES OF WORK: COMPETITION VS. COOPERATION	Philosophies of Work and the Free Market System	1) Video: Political Theory, Thomas Hobbes https://youtu.be/9i4jb5XBX5s 2) Video: Political Theory, John Locke https://youtu.be/bZiWZJgJT7I 3) Video: Political Theory: Jean-Jacques Rousseau https://youtu.be/81KfDXTTtXE 4) Article: Butler, A Condensed Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith 5) Video: Smith, “The Invisible Hand” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CqMMxsN_7c 6) Article: Korten: Betrayal of Adam Smith 7) Book: Raworth, Chapters 2 of Doughnut Economics	Post by 2/6; respond by 2/7
Monday 2/8	Early Critiques of Industrialism & Capitalism	1) Article: Engels, excerpts from The Condition of the Working Class in England 2) Video: “A Brief Introduction to Marx “ https://youtu.be/fSQgCy_iIcc 3) Book: Marx, The Communist Manifesto: A Road Map, “Introduction; Marxism in a Nutshell; Annotated Manifesto” 4) Video: “Marxism 101: How Capitalism is Killing Itself” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P97r9Ci5Kg5. 5) Web: The State of Working Sonoma: http://northbayjobswithjustice.org/State%20of%20Working%20Sonoma%202018_Final%20Report3_%202-25-19.pdf 6) Web: Yes! Magazine, Fall 2014: “When Poverty Was the Enemy, Not the Poor,” https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/the-end-of-poverty/when-poverty-was-the-enemy-not-the-poor	Post by 2/13 respond by 2/14
Monday 2/15	Cooperation, Alternative Labor Models	1) Article: Kropotkin excerpts from “Mutual Aid…” 2) Chapters from Book: Freire “Preface” and “Chapter 2” from Pedagogy of the Oppressed 3) Book: Raworth: Chapter 3 (Doughnut Economics) 4) Video: Economic Man vs Reality: A Puppet Rap Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx13E8-zUtA 5) Web: Interview with Paulo Freire http://www.freire.org/paulo-freire/ 6) Video: Sahtouris, “Celebrating Crisis” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1mvI2hEzlA 7) Article: Steiner excerpts from a Manual on Cooperation	Post by 2/20; respond by 2/21
Monday 2/22   MODULE 2: INTERSECTIONS OF CLASS, STATUS, & GENDER IN WORK	Gender and Work	1) Article: Beneria, “Paid and Unpaid Labor” 2) Article: Hochschild, “Global Care Chains: Emotional Geography…” 3) Web Article: Coleman, “The Payoff from Women’s Rights” 4) Web Article: McMahon/Chase, “Are We There Yet?” 5) Web Article: Bureau Labor Stats, “Usual Weekly Earnings & selected Charts” 6) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, May 12, 2016: “Why Not Getting Married Is Smart Economics For Women” by Tracy https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/gender-justice/why-not-getting-married-is-smart-economics-for-women-20160512 7) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, November 6, 2018 “The First Guaranteed Basic Income Program Designed for Single Black Moms” by J. Gabriel Ware.  (URL/link on next page) https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/the-first-guaranteed-basic-income-program-designed-for-single-black-moms-20181106	Post by 2/27; respond by 2/28
Monday 3/1	Immigration & Work	Readings & Videos: 1) Book: Holmes, Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies, Chapter 1 & 7, and any other single chapter. 2) Web Article: Mora & Valdes, “Two Poems…” 3) Web Article: Greenstone/Looney, “Ten Economic Facts about Immigration” (see link in Canvas) 4) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, August 29, 2018: “Berry Farmers Break Free from Big Agriculture” by Lynsi Burton. https://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/berry-farmers-break-free-from-big-agriculture-20180829	NO POSTING THIS WEEK; be prepared to present First Gen. Project (Incorporate readings into First-Gen Project as Themes; use direct quotes)
Saturday 3/6 ON ZOOM	ON ZOOM MEETING AGENDA: 9 AM-12 PM:           Short Presentations: FIRST GENERATION PROJECT 11 -12:00                  Broken Bodies Workshop: Seth Holmes 12:30-1:30 PM:      Seminar 1:30-2:30 PM:       NGO Project Problem Solving Workshop		FIRST GENERATION PROJECT DUE: Upload by Friday 3/5, 5 PM, and present Sat 3/6
Monday 3/8	Precarity & The Divisions of Labor	1) Movie: Nomadland (premiering 2/19/21) 2) Chapter from Book: Standing, excerpt from The Precariat 3) Book: “We are all Fast-Food Workers Now”  (Anneliese Orleck)	Post by 3/13, respond by 3/14
Monday 3/15   MODULE 3: GLOBALIZATION AND LOCALIZATION	Globalism and Modernity	1) Article: Stiglitz, “Globalism’s Discontents” 2) Book: Raworth, Chapters 4 & 5 of Doughnut Economics 3) Video: Wealth Inequality in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM 4) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, Oct 22, 2018, “A Turning Point for the Global Economy” by Stan Sorscher. https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/a-turning-point-for-the-global-economy-20181022 5) Editorial: Friedman, “The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits” 6) Chapter in Book: “Wealth” in Enlightenment Now	Post by 3/20; respond by 3/21
SPRING BREAK:  3/22 – 3/26; NO READINGS/POSTINGS
Monday 3/29	Corporations and Inequality	1) Book: Rushkoff, Life, Inc.  (Introduction, chapters 1 – 3; choose two chapters from 4 – 8; read chapter 9 and epilogue “But wait, there is more”) 2) Chapter in Book: “Inequality” in Enlightenment Now 3) Web Article: Duhigg & Kocieniewski, “How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Taxes” 4) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, Jul 23, 2018: “Who Represents Us When Our Political Parties Represent Only Corporations?” by David Korten. https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/who-represents-us-when-our-political-parties-represent-only-corporations-20180723 5) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, February 21, 2018: “Why Corporations Want Our Public Schools“ https://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/education-uprising/why-corporations-want-our-public-schools	Post by 4/3; respond by 4/ (EXTRA DAY FOR EASTER)
Monday 4/5	Development Imperialism, & Localization	1) Online Book: Norberg-Hodge, Localization, “Parts 1 and 2” (link: http://www.localfutures.org/wp-content/uploads/Localization-Booklet-download.pdf) 2) Chapters in Book: Isbister, excerpts from “Promises Not Kept:” “Modernization Theory;” “Dependency Theory;” “The Causes of Imperialism;” “The Culture of Imperialism;” “The Legacy of Imperialism” 3) Article: Nader & Wallach, “GATT, NAFTA, and the Subversion of the Democratic Process” 4) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, April 6, 2018, “How Tucson Preserves Its Native Food Heritage” by Cat Modlin-Jackson. https://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-tucson-preserves-its-native-food-heritage-20180406 5) Web Video: “The Economics of Happiness” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyQaUDLW6ts 6) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, May 17, 2007, “Yes, We Can Choose Good Globalization” by David Korten https://www.yesmagazine.org/new-economy/yes-we-can-create-good-globalization-20170517	Post by 4/10; respond by 4/11
Monday 4/12	Localization and NGOS	1) Online Book: Norberg-Hodge, Localization, Parts 3 & Conclusion 2) Book: Raworth, Chapter 5 of Doughnut Economics 3) Web Video: The Economics of Happiness: https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-economics-of-happiness/ Choose one case study to talk about briefly in your NGO PowerPoint presentation.	NO POSTINGS THIS WEEK; be prepared to present NGO Project Themes and use direct quotes
Saturday 4/17 ON ZOOM	ON ZOOM MEETING AGENDA: 9 AM-11:30 PM:       Short Presentations: NGO PROJECT Noon – 12:30PM:    Academic Planning 12:30 – 1:30 PM:      Workshop: Online Zoom Library Research Strategies 1:30 PM –  2:30:      Seminar		NGO PROJECT DUE Upload by Friday 4/16, 5 PM and present Sat. 4/17
Monday 4/19   MODULE 4: THE INFORMATION STREAM, AND THE CITIZEN IN WORK AND ECONOMY	The Nordic Model	1) Book: Lakey, Viking Economics 2) Web Article:  Industrial Revolutions Are Political Wrecking Balls https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/opinion/trump-industrial-revolutions.html	Post by 4/24; respond by 4/25
Monday 4/26	Participatory Democracy	1) Book: Lappé, Getting a Grip 2 2) Web Video: “Inverted Totalitarianism” https://youtu.be/JKROM2y6pwY 3) Chapters from Book: Wolin, “Preface;” & excerpt from Totalitarianism’s Inversion… 4) Web Video: “Sheldon Wolin” https://youtu.be/-wlHB6jSe7s 5) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, November 11, 2018, “The Biggest Winner This Year: Democracy” by Lynsi Burton. https://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/the-biggest-winner-this-year-democracy-20181114 6) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, September 21, 2018, “Civil Rights Tours Draw in New Generations” by Liz Brazile.  https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/civil-rights-tours-draw-in-new-generations-20180921 7) Web Article: Yes! Magazine, October 17, 2018, “When White Nationalism Lives Too Close to Home” by Sandra Bass. https://www.yesmagazine.org/peace-justice/white-supremacy-thrives-even-in-progressive-places-20181017	Post by 5/1; respond by 5/2
Monday 5/3	Global Future & The Information Stream	1) Web Video: Marshall McLuhan – The World is a Global Village https://youtu.be/HeDnPP6ntic 2) Web Video: “Noam Chomsky – Manufacturing Consent” https://youtu.be/tTBWfkE7BXU 3) Web Video: Documentary, “Shoshana Zuboff on Surveillance Capitalism-VPRO Documentary”:  https://youtu.be/hIXhnWUmMvw 4) Chapter in Book: “Progressophobia” in Enlightenment Now https://youtu.be/hIXhnWUmMvw 5) Article: Cowen, “Why Hollywood Rules the World, and Whether We Should Care” 6) Article: Pleyers, “The Global Justice Movement”	Post by 5/8; respond by 5/9
Monday 5/10	Global Communities and Transformation	1) Book: Raworth, Chapter 6 and 7 of Doughnut Economics 2) Article: Roy, “Poverty Capital: Microfinance and the Making of Development” 3) Video: Blessed Unrest (Paul Hawken): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW8BytViI54 Use one of these sources in your outline	NO POSTINGS THIS WEEK Upload Final Retrospective Outline by Friday, 5/14, 5 PM; to be presented in class 5/15
Saturday 5/15	ON ZOOM MEETING AGENDA: 9AM-12PM:              Presentations: Final Retrospective Paper Outlines 12:30-2:00PM:         Seminar 2:00PM-2:30PM      Course Evaluations		Upload Final Retrospective Report by Saturday 5/22

Assignments

The assignment descriptions are designed to allow you freedom and flexibility in choosing your approach to fulfilling them.  Assignments will be discussed in class so you can understand them better.  Feel free to check with me for guidance or to make sure you’re on the right track.

 

• Timeliness: Late assignments may result in a lowered grade.  All assignments are graded, as are the postings you turn in.
• Submitting Assignments: Go to the Canvas week the assignment is due for the upload assignment link. Scroll to the bottom of the link to upload and submit the assignment.
• Bibliography: A bibliography is required for the Local Region and Global Activism papers.  You must go beyond the use of Internet sources to include printed materials. Bibliographies are very important, as they are the only way people can corroborate your claims and/or do further research.
• Citations: You will be held to the MLA format described online at the SSU Library website, http://libguides.sonoma.edu/citationstyles/mla.
• Hyperlinks: Web links for weekly assignments will be posted in Canvas along with the forum for that week.
• Presentations: Presentations this semester are more formal than they were in LIBS 380 Identity and Society.  Please follow these reminders:
  • Time limits for presentations will be enforced so all students have the same amount of time.
  • Focus your presentation on what you learned from your research, not on the details of your investigations.
  • Summarize your main points and hit the highlights. Do not just read your paper!
  • Remember to make eye-contact with your audience.
  • Focus on what most interested you, as there is a good chance it will interest your audience as well.

 

WEEKLY POSTINGS:  Semester-long assignment.

 

This semester, your weekly postings will not be turned in as a separate paper, but your participation in weekly postings counts as a central part of your overall course grade.

The readings are chosen to complement and leverage each other based on the topic and themes of each week. At the start of each week your instructor will provide you with a guiding prompt for how to consider engaging the readings. Your posts each week should try to engage most, if not all, of the readings, not just the shortest, and not just the easiest. The weekly prompt will help you focus, as will some guidance for referring to relevant concepts that appear in the three glossaries (online in Canvas)

How long should a post be? A bare minimum is typically 550-600 words (the equivalent of about two pages of writing, typed and double-spaced) Rather than counting words, summarize key points about each reading, and then present your take on them. Here are three questions that you can engage for each reading, as well as for each week’s readings in total:

 

1. What’s important in each reading? What specific quotes can you post that help to clarify the work in general? What concepts, case studies, policies, practices, lessons and / or insights does each reading offer?
2. How, in your view, do the readings from “this” week relate / connect to all of the readings so far?
3. What is significant in these readings, what larger conclusions and synopses can be drawn from the points that are made?

 

As we move through the semester, your instructor will invite you to consider writing your posts not only to engage your colleagues in your learning community, but also to start considering how you might write your posts so that someone who is not in your learning community might thoughtfully enter into a dialogue with you and your ideas.

FAMILY WORK HISTORY (Case Study 1) — Upload & Bring/Present to first class. Graded

2—3 page paper (single-spaced, about 1500 words) and in-class discussion. Please makes sure you write as much for response numbers 3-5 each as you did for numbers 1 & 2.

1. Reflect: Briefly describe your own employment history, and that of your immediate family, placing it in the context of your family history.
2. Explain: Was there any significant geographical family movement? What place to place movement was there, exactly?
3. Explain: What were the “push” and “pull” factors that determined your/their decisions? (What “pulled” you and your family to California or other places in the U.S. or world? Economy, other family, weather, job outlook, etc.)
4. Evaluate: What patterns emerge? In other words, did you migrate or move because of the same reasons as the rest of your family or parents/grandparents? Why or why not?
5. Compare how your family’s experiences relate to wider historical, social, political, and economic issues. Did you and your family move because of declines in the economy, or job patterns moving—the same things that motivated other people to move? Did you and your family move to areas that were more favorable to your (or their) lifestyle, job markets, personal politics/sense of community?

The purpose of this assignment is to understand the societal dynamics that influenced you, not just to relate family stories. You will each have 5-8 minutes to present the main points of your investigation; after we go around the table we will move to a general discussion of the group’s findings to discover the common threads.

Assessment and Rubric:

 

This is a reflexive assignment based on your own history, but I will be grading questions 3-5 based on how well you integrate your responses with a web little research in the social sciences and history in particular. You will want to do a bit of web research of the geographies and migrations of where your family originated. You can integrate this research with what you learned from your own family history.

FIRST GENERATION ETHNOGRAPHY & WORK HISTORY (Case Study 2) — Upload & Bring/Present to second class. Graded

2—3 page outline (single-spaced), 8—10 minute presentation.

 

Choose a first-generation US resident who spent his/her childhood and/or young adulthood in another country (not limited to the examples below).  Interview a member of this group, using the Fieldwork Guidelines handout in Canvas.  What kinds of work were they engaged in prior to migration?  What kinds of work are they performing here?

 

 

• Philippines
• Iran
• Fiji
• Samoa

 

• India
• Vietnam
• Thailand
• Eritrea
• Mexico
• Syria
• Caribbean
• Latin America

 

 

These are meant to be informal interviews, with no recording going on, which can undermine rapport.  If you decide to record information that would allow an individual to be identified (photographs, audio recordings), you will need Informed Consent forms for your interviewees (posted on Canvas). Your paper will connect this individual’s experience to the global issues we have been studying.  Research and describe the economic, social, and political situations in their country of origin and in the United States to help you understand the structural reasons for their migration.  The websites at www.uscis.gov and https://www.globalpolicy.org/index.php may be of help.  Answer the following questions:

• What were the job situations like in their country?
• What pushed them out of their homeland, and what pulled them here?
• What are the cultural and economic impacts of this group on your area?
• How does their experience relate to course themes? Refer to the readings as appropriate.

Don’t stay wrapped up in their individual story.  Analyze this person’s experience and link their personal choices to what you know and have learned about the global economy.

SIGNATURE ASSIGNMENT: NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION REPORT (Case Study 3) – Upload/Bring/Present to third class. Graded

12-15 slide, PowerPoint presentation (in a “pitch” format), 8—10 minute presentation. See the Assignment Folder in Canvas for specific directions and template.

Directions: Research an organization that is coping with the effects of globalization.  Choose one new to you that has a presence in Northern California; it can be local or a nationwide or worldwide organization with a local office.  Post your choice on the forum provided so we don’t have a whole class full of people doing the same organization.  You can choose from the list we provided earlier on our course canvas, or you can find one your own. Attend the NGO workshop about a month in advance of the assignment due date.

NGO “Pitch” Problem Solving Workshop:

A month before the NGO Project is due, we will have workshop where we will look at examples of pitch’s and review “18 Pitching Essential: How to Pitch and Idea to Investors” (https://www.ryrob.com/how-to-pitch/) then brainstorm ways to help advocate for our chosen organization with a presentation software like powerpoint. We will also look over the powerpoint template I will provide and you can choose to amend it where you need to “sell” your organization.

After or NGO problem solving workshop, contact and interview (face-to-face, e-mail, or telephone) at least one person active in the organization.  You will need to make contact early: they are generally busy people and need to have enough advance notice to schedule meetings.  Ask how they got involved and how they stay motivated for starters, then make sure you answer the prompts from the presentation template you have amended for yourself.

If possible, attend a meeting.  Go to the website Gather NGO literature and visit their website for the majority of the information to gather.  Be sure to investigate their sources of funding, and the methods they use to achieve their ends.  As you write up your findings (do not just copy their website) answer the questions on the handout. Your presentation pitch must be no longer than 15 minutes.

Assignment Assessment & Rubric:

Your NGO presentation will be graded on content, power of persuasion, clarity of communication, and timing. For the best grade, finish within the time limit of 15 minutes, and practice timing your presentation beforehand. You will also be graded on the mandatory content, such as linking the NGO to course issues and texts. You must also clearly the 5 “W’s” of the organization and the “H”, or how:

1. Who are the team members (use bios)?
2. What is their mission and why are they so invested in it?
3. Where are they located and what communities do they serve?
4. How and with methods does the organization function: what kinds of funding to they receive? How is the organization organized by leadership and roles?

Finally, you must persuade the other students and I (as “hypothetical” funding sources) to “buy- in” to your argument; convince us your organization is worthy of support.

FINAL RETROSPECTIVE REPORT:  Two Parts; graded

Part 1:  OUTLINE – Upload to Canvas by 5/14, & Present to final class

2—3 page outline (single-spaced), 8—10 minute presentation.

Directions and Purpose: As you did in LIBS 380, Identity and Society, we ask you to take a look back over the entire course to retrospectively review your postings and readings.  Revisit the course readings, forum postings and the papers you have written. You may want to put all of your posts together into one document. Write in the margins and see locate one coherent theme, and three possible sub-themes (within that theme) that are very narrowly conceived.

You have already conducted a library search to find one research article from a peer-reviewed journal and a news article and these should pull your thesis together in a coherent way. Now choose eight of the sources from the class that you can use to best construct an argument. If you need to go back and locate a two better sources, then do so. The original purpose in finding these two new sources is twofold:

1. You will learn how to engage with the information literacy tool that you have learned in the Information Literacy Workshop.
2. The two sources you choose should concern issues that resonate with you directly, two specific issues that involve work and the global future. These sources will help you to create an original thesis and direction for your paper by narrowing down your argument, and providing a contemporary case in the news you can anchor the report upon. Your reading and video sources from class will act as your in-depth argument for defending your thesis.

Writing Format Directions: a 3—4 page outline (single-spaced) following the numbered format below (and please number your responses). Please reference all articles you have read with the full name of the article and author (you are writing for a general reader who does not know who we have been referencing). Number your responses and write:

1. A thesis or “summary of facts statement” about 100 words or so, that explains what specifically you found to be the 1-2 most significant points in your new peer reviewed journal article and news article that can be defended by all of your course postings and readings. (You may want to do this step last after reading and reviewing your postings, new peer reviewed journal article, and news article.) Again, please use proper titles and author names for all summaries that follow.
2. Write a very brief summary (2-3 sentence summary) of your peer reviewed journal article. Also provide a quote from the article that stood out for you, and an explanation for why the quote is significant to your thesis.
3. Write a very brief summary (2-3 sentence summary) of your news article. Also provide a quote from the article that stood out for you, and an explanation for why the quote is significant to your thesis.
4. For outline number 4 -11. Take each of your sources in turn, and provide the following:

1. 1. Provide a very brief summary (2-3 sentence summary) of your source, (use full title of the source, and author’s names.)
   2. Choose and paste in a quote that stood out for you from the source and provide an explanation for why it is significant to your thesis.
   3. Also paste in any of the arguments that you made in your posting from the in-class readings that might help you support your thesis (about 100 words). Repeat this for all of your eight in-class sources, number the response 4 to 11.

12. Provide a properly cited bibliography in alphabetic order of authors’ last names for your outline of all research literature used.

Assessment and Rubric:

 

This is a formal assignment with a formal and specific outline that I have provided for very good reasons: I want you to be able to construct a very narrowly themed report with a thesis you can robustly prove in 2000 words, primarily with sources from the class. I will grade on how well you adhere to the directions, and how well the sources that provided align with your sources. You will be given the opportunity to present your outline online in zoom, and to rewrite with feedback for a better grade.

Part 2:  REPORT – Upload to Canvas by 5/21

Directions:

Write a paper of 3 -4 pages single-spaced essay from your Final Retrospective Essay Outline. I would strongly advise you to begin using your report by quoting or using your chosen news article to introduce your topic, answering what you are going to discuss, and who (what population) are you identifying. The first paragraph should be a very concise introduction to your report ending with a very narrowly conceived thesis that you fully intend to prove in your full report.  Use you peer reviewed journal article to help you considerably narrow down thesis. The best use of your in-class sources will be to provide a deep argument to your thesis, to give your argument depth and context.

Your sources should exemplify your most significant experiences of the course, including whatever buttons got pushed for you, and specifically addressing the issues raised in your own online sources. Ground this discussion in specific readings by making in-text references to at least 8-10 specific texts and your research articles.  Include a bibliography in MLA format (http://libguides.sonoma.edu/citationstyles/mlaLinks to an external site..)

Late papers may not be included in your final grade and this may lower your overall grade for the semester.

Assessment and Rubric:

 

I will be grading over all on how persuasive your argument is based on the evidence you use, and how narrow the argument it that you have chosen. You have only 1800-2400 words to prove your argument. Your thesis must be narrow, and your argument must be logos-driven. Using good solid evidence like quotes, data, and analysis will make your argument more persuasive. Make sure your grammar is very good: take out as many pronouns as possible, e.g. use specific names and places, and use verbs that are active and complex for better communication. Do not write past the word total of 2400. For concise argument: take out rambling opinions, put in analysis, and use examples of your own work history if it contributes to your argument directly. You can also use data and interviews from you NGO Project for case studies and direct evidence.

University Policies

Academic integrity

All assignments are to be completed by the individual student unless otherwise specified. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Plagiarism (presenting the work of another as your own, or the use of another person’s ideas without giving proper credit) will result in a failing grade for the assignment and sanctions by the University. Multiple instances will result in a failing grade for the course.  SSU’s full policy is available here: http://web.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/cheating_plagiarism.htm.

Disruptive Student Behavior

Sonoma State University strives to create learning environments that support civil and respectful discourse. It is the policy of Sonoma State University to be proactive in dealing with issues of students who behave in a manner that a reasonable individual would view as interfering with normal academic functions.  The specifics of the policy are at https://web.sonoma.edu/UAffairs/policies/Disruptive.html.  

Campus Policy on Disability Access for Students

If you are a student with a disability and you think you may require accommodations, please register with the campus office of Disability Services for Students (DSS), located in Salazar Hall – Room 1049, Phone: (707) 664-2677, TTY/TDD: (707) 664-2958. DSS will provide you with written confirmation of your verified disability and authorize recommended accommodations. This authorization must be presented to the instructor before any accommodations can be made.  Full policy at http://web.sonoma.edu/uaffairs/policies/disabilitypolicy.htm.

Emergency Evacuation

If you are a student with a disability and you think you may require assistance evacuating a building in the event of a disaster, you should inform your instructor about the type of assistance you may require. You and your instructor should discuss your specific needs and the type of precautions that should be made in advance of such an event (i.e. assigning a buddy to guide you down the stairway). We encourage you to take advantage of these preventative measures as soon as possible and contact the Disability Services for Students office if other classroom accommodations are needed.