Faculty: Barbe Fogarty, MSW

Subject/Discipline: Sociology
School: St. Joseph's University
Project Area:

Spring 1997

Office: Barbelin 107A
Office Hours: 12:30-1:00 PM Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays (also by appointment)
Phone: 660-1269 (Office) / 660-1640 (Dept. Secretary) / 610-556-2143 (Home)

Course Description: The purposed of the course is to apply sociological perspectived to an understanding of social justice issues, our individual and collective responses to social problems and our motivations for service.  In exploring these issues we will utilize the Jesuits' four step process of education for justice as a guide, focusing on 1) the experience of service, 2) analysis of social problems, 3) reflection on our response to injustice, and 4) action to effect social change.

As part of the Saint Joseph's service-learning curriculum, this course requires three (3) hours of community service per week at an approved site.

The foundation of this course is the students' expereience of service.  The success of the course requires serious commitment to active class participation on the part of each student.  Our goal is to bridge what happend "out there" with what happens in the clasroom.  Our challenge is to merge these two sets of experiences so that they will inform and enlighten each other.  A seminar format will emphasize discussion over lectures.  Since informed participation requires prepartaion, all readings and assignments must be completed before class.

Required reading:

1. Anderson, Elijah.  Streetwise.  University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1990.

2. Kozol, Jonathan.  Rachel and Her Children. Ballantine Books: New York, 1988.

3. Bender, David & Bruno Leone (Eds.) Social Justice - Opposing Viewpoints.  Greenhaven Press: San Diego, 1990.

4. A booklet of articles is available at the University Press (Barbelin Tower)

Course requirements:
Semester grades will be based on the following:

Journal     15%
Service evaluation    25%
Reflection papers    30%
Presentation    30%
Extra credit option is available

Journal.  Journal entries should be made at least twice a week (immediately after visiting your site, if possible).  The journal is a place to "store" your experiences and insights.  Beyond being a log of activities, however, your journal is also a tool for analyzing those activities and relating events at your site to the larger issues of social justice.
What to include:
-Feelings, impressions, observations about the poeple and events you experience at your site
-On-going assessment of your service experience (What did I expect early-on? How are my expectations being modified? What am I learning about myself, others, the ups and downs of service? How are my views being challenged, reaffirmed, changed?)
-Any connections you make between readings and class discussions and your service expereince.  What issues of social justice do you see?
Journals will be collected periodically for review and feedback.

Reflection Papers.  Weekly reflection questions will be assigned in conjunction with course readings.  Written responses of 2-3 typed pages will be collected and graded as follows:
"+" (outstanding effort; strong evidence of critical reflection; response draws on personal experience and discusses that exdperience in light of class readings and disucssion, uncluding insights from other classes you have taken.)
"(Check)" (adequate work; some evidence that personal experiences and coursework are bing integrated).
"0" (no credit; no evidence of integration; response shows hasty effort with little or no critical reflection).

Be advised: NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED.  Rewrites on no-credit papers are optional and will be due at the next class session (no extensions).

Presentations.  Each student will present a summary of his/her service experience (presentations will be scheduled for the last week of class).  Presentation format will be left to each student (e.g. use of visual aids, role-plays or other forms of expression such as music, poerty, etc. are allowable - check with instructor). However, the following elements must be included in your presentation:
1) A brief recap of your service sie and your role at the site.
2) A discussion of your service experience in light of the issues, topics and theories covered in class.  How did our class discussions on social justice/injustice connect or not connect with the realities of justice and injustice you saw in urban Philadelphia?  This section should include numerous references to class readings and themes as a way of demonstrating your ability to integrate classroom and "real world" learning.
3) A concluding statement that summarizes this semester in a few sentences.  How has this experience changed you views on American society and our potential for achieving social justice?  Where do we, as individuals and as a society, need to go from here?
4) For the instructor: a written version of your presentation and an anotated bibliography of at least 4 scholarly sources (other than assigned readings) related to your service experience.  These sources may also be cited in your presentation.

Extra Credit Option.  Find an article that relates to your particluar service site, service in general, social justice issues, etc.  Present the article to the class and discuss why you chose it and what you learned from it.  (Please provide the instructor with a copy for xeroxing).

Tentative Schedule

Part I: Inclusion
-Who is included in my world?
-How are people experiencing justice and injustice in their lives?

Week 1    "The Social Justice Agenda"

-Examples from Urban America

Week 2    Streetwse (Into., Ch. 1-4)
Week 3    Streetwise (Ch. 6-8, Conclusion)
Week 4    Rachel (Intor. Parts 1-3)

Part II: Preception
-How do we look at issues of social justice?
-What blinders keep us from seeing our interrelationships?
-How should we deal with differences of race, class, and gender?

Week 5    "Caseworker to Comrade"
                "The Public Life"

-What is social justice?
-What are the difficulties in defining social justice?

Week 6    Intro. to "The Faces of Injustice"
                "Justice in Rational Thought"
                "Jutstice, Power and Conflict"
                Bishop's Economic Pastoral

Part III: The Need for Critical Analysis
-What is critical analysis and why is it important?

Week 7    "Social Analysis: Linking Faith and Justice"
                "Why is There Misery in the World?"

Week 8    No class - Spring break

-How just is American society today?

Week 9 & 10    SJOV- The Economy (2-1, 2-2, 2-7, 2-8)
                        SJOV - Minorities (3-1, 3-2)
                        SJOV - Women (4-1, 4-2)

Note: March 28 - No class

Part IV: Influence and the Potential for Change
-Are we responsible for the consequences of injustices done by others?
-What actions should we take?
-What values are reflected in our actions (charity or justice)?

Week 11    "Why Servanthood is Bad"
                   "A Reform is a Reform..."

-How can we make society more just?
-What models for creating change?

Week 12    Alinsky and IAF article
                   Paulo Friere
                   Catholic Worker

-What is the role of social institutions in promoting social justice?

Week 13    SJOV- The Government (5-1, 5-2)
                   SJOV- Corporations (5-3, 5-4)
                   SJOV- Schools (5-5, 5-6)

-What is the role of individuals in promoting social justice?

Week 14    SJOV- Volunteers (5-7)
                    "60s versus 90s"
                    Newspaper articles

Week 15    Individual Presentations