PS 230 - URBAN POLITICS
Ken De Bevoise
Winter 2012
OFFICE HOURS: 2:00 - 4:00 F or
appointment
804 PLC
THE COURSE: We will try to
understand political, economic, and social aspects of the American inner city and
their inter-dynamics through in-depth and intense reading and argumentative
discussion in class of important issues raised by current books and
articles. The basic focus is on how American cities work and how it is to
live in one. The greatest emphasis is on the disadvantaged parts of big
cities and the daily lives of people trapped there.
REQUIRED READING: (Note: this is
merely representative and is tentative. There will be changes and
additions before the list is finalized in December. The U of O Bookstore
will have the complete list as well as the books themselves. Please be
sure to have the first book on that list in hand before the first class
meeting.
1. Claude Brown,
Manchild in the Promised Land
2. Robert Caro, The
Power Broker
3. Jane Jacobs, The
Death and Life of Great American Cities
4. Alex Kotlowitz,
There Are No Children Here
5. David Simon, The
Corner
CLASS PROCEDURE: My courses are
run in a somewhat non-traditional way. We have no lectures, no formal
mid-terms, no term paper, and no formal final examination. Instead, we
have a quiz on the assigned reading during the first 10-15 minutes of EVERY
class meeting including on the final exam day. That means about 19 graded
tests. All count the same, so for instance, the last quiz of the quarter
is weighted the same as the first one. After the daily quiz, the
remaining hour and ten minutes of class is conducted wholly as
argumentative discussion between the students on issues raised by the course readings.
GRADING: The base grade is
your average of the 19 (or so) quiz scores. (Standard equivalencies apply
- 90%-100% = A; 80%-89.9% = B; 70%-79.9% = C; 60%-69.9% = D; 0%-59.9% =
F. The grades are NOT curved.) That average quiz grade is then adjusted
up or down somewhat by your performance in class discussion, which in turn is
based on the extent of your participation relative to the others in the
class. I usually use a sliding scale of minus 7% - plus 7%. Your
quiz average is then multiplied by your discussion percentage and that gives
your final grade. (
EXAMPLE: Suppose your quiz average
is 85%. That’s a base grade of B. Suppose further that your place
on the comparative discussion scale is plus 7% - the most possible. 85% x
.07 = 5.95 %. Added together gives you 90.95%, which equals A-, your
final grade. But suppose your discussion grade was minus 7%. The
calculation would be 85% - 5.95 = 79.05 = C+. Thus, you control a
reasonably wide grade differential by the degree of your participation or
non-participation in the argumentative discussion.)
GENERAL COURSE POLICIES:
EXPECTATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS
1. Attendance is expected at every
class meeting. You will be excused from the quiz only in the case of a
DOCUMENTED EMERGENCY. No exceptions. No make-ups ever.
2. You are required to be in class
for the entire class period. Do not enroll if you know that you’ll have
to leave early to catch your bus home or whatever. Do not come for the
daily quiz and then leave before the end of the class. Your quiz will not
be graded and you’ll receive a zero on it.
3. You are expected to be an eager
and regular participant in the class discussion. If you can not do that,
for whatever reason, please do not sign up for the class. The argumentative
discussions are crucial to your learning and to the class dynamics.
4. You are responsible for having
the book we are reading at the time we start reading it. No excuses
accepted.
5. Students with disabilities will be
accommodated. Please contact Disability Services, 164 Oregon Hall, 346-1155,
and they will then advise me as to how to meet your needs.