Canvas

Canvas is the Learning Management System (LMS) at Boston College, designed to help faculty and students share ideas, collaborate on assignments, discuss course readings and materials, submit assignments, and much more - all online. As a Boston College student, you should familiarize yourself with this important tool. If you’re unfamiliar with how to use Canvas, please reach out to the instructor in the first week of the semester.

Course Objectives

1. Students will develop a working knowledge of historical and contemporary sociological perspectives on deviance and social control. They will demonstrate this competency in analytical essays and case-study group projects.

2. Students will learn to position designations of deviance in their historical and cultural contexts, and to articulate the roles of deviance and conformity in the human experience.

3. Students will acquire skills working with others as a member of a team.

4. Students will learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.

5. Students will demonstrate competency across cultural settings and will learn the impact of culture, gender, race, age and sexuality in the construction of deviance and normality.

6. Students will demonstrate ethical skills pertaining to their ability to critically examine news media and current events in their facilitation of class discussions and activities.

Assignments

In course assignments, students will be scored based on their command of the course material as well as the critical thinking and writing skills they display.  This course involves four forms of assessment:

Weekly Reflections, Pop Quizzes & Discussion Questions (25%)

For each unit, students will post 1-2 discussion questions for the class onto the canvas website.  These questions should be directlytied to the text, pointing to a specific quote, episode, or passage.  There will also be a quick (1 or 2 question) pop quiz as a part of each unit.  They are included in the course reading schedule below.  Students may skip or fail one pop quiz without penalty.

Attendance & Participation (10%)

When you enter the classroom, you'll be expected to write your name on the board.  If you arrive late, make sure to add your name, as I take a photo of the board on my way out of the room to score attendance each day.  Attendance will contribute to 5% of your final grade.*

Participation will be scored separately.**  To receive an A in participation, students are expected to contribute substantively in every class.  It is adequate to contribute examples or to ask clarifying questions, but to receive an A, students must engage course topics specifically, by demonstrating a high order understanding of the material OR by asking questions that contribute to their peers' deeper understanding of the course.  

* Please note that because this is a condensed course, missing 3 unexcused classes is the equivalent of missing about a third of the course and will result in an automatic failing grade if not discussed.

** As evaluating participation is subjective in nature, I will send each student a midterm update letting students know what their participation grade is at the midterm mark.

Student Discussion leaders (25%)

Each student will be assigned a partner at the beginning of the semester, and each pair will lead the class through a short (45 minute) discussion about the assigned unit’s readings. Using their peers' discussion questions and their own creative compilation of media, text, or contemporary examples, these students will team-teach the important concepts from the assigned week’s texts. These presentations should be engaging and dynamic, while displaying a command of that unit’s content.

A successful discussion leader will... 

1. Write thoughtful, discussion-provoking questions about the readings and present them to the class alongside discussion questions written by classmates

2. Maintain the focus and enthusiasm of the room in order to promote productive discussion and participation from all students

3. Introduce a text, film, case, or activity to the class that (1) enhances engagement and discussion, and (2) helps students engage the readings in greater detail or in a new context.

4. Submit a quick 1 page "Facilitation Guide" (i.e. their schedule/ plan for the discussion) to the instructor at the start of class.

Discussion leaders are welcome to use the AV equipment to facilitate discussion.

Final Project (40%)

The course will culminate in 2 evenings of final presentations.  These presentations will represent 40% of each student's final grade.  For this final assignment, each student will select a practice or a behavior that has transitioned (either across time or context) from "deviant" status to an accepted status, or from an accepted status to a deviant one.  In the past students have chosen topics as varied as marijuana possession, streaking, public dancing, and unaccompanied women’s travel. 

Each student will accomplish 3 goals:

1. Provide a short history of the practice and its transition into or out of "deviant" status

2. Articulate the framework(s) that legitimized that behavior's deviant status (spiritual, classical criminal, pathological, economic, etc.)

3. Present an educated explanation of how and why that transition occurred in the given time/context, comparing and contrasting it to other similar examples discussed in class

Students will be expected to produce:

• An engaging multi-media presentation that makes use of classroom space and resources to teach classmates about the practice and its history

• A 1-page, single-spaced history of their chosen topic and the theoretical frames that enabled its transition into or out of "deviant" status

• An easy to follow 1-page handout for their peers outlining the basics of their presentation

The grading system is as follows:

A (4.00), A- (3.67) B+ (3.33), B (3.00) B- (2.67) C (2.00) F (.00)
All students can access final grades through Agora after the grading deadline each semester. Transcripts are available through the Office of Student Services.

Deadlines and Late Work

Late work will be accepted within a week of the deadline but will lose one half letter grade for each day of lateness following the deadline.  Exceptions are made very infrequently and under special circumstances.

Attendance

Attending class is an important component of learning. Students are expected to attend all class sessions.  When circumstances prevent a student from attending class, the student is responsible for contacting the instructor before the class meets. Students who miss class are still expected to complete all assignments and meet all deadlines. Attendance in this course is graded and students with more than 3 undiscussed absences will receive a failing grade in the course.

Consistent with BC’s commitment to creating a learning environment that is respectful of persons of differing backgrounds, we believe that every reasonable effort should be made to allow members of the university community to observe their religious holidays without jeopardizing their academic status. Students are responsible for reviewing course syllabi as soon as possible, and for communicating with the instructor promptly regarding any possible conflicts with observed religious holidays. Students are responsible for completing all class requirements for days missed due to conflicts with religious holidays. 

Course Design

Each unit will address one Deviance Framework: A system of logic that has been widely used at some point in American history to know, identify, understand, or correct "deviant" behavior."

Each Deviance Framework will be examined through its historical origins, its imprint in historical archives, its manifestations in contemporary politics, and its greatest critics in philosophy and the social sciences.

We will organize each unit into 8 modules:

Day 1

• A unit lecture on a deviance framework, its emergence in history, its identifiable features, and its basic logic

• An archival exercise, where students are guided through a close reading of an archival text that relies on the given deviance framework

Day 2

• A brief pop quiz on the assigned readings

• A short film, or visual text related to the unit’s deviance framework, followed by a discussion

• A facilitated discussion of the week's readings (organized by a pair of students each week)

Day 3

• (Sometimes) a Q&A interview with an expert working on a related social problem in the field as a social worker, healthcare provider, policy developer, or social scientist 

• A discussion of Jon Ronson’s book

• A Summary of the Unit and Short Debrief

The course schedule below outlines these modules within the course units.  Please not that it includes that dates where readings are due, and the dates where pop quizzes and other assignments are scheduled.