Course
Description
Graduate
Catalog Description: The development and implementation
of criminal law. Consideration of functionalist, conflict,
and interpretive theories and research.
Dr.
Mentor's Description: Examination of the legal system,
the lawmaking
process, and the interaction of various participants
in the justice system. Special attention will be
paid to the law's role in challenging and legitimating
authority. In addition to the above, the focus will be
on theories that seek to broaden our understanding of
law and justice.
Readings
Sarat,
Austin (2004). The Social Organzation of Law:
Introductory Readings. Roxbury Press.
ISBN:1-931719-20-9
Assignments
Five
journal entries will be due on dates listed in the course
calendar. Click the Journals link
for instructions.
The
five journals will become your final journal, which is
graded as a whole.
The
online forum allows us the opportunity to discuss
a range of issues. The forum is an online "bulletin
board." Each
of you may post questions, reactions to course content,
comments about materials
available on the Internet, responses to other questions
or comments, or whatever you feel like sharing with others.
The forum is especially helpful for those
who want to share information found on the internet.
Links to sites can be easily included in the forum.
In addition to class
discussion, the forum is the area in which I will send
communications intended to be read by the entire class.
Plan to visit the forum often. Participation:
(up to 10 points may be deducted)
Your
experience, and the learning experience of your classmates
and instructor, are greatly enhanced as the result of
active participation. You are likely to have strong opinions
about a number of the topics we will discuss. Let us
hear what you think by posting comments in the bulletin
board/discussion area. This course will be better if
you talk more and I talk less. I prefer not to dominate
the online discussion so each of you will need to remain
active throughout the semester. You all have interesting
ideas and viewpoints and we learn more by sharing and
trying to understand various views.
In
addition to discussions, participation is evident in
efforts to keep up with course work and submit assignments
on schedule. In short, don't "disappear" for
extended periods. This is not a traditional course with
opportunities for classroom discussion. This is not an
independent study course either. You are expected to
remain involved in the class throughout the semester.
If this course met in a traditional classroom we would
notice that some students are absent and do not work,
through their active participation, to improve the learning
environment for all class participants. Other students
would attend class on a regular basis, but sit there
like "a bump on a log." An online course is
different. Our discussions are "asynchronous." In
other words, your comments to the class may not be read
for several hours after the comment is made. Those who
read your comments have the opportunity to think about
what was said. Although the time difference changes the
nature of a discussion, discussion still takes place.
The participants were present even though they were together
at a certain time and place.
Notice
that the score for this item is a negative. As graduate
students, a certain level of participation is assumed.
That level of participation is expected and not included
in the grade. Those that fail to reach that level will
lose points.
Course
Policies
Deadlines
Deadlines
are not suggestions. All written material will rapidly
lose points in the days following the due date. Zero
points will be awarded for missed assignments.
Withdrawing
from class
Class
withdrawal is your responsibility. If you disappear,
we will wonder where you are. However, we will not drop
you from the class. Withdrawals should follow University
procedure. The student is responsible for obtaining all
necessary signatures on drop slips.
ADA
If
you have or believe you have a disability, you may wish
to self-identify. You can do so by providing documentation
to the Office for Services for Students with Disabilities,
located at Garcia Annex (646-6840). Appropriate
accommodations may then be provided for you.
If
you have a condition which may affect your ability to
exit safely from the premises in an emergency or which
may cause an emergency during class, you are encouraged
to discuss this in confidence with the instructor and/or
the director of Disabled Student Programs. If you
have general questions about the Americans With Disabilities
ACT (ADA), call 646-3333.
Academic
Misconduct
A
very high price can be paid when you are caught cheating.
Too high to risk. All written material must be your
own composition. Appropriate credit must be given for
sources used in developing your ideas and arguments.
Provide appropriate citations. It is easy to see when
large sections of text have been lifted from other Web
pages. This is quite easy to verify as well.
It
is not appropriate to submit work that was originally
completed for another course.
Please
refer to the Student Code of Conduct in the NMSU Student
Catalog. Students should pay particular attention to
the following section on academic misconduct taken from
page 19 of the 1999-2000 Undergraduate Catalog. "Any
student found guilty of academic misconduct shall be
subject to disciplinary action. Academic misconduct includes,
but is not limited to, the following actions:
1.
cheating or knowingly assisting another student in committing
an act of cheating or other forms of academic dishonesty;
2.
plagiarism, which includes, but is not necessarily limited
to, submitting examinations, themes, reports, drawing,
laboratory notes, undocumented quotation, computer processed
materials, or other materials as one’s own work when
such work has been prepared by another person or copied
from another person;
3.
unauthorized possession of examinations, reserve library
materials or laboratory materials;
4.
unauthorized changing of grades on an examination, in
an instructor’s grade book, or on a grade report; or
unauthorized access to computer records;
5.
nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications
or other university records in, or for, academic departments
or colleges".
NOTE:
The penalties for engaging in any of these acts of academic
misconduct will be determined on a case-by-case basis,
but will follow general university guidelines as to severity.
Classroom
Climate
Classroom
climate is not solely the Professor's responsibility.
We encourage each of you to engage in conversation on
any issue. The University is a place for free speech,
limited through individual choice. These choices may
be altered with awareness of the real or potential reaction
of others. However, you should not be intimidated into
keeping quiet. We do not condone racist, sexist, homophobic,
or other hateful speech. You are all adults, capable
of understanding generally accepted rules of conduct
and modifying your behavior in an effort to comply with
these social or legal expectations. You are responsible
for your behavior.
Final
Grades
Dr.
Mentor does not post or discuss final grades after
the conclusion of the course. If grades
are made available online, be advised that if there
is any error the grade you receive from the registrar
is your official grade. Grade changes will be made
only in cases of data or computation error. Please
do not ask, beg, or otherwise attempt to change a
properly computed grade.
Course
Outline
This
course outline is intended to define much of what will
happen throughout this course. Changes are possible.
Any changes will be clearly presented to the class and
will often include class discussion. Changes will apply
to all students enrolled in this course, without regard
to whether they were involved in the discussion.
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