Syllabus for Love 1A:
Non-Violent Responses to Structural Violence

California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Latest update: January 18, 2000
Faculty on the Site.

This page is under construction for Spring 2000.

Sociology 395-03
Course Reference Number: 22980
Time:TBA by Series of Workshops, Schedule Up Shortly
Room: Room Assignments Posted When Schedule Up
Jeanne Curran, Ph.D., Esq.
Course requires computer literacy.

• Goals: This course is offered in Spring 2000 as a special topics course on Love 1A, building upon the course of that title by Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D., at USC in the 70's. Twenty-five years later, we need his course again. This offering is a response to that need. But you need credit for your work. So we are introducing the course as an interactive project in academic discourse, in which we will work together at linking theory and praxis. The praxis is represented by Buscaglia's book, Living, Loving, and Learning. The theory is represented by Anthony Elliott's Contemporary Social Theory. And the interactivity is modelled as well as I could from Celia Pearce's the interactive book.

  The course will explore the ways in which we fail to listen to one another, the ways in which we assume that there is a unique right way or right answer, and the ways in which people coming from other perspectives are hurt by that. (Structural violence by the normative expectations to which we hold communication.) Leo Buscaglia translates a non-violent response to the violence imposed by our institutionalized hierarchies into a form of loving through teaching and sharing our learning. If this were a support group that might be an adequate end for us to achieve. But this is an upper division substantive course. That means that we want to understand how we can move from an understanding of the structural violence imposed in the name of difference to loving and sharing knowledge. For that we need theory, and the leading edge of theory. Elliot's readings offer us that theory. Then we move always back to Leo Buscaglia's embodiment of that theory into the bonds of relationships and sharing in our lives.

• Required texts:

  • Leo Buscaglia, Living, Loving and Learning. Ballantine Books, 1982. This inspiring, very readable book will serve to guide us through discussion threads on how we translate theoretical perspectives of the twenty-first century into practical measures in our own lives. Same theme as that of Oppression and Revolution and as that of Kristeva's Strangers to Ourselves, that our fear of the Other really begins with the foreigner we find in ourselves.

  • Anthony Elliott, editor, Contemporary Social Theory. Blackwell Publishers, 1999. You do not need to choose a theory; you need to know the many choices open to you as you create some social distance by stepping back a little to ask about those choices from the many theoretical perspectives. These readings deal with the major issues we will face in the next decade. We will need Buscaglia's wonder and love of human life to deal with all these issues; and all these theoretical perspectives help equip us to make our choices wisely.

• Requirements and Grading:

  1. For each reading preparation please e-mail me when you have prepared that reading and are ready to participate in one of our discussion groups. Instructions on your class page. You may participate in a discussion group that meets at a different time. You may choose to pass if you are unable to prepare. A record of preparations will be kept on site. There is no penalty for taking a pass, but there is a penalty for being generally unprepared, and for failing to notify me.

     You should prepare all Pass? or Prepared? multiple choice interactive pieces that are included on your Reading Preparataions. No penalty for being reasonably late, but you must prepare those within a week or so of the actual discussions.

  2. Attendance at a minimum of six discussion groups is required. Please e-mail me a brief summary (approx. 25 words) of your contribution. No, you needn't write in sentences. Key words will do. It is a reminder to me of what you said, or perhaps, of what you would have said if you could have gotten a word in edgewise. Most often these should result in a dialog. Samples will be posted. As with the Pass? or Prepared? pieces, these should be timely.

  3. Coming to class prepared and summarizing your contributions should assure me that you understand the basic concepts we have covered. Such understanding provides a passing grade. For a higher grade, you will need to add your commentary and insights to a threaded discussion, or find some other way to show me what you have learned. You will find numerous suggestions in the academic support section of your class page.

     • You are encouraged to work in cooperative groups, and are expected to do so, since discourse is one of our primary objectives. Groups must be either face to face, and the parties must be present, or parties must be included by e-mail dialog. CC jeanne. And groups may always change. This is because life happens, and no one can always be there. That's OK. Try to belong to more than one working group, so that you will be able to keep a flexible schedule. Please remember that learning to work like this is one of our goals, so keep me informed of how it's working.

  4. Mastery of Basic Concepts

     There are lecture notes and a set of questions for each reading in the course. Your answers should be short. Try for 25 words or less. Since these questions are answered from at least one perspective in the lecture notes, you will be expected to check your answer for accuracy against those notes. These are required exercises. I will record that you have submitted them. But I will not grade them. I have left this requirement in because I will not be able to completely rewrite all the preparations. Adjust it to fit the other measures of learning you are giving me. I will be posting new materials; please check the class page for What's Required?

     About quoting from the lecture notes, which are now called annotations.

     • It would be better to put the answers in your own words. This is easiest to do if you read the lecture notes first, then discuss the questions in class and with your collaborative group, then answer on your own. Trust me, you will not recall my exact words if you do that.

     • If you have had bad experiences with testing, you may feel uncomfortable trying to describe the concept in your own words. If that is so. Say so. Then quote what you need to. BUT use quotation marks. Don't forget that the lecture notes are in my words, and you must not use them without acknowledging that.

     • Use the collaborative group to help you get away from quoting. Make it a learning goal to cut down your dependence on quoting. Make it a learning goal to help someone else practice putting explanations in their own words.

  5. Basic Measure of Learning

     This must include some way to substantiate that you have attained the computer literacy required. This could be a detailed statement that lets me recognize that you have in fact mastered e-mailing and using the Site. Or it could be a demonstration. Or some other measure you discover.

     It must also include some learning goals that you set for yourself. There are examples in Forms to Guide Us and in How to Measure Learning. Share measurement ideas with your collaborative group.

     Have too tight a schedule for a group? Communicate by e-mail.

     Since basic preparedness and contribution to our dialog and discussions will give you a C, this component goes toward raising that grade to a B or an A. How much do you have to do? Well, how good would a term paper have to be? That's where creativity and genuine effort come into play. And this component gives you a chance to tell me what you've learned, what you've accomplished, so you're authenticating your own learning in this interactive way. You have something to say about it.

  6. Field Component and Debriefing

     This component is not intended to replace the other components. But it can suffice to raise your grade to a B or an A.

     Another option is the process text, the kind of publication we do on Dear Habermas. If there is a sub-topic you would like to pursue, you could locate sources on the Web and in the library, and annotate those sources with brief descriptions, so that others might benefit from your in-depth study. This also could suffice to raise your grade to a B or an A.

  7. Office: SBS B326. 310-243-3831.
     jeanne's schedule