Syllabus

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NOTE: ASSIGNMENTS ARE LISTED HERE ON THE DAY ASSIGNED, NOT THE DAY DUE. UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE DUE BEFORE THE START OF THE NEXT CLASS

 

REVISED 12/07

Course Objectives:

• Students will be able to describe their own relationship to significant issues of justice

• Students will be able to identify problems and propose solutions through evidence-based inquiry

• Students will be able to assess the effectiveness of their own role in collaborations with people of diverse backgrounds

• Students will be able to demonstrate effective planning and reflection to accomplish specific course outcomes

• Students will engage with co-curricular activities to develop academic goals and personal growth

Required Texts, Videos, and Materials All readings for this course are available digitally and for free through the course's Blackboard site in the "content" folder. No readings, however, will be posted until 8/29. There are multiple ways to access the videos and your final costs will vary from $11 to $35. See here. There are no required materials beyond having what you need to take notes each class. A reliable high-speed internet connection will make the class more convenient, but it is not required as you can use the computers at school if you plan carefully.

Policies and Grades

Class policies are available from Handouts
Grade breakdown is available from Grades

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PART 1: Looking Backwards from the Present: Popular Culture and the History of Forensic Science
      

CLASS 1: Wednesday, 8/28

Introductions; signing of student contracts (ms-word file delivered to your desktop)

assigned viewing due 9/02: The Real CSI: FRONTLINE (PBS, 4/27/2012) (58 min.) available on-line here, but look at the questions from the assigned writing below BEFORE watching the video.   I hope we will watch some of this documentary in class as well.

assigned writing due 9/02 by blackboard by the start of classtime: questions on video  (NOTE THERE IS NO CLASS ON 9/02, BUT YOU WE STILL HAVE HOMEWORK DUE THAT DAY) ''

 

Preview from The Real CSI: FRONTLINE (entire film here)

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NO CLASS: Monday, 9/02  (SEE BELOW)

NO CLASS, BUT NOTE FROM 8/27 THAT YOU HAVE HOMEWORK DUE TODAY AND ALSO HOMEWORK ASSIGNED AND DUE 9/09

assigned reading due 9/09:  Simon Cole, Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification (Harvard, 2001),  Chapter 8, “Dazzling Demonstrations and Easy Assumptions” (pp. 190-216)  Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

assigned writing due 9/09 by blackboard by the start of classtime: questions on Suspect Identities reading & introduction to Claim/Evidence/Warrant and accompanying exercises. (note: students who receive less than a 82/100 on this assignment will have to do additional exercises to bring their skills up to speed)

(notice that you have a week without classes to do this homework because we have no class on 9/02 & 9/04-- but you should get an early start on the assignment since it's really the length of two assignments. The reading and the written homework might take a little under 3 hours all together. But again, you've got a week without classes to do it.)

 

A FRITZ SUGGESTION: At 15% of your semester grade, this is the single most important homework of the course. It's worth 15% not because it's long (it's not actually that long) but because the assignment helps you develop a skill you will use for the rest of the semester and I want you to give the homework the care and attention that it merits. Note also that students who receive less than an 82/100 on this homework will have to do additional exercises until they demonstrate competency.

 

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Does All This Writing Stuff Matter in the Real World? Only if you want a job! See this study (pdf file) explaining why MOST employers either require or prefer to hire candidates who have writing skills and often test for them.

NO CLASS: Wednesday, 9/04  (SEE ABOVE--YOU HAVE HOMEWORK DUE 9/09)

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CLASS 2: Monday, 9/09

Short Lecture: Marshaling textual evidence effectively to support an argument: Claim/Evidence/Warrant


assigned writing due 9/11 by blackboard by the start of classtime:Evidence chart of quotations and details from video & reading to use in your 2-page paper due 9/16.  I will provide feedback by e-mail for all of your charts by midnight on 9/13. 

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CLASS 3: Wednesday, 9/11


assigned writing due 9/16 by blackboard by the start of classtime:  two-page paper on Suspect Identities and CSI video

 

Optional evening kayak trip down Manhattan's West Side (weather permitting) and lecture on New York docks and organized crime in the 1950s. The trip is free but open only to the first 9 students who sign up for it and requires a $20 deposit--the full deposit will be returned to you when we launch. Details announced in class. Students who take an optional quiz at the end of the trip will receive 5% extra-credit on this paper. Deposit due anytime before 9/09 in class.

 

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PART 2: Popular Culture and The Making of Criminal Justice Institutions 1920 - 1940

CLASS 4: Monday 9/16

In class: Lecture on Prohibition and the New Deal  (thee an open-note quiz on this lecture 9/18)

Breadline near the Brooklyn Bridge, 1936

assigned reading due 9/18:  K. Allerfeldt, Crime and the Rise of Modern America (Routledge, 2011), pp. 134 - 141; R.G.  Powers G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American Popular Culture (Illinois, 1983) pp 3- 13 (really only 9 pages) Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

assigned writing due 9/18 by blackboard by the start of classtime: questions on readings

extra-credit assignment due by blackboard Wednesday 9/25: self-guided trip to the Museum of Modern Art's recreation of a 1938 photo exhibit by Walker Evans, capturing America life during the Great Depression. That economic calamity powerfully influenced both crime and popular culture at the time. The assignment itself is here. Admission to the MOMA is free for CUNY students.

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CLASS 5: Wednesday 9/18

In class: open-note quiz on lecture from 9/16; excerpts from Scarface: Origins of a Hip Hop Classic

 

 

1932 version of Scarface with Paul Muni (born Friedrich Muni Meyer Weisenfreund) as a Chicago gangster. QUICK VIEWERS' GUIDE

assigned reading due 9/23:  R.G.  Powers G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American Popular Culture (Illinois, 1983) pp 19- 31 (really only 11 pages) Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

assigned viewing: your choice of films to write about (Little Caesar, Scarface (1932), or Public Enemy) (if you choose watch the 1932 Scarface be sure to read the quick viewers' guide--see link to the right)

SEE HERE FOR HOW TO WATCH THESE FILMS

assigned writing due 9/23 by blackboard by the END of classtime (YES THIS MEANS YOU HAVE EXTRA TIME TO DO THE WRITING): here

 

Trailer for Little Caesar (1931)

 

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OPTIONAL CLASS TOUR WITH EXTRA-CREDIT QUIZ AT END: FRIDAY 9/20

Prof. Umbach will lead an optional walking tour of Little Italy and Chinatown to discuss modern-day organized crime's origins in the streets of these two neighborhoods. The trip is free but open only to the first 9 students who sign up for it and requires a $10 deposit--the full deposit will be returned to you when we start the trip. Details announced in class. Students who take an optional quiz at the end of the trip will receive up to an 1% extra-credit on their semester grade. TIME TBA. If more than 9 students ask to join the trip, I may be able to schedule an additional trip.

 

Opening Sequence of Mean Streets (1973) shot in Little Italy

 

OPTIONAL LARGE EXTRA-CREDIT ASSIGNMENT: (DELAYED) Why Cops Kill documentary and assignment. Details about this assignment (potentially an extra 5 semester points) will be posted to our Blackboard site under "content." Expect to spend 3.5 hours on this extra-credit assignment. (Sadly, I can not guarantee that I will be able to offer this extra-credit as it depends on the library locating their copy of the film which as of 9/16 they had not been able to do. Details TBA)

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Monday 9/23 OPTIONAL IN-CLASS WRITING WORKSHOP / ATTENDANCE NOT NECESSARY

In order to give you more time to write your papers, there will be no class today.  I’ll be there to meet with any students who are having trouble writing their papers, but you do not need to attend

assigned writing due 9/25 by blackboard by the start of classtime: paper (see 9/18)

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CLASS 6: Wednesday 9/25

assigned reading due 9/30: R.G.  Powers,  G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American Popular Culture (Illinois, 1983) pp 95 – 112  (really only 16 pages) There will be an open-note quiz on this material on 9/30; the extra-credit assignment (see below) also uses this assignment. Reading on Blackboard. For the open note quiz, you will be allowed to use any HANDWRITTEN original (not photocopied) notes you wish. These notes, however, can not be written on the margin or back of the readings. To be clear, your notes can NOT include the readings.

optional viewing due 9/30 for extra-credit:  “The Public Pays” (1935) (17 minutes) from MGM’s Crime Does Not Pay series of short films. This film is from Disc 1 of the of box set Crime Does Not Pay available at the reserve desk at the library. I am told that the call number for the collection is: "dvd-6093 (box set)"

optional extra-credit writing due 10/02 by blackboard by the start of classtime:paper connecting “The Public Pays” with pp. 95 – 112  of G-Men: Hoover’s FBI in American Popular Culture. Assignment details on Blackboard under "Content" and the submission link is in the usal place.


REMINDER: STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED 70.1 OR LESS ON HW2 MUST DO THE MAKE-UP EXTRA-CREDIT. STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED LESS THAN 82 ARE ALSO ELIGIBLE BUT NOT REQUIRED TO DO THIS EXTRA-CREDIT WORK. THE WORK IS DUE 10/02 BY BLACKBOARD BY START OF CLASSTIME. Assignment details on Blackboard under "Content" and the submission link is in the usal place.

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PART 3: Popular Culture and The Chicago School of Criminology

CLASS 7: Monday 9/30

How To Get Access to Crime and the Slums This book has been scanned and is available to read on-line. Go here to get started on p. 14. Press the forward buttom (right arrow) to go forward a single page. To jump forward many pages, type in the desired page number in the box next to JUMP and then press GO. There are some blank pages in the scan (see page numbers to left); skip these.

In class: Short lecture on the classical Chicago School of criminology and its historical moment (there will be an open-note quiz on this lecture 10/02)

assigned reading due 10/02: N. Rafter and M. Brown, Criminology Goes to the Movies (NYU, 2011) pp. 67-74. Available on our blackboard site;  Crime and the Slum (1934) pp 14 – 16; pp. 103 – 105. pp. 154 – 160 (notice that there are blank pages between p. 104 and 105, between pp. 156 and 157 and then again between 158 and 159. SKIP THESE BLANK PAGES)

assigned writing due 10/02:  Questions regarding Criminology Goes to the Movies and Crime and the Slums.

assigned viewing due 10/07:

You can choose to watch either Dead End (1937) (described here) or Angels with Dirty Faces (1938). See here about how to watch these films.

YOU NEED WATCH ONLY THE FIRST 32 MINUTES DEAD END OR THE FIRST 28 MINUTES OF ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES TO WRITE THE PAPER. Both films are considered classics, however, so you may well end up watching all of your chosen film.

 

Trailer from Dead End (THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR WRITING THE PAPER)

 

Trailer from Angels with Dirty Faces (THIS IS NOT SUFFICIENT FOR WRITING THE PAPER)

assigned writing due 10/07: Evidence chart for the  3-page essay due 10/21 at classtime through blackboard (see deadlines below)

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CLASS 9: Monday 10/07

You've got two weeks and NO class on 10/09 and 10/15 to write this 3 to 4-page paper-- so you've got PLENTY of time.
You'll also see that you will be doing the paper in a series of manageable steps, taken in turn, that each build upon the other.
Here are those steps and their due dates, staggered out across two weeks.

 

SCHEDULING WRITING CENTER VISITS:  I WILL BRING IN A SCHEDULING SHEET FROM THE WRITING CENTER TO CLASS SO THAT YOU CAN RESERVE TIME AT THE CENTER TO GO OVER YOUR PAPER WITH A WRITING MENTOR.  YOU WILL HAVE NO CLASS NEXT WEEK IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU TIME FOR THIS VISIT.

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Wednesday: 10/09

NO CLASS

(I WILL EMAIL COMMENTS ON YOUR EVIDENCE CHARTS BY MIDNIGHT 10/11)

(see deadline chart above)

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Monday: 10/14 NO CLASS COLUMBUS DAY

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Tuesday: 10/15  NO CLASS (scheduled, but we will not meet)

(see deadline chart above)

We have no class on Tuesday week (and Wednesday of last week) in order to allow you to make your visit to the writing center; you are not expected to go to the center during class time.  Instead, your mandatory visit to the writing center substitutes for your class time.

(see deadline chart above)

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PART 4: Popular Culture, Criminology, and the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State

CLASS 10: Wednesday 10/16

In Class: Short Lecture on The Crisis of Urban Liberalism and the Rise of the New Right and American Popular Culture: 1960 – 1988 (there will be an open-note quiz on this lecture 10/21)


assigned writing due 10/21: (see deadline chart above)

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CLASS 11: Monday 10/21

Trailer from How To Make Money Selling Drugs (2013)

In Class: Open note quiz on lecture on 10/16

assigned viewing due 10/23: How To Make Money Selling Drugs (available on Amazon Streaming for $6.99 or Itunes) You only need to watch from 56:44 to 1:12:50 in the film.

assigned reading due 10/23: Barker, The Politics of Imprisonment (Oxford, 2009), pp. 143 - 153. Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

CLASS 12: Wednesday 10/23


In-class: peer review of excerpts from your papers; discussion of upcoming reading and excerpts from Psycho (1960) and Silence of the Lambs (1991)

assigned reading due 10/28: “The Invention of the Psycho Killer and the Rise and Fall of the Welfare State,” in Mariana Valverde, Law and Order: Images, Meaning, and Myths (Rutgers, 2006), pp. 115- 131. Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

assigned writing due by blackboard by classtime on 10/28:  questions on reading

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CLASS 13: Monday 10/28

In Class: Short Lecture, “NOTHING WORKS”: Robert Martinson and the Punitive Turn in Criminology
(there will be an open-note quiz on this lecture 10/30)

assigned viewing due 10/30: Dirty Harry (1971)  We will start this film in class

 

Trailer from Dirty Harry (1971) 

assigned reading due next class 10/30: pp. 41-55 and pp. 259 - 260 from James Q. Wilson, Thinking About Crime (Basic Books, 1975), Rafter, Criminology Goes to the Movies, pp. 14-18. If you want to do the extra-credit question, read Cullen et al, Correctional Theory: Context and Consequences (Sage, 2012) pp. 111-114. (Note, you can skip the first paragraph on p. 14 of Criminology Goes to the Movies; on p. 259 of Thinking About Crime, start at the last paragraph on that page that begins with "Throughout all of this...") Available on our blackboard site in the "content" folder.

assigned writing due by blackboard by classtime on 10/30: Brief questions on Rafter, Wilson, Cullen & optional evidence chart for your upcoming paper relating Dirty Harry to the collapse of rehabilitative, professional criminology

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CLASS 14: Wednesday 10/30



In Class: Discussion of reading

assigned writing due by blackboard by classtime on 11/04: 2&1/2-page paper relating Dirty Harry to the collapse of rehabilitative, professional criminology

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PART 5: News Media and Crime

Class 15: Monday 11/04

assigned reading due next class 11/06:  “Crime in the News,” pp. 75-81 in Katherine Becket, The Politics of Injustice: Crime and Punishment (Sage, 2000).  You will have an open note quiz on this reading next class; any handwritten and original notes (on a separate piece of paper; that is not in the margins of the reading) can be used. Reading on Blackboard.

assigned writing due by blackboard 11/06:  questions on reading

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CLASS 16: Wednesday 11/06

In Class: Quiz on Becket reading
assigned viewing: Central Park Five and The Tawana Brawley Story from the New York Times

Trailer for Central Park Five (2013)

assigned reading due next class 11/11:  (read only after watching the video as these brief excerpts will make more sense in the context of the video) Sarah Burns, The Central Park Five,  pp.24-25 (really only 1 page); pp. 67 – 71 (really only 6 pages) pp. 124 - 128 (really only 4.5 pages). Reading available on Blackboard.

assigned writing due by blackboard 11/11:  questions on reading 

CLASS 21: Monday 11/25

(Class meets in computer lab)

note: you must either bring to class or somehow have available in digital form all of the material you will be using to create your screencast.

assigned writing due by 11:59 PM on 11/26: completed rough draft of your 7 minute screencast

Optional talk, 4:20-6:00 pm, documentary filmmaker Roger Graef on The Truth About Crime (Main Lecture Hall, L.63)

Graef's lecture will play heavily in the optional extra-credit final.

 

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Wednesday 11/27:

In Class: NO CLASS!

 

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