Women in Society
On Tuesday, August 26, 2002:
First class. Impossible overflow. Requested new room from our Chair, Dr, Alan Ryave. We will meet from now on in SCC E153. It should hold all of us.
Reviewed the syllabus and the texts chosen for the course. Discussed the policy of no tests and what that means - that you are responsbile on your own for choosing measures of learning from the Study Modules and getting them to me by e-mail or by talking to me, by the time of grade accounting listed periodically on your Class reading schedule.
Asked that you review Evidence of Learning so that we can confirm that the grading policy is indeed transparent.
Sociology of Law
On Tuesday, August 26, 2002:
First class. Syllabi not printed because of electronic error. Class asked to have them printed for Thursday. It's done.
Arrigo's book on Criminal Justice, Social Justice is in at the bookstore. Be sure to pick it up. But the collection of Contemporary Chinese Fiction by Carolyn Choa, ed. is not in. You can order it at Amazon for about $11.
We talked about the two phases of law we will try to cover: legal research and legal argumentation and/or practice. Pat gave out some copies of a Shepardizing manual for those interested in research. They're free, and we have more. I asked you to please review Evidence of Learning so we can talk about grading and how it will be done.
We talked about my perspective: left radical, so that you can take my perspective into account. On the site we try to give you both left and right perspectives. No points for agreeing or disagreeing with my personal perspective.
To further illustrate the difference in perspective I will be offering you, I compared a traditional text Law in our Lives, sent to me for review. That text does mention critical race theory. It gives it all of one page. And it gives Kimberle Crenshaw one paragraph. I then told you the story of Kimberle Crenshaw's battle with, I think it was GM (check the case for accuracy) in which black women were not permitted to sue for discrimination because the company did hire black men in their factory. The black women's complaint was that the company would not hire black women for office work. The courts said the black women had no standing to sue because they didn't represent all women, and they didn't represent all blacks. The y represented an intersection of blacks and women. The court refused to enlarge suspect classes to intersections of classes. Kimberle Crenshaw is angry and upfront says this is poor law, and compares it to the Bakke case where Bakke was alowed to bring suit a a white AND a male, an inersection of the suspect classes. Our course will focus more deeply on such issues, and that can't be done in single paragraph.
Crystal Adams' Comments:: Blue comments are inserted by jeanne.
Dear Mrs. Curran; jeanne
I am in your women in society class and your sociology of law class. I thought what you said about the critical race theory was very interesting. I am interested in the theory intersection of white males but not black females. I read several books on the subject of race and what it is and the racial ideology commonly used in the United States. My ideas may be a bit extreme and upset some, as I am a rebel, as I see you are also. I wrote several things about ideology and race which related to the subject you brought up today in class when you were discussing the text book you opted not to use for our class. I thought you would find my ideas interesting.........
- What is ideology?
- Is it inherently good or bad?
- What purpose does ideology serve?
Ideology is defined as a complex set of inconsistent widely held ideas, beliefs, assumptions, ’truths’, common
sense understandings and knowledge. I believed ideology was good. After reading the material I now understand it is bad. Let's see if we can look more closely at these concepts of "good" and "bad." I thought ideology was simply cultural information used to interpret human experience and order society. That particular order, is used to dominate certain groups. Good point. For example, there are numerous inconsistent ideas associated with people of color. The wide spread belief of them being lazy, sexually promiscuous, drug users, poverty stricken, criminals and countless others. These ideas are part of American ideology. These perceptions are distorted and reflect the interest of the dominant class. They are necessary for the dominant group to maintain power. IThat power is used to justify racism.
Crystal's comments alert me to knowledge she comes in with and wants to build on. They enable me to meet her needs better as I plan the course. The information she gives me is very detailed, so that I can see ways to suggest further reading and discssions. Along with that she reminds me that I didn't talk to her on Tuesday night, and I'd better be sure I do so on Thursday. jeanne
KaShawndra Penn's Comments:: Blue comments are inserted by jeanne.
Subject: Sociology of Law
Mrs. Curran jeanne
I enjoyed the lecture on the Bakke case that was discussed in class on Tuesday. It was very nteresting. Yes, the Bakke case is interesting, especially as Kimberle Crenshaw (of critical race theory) sees it. As a critical theorist, Crenshaw chooses not to accept in silence the exclusion and exploitation of dominant society. She believes in speaking out to demand awareness of such injustice. Structural Violence is also something new that I learned. I know a lot about the law and a little about our criminal justice system. I work with a company that provides legal services.
Structural Violence is something you can relate to in everyday life, and I like the way you explained it in class. I feel that structural violence can take place anywhere including in relationships, at school, at work or within our own family. In these cases the
violence is mostly from people we like or love.
Will talk to you soon.
KaShawndra N. Penn
Student
Reinterpreting Theory
On Tuesday, August 26, 2002:
First class. Talked about objectives of course to both review traditional theory and explore contemporary reinterpretations of theory. Talked about my perspective as left radical, and talked about the role of politics and political theory in sociological theory. On the site every attempt is made to give you access to all perspectives, and no points are given or taken away for agreeing or disagreeing with any perspective.
We talked of Foucault and the concept that power is all important. We discovered that we need to upload some basic material on Foucault. Will do.
We discussed multiple identities, me as a professor with power, me as a little girl locked out of and not welcome in many places, and how these identities intersect and pop up when we least expect them. We talked of the social construction of the identities and the interdependency of them all, which we'll review in constitutive theory. We spoke specifically of how my normative expectations of what you are like limit my presentation of who and what I am, and how I expect you to react, thus influencing how you act and limiting your agency. We also talked about how a lot of things in the world out there, like paying your tuition if you want credit for your classes, are NOT socially constructed.
We talked about the choices of books. I really do think all three are good. And I will put up study notes on all three. The reason you have a choice of only one of the recommended books was my perception that three texts would have been too much for comfort. The class generally agreed with that.
I asked that you look at One Plausible Schedule for Textual Readings in Theory since it was inadvertently left off of your syllabus. And I asked that you read Evidence of Learning, so that we can discuss grading issues on Thursday.
Comments:
Rita Brown: Blue comments are inserted by jeanne.
Jeanne,
I have your email and I want you to have my email address also.
I also want to talk to Pat. How can I contact her? Pat's email is: Pat Acone . Pat is directing a research piece on citizen's arrest for us this semester, and is using SBS B325 for a base of operations. She'll be posting her scheduled hours soon.
I heard she was going to law school. She is, bu she agreed to finish up her M.A. this Fall, and help me with the Citizen's Arrest project.
Rita's comments cemented by remembering her name and face. They confirm that she was attending and is committed to genuine participation. jeanne
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A Justice Site
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Lecture Notes and Comments