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Instructor: Craig T. Robertson, Ph.D.
E-mail: Always
use the Blackboard (Bb) e-mail system for this class. Under Dept. of Sociology Website: http://www2.una.edu/sociology Check out the website to learn more about the department, the major, the faculty, our courses, careers, etc. My Website: http://www2.una.edu/crobertson This Law and Society Course is being taught as part of the Sociology Department's Criminology Concentration. Using a set of conceptual sociological tools, the course will re-introduce you to the law and the legal institution and in so doing allow you to better understand the relationship between law and human behavior. The course will sharpen critical thinking skills and hopefully enhance your respect for the law and the legal institution while recognizing the extremely limiting nature of understanding "law entirely on its own terms" (Sutton, 2001). We will be examining the face of legal systems across different cultures to more clearly understand what law is, what functions it performs in its capacity as an institution of social control and how it shapes and is shaped by social groups. More specifically, our goals in this course are:
Barkan, S. (2009). Law and Society: An Introduction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Additional readings as required (most will be posted to Bb). Course Preparation: I expect my students to be active participants in this class. To be an active participant you must read your assigned chapters and stay current with those chapters. To be an active participant you must attend class. My attendance policy is as follows: Attendance is taken and graded for a total of 50 pts. Each time you miss class, I deduct 2 points from your 50 pts. total. Assignments: Written assignments must be formatted using the APA style. Please view the APA PowerPoint presentation provided for you within Bb. Work that is inconsistent with the APA format and other expectations concerning content, basic instructions and professionalism of presentation will be returned to be resubmitted as late work before the next class meeting begins at 80% maximum credit. Please understand that not every assignment requires you to prepare internal citations or reference page/s. I will inform you in my assignment instructions when this is necessary. Failure to submit assignments on time will result in a maximum 80% grade before grading begins. Late assignments must be submitted before the next class meeting begins. Late work will not be accepted after that point. Three assignments will be posted to Bb with each counting 50 points. Unless otherwise stated, assignments must be typed (use either an 11 or 12 point font, always use a top, left, right, and bottom margin of 1" and double-space the work), grammatically sound and paginated. Your work will be graded on the basis of content, grammar, adherence to the APA format, and conformance to standard expectations related to ethical writing. You must internally cite all your sources, avoid lengthy quotes, avoid plagiarism, and work independently of other students enrolled in this course. Your work will be returned immediately if the above expectations are not met. A link to the UNA Writing Center is available on the Bb "Course Tools" menu. We all need to improve our writing skills and the writing center has helpful resources and staff.
Make-up Policy: Make-up quizzes and exams are given at the discretion of the instructor under extenuating circumstances, and requests for make-up quizzes and exams must be made by the student within three days of the scheduled quiz or exam date. Illnesses and death of an immediate family member are the only non-university approved reasons that will justify make-up quizzes or exams. All make-up requests must be accompanied by official written notice and make-up work must be completed on the date defined by the instructor. Instructors are not responsible for informing students of missed work. Learning Disabilities Policy: In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the University offers reasonable accommodations to students with eligible documented learning, physical and/or psychological disabilities. Under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities as compared to an average person in the population. It is the responsibility of the student to contact Developmental Services prior to the beginning of the semester to initiate the accommodation process and to notify instructors within the first three class meetings to develop an accommodation plan. Appropriate, reasonable accommodations will be made to allow each student to meet course requirements, but no fundamental or substantial alteration of academic standards will be made. Students needing assistance should contact Developmental Services (RM. 111 in the GUC or 765-4214). Any information drawn from works published by others must be appropriately cited within the written work and on the reference page/s (prepared in the APA format). Direct quotes, longer than three lines of typed text in your paper, are to be indented an additional inch on the left and right margins and single-spaced. You must never string together one direct quote after another and you must never begin a quote and finish it one/two paragraph(s) or pages later. It is also unethical to block and move large volumes of text from websites to your own work without the proper citation. Students engaging in these activities are merely engaged in a typing exercise and this type of work will result in a zero. The standard 10-point grading scale (A=90-100%, B=80-89%, C=70-79%, D=60-69%, and below 60%=F) is employed in this course. Course averages may be calculated at any point in the semester by adding together the total number of points you accumulate from all graded work and then dividing that sum by the total number of points that could possibly have been earned. For example, if a student made 8 out of 10 on a quiz and 85 out of 100 on an exam, the student's grade would be 93 out of 110 or 84.5%. You can check your grades using Bb's "My Grades" feature. Where do your course points come from? 1st.
Examination = 100 pts. Date and Event/Subject 8/20
- Classes begin, review of syllabus It is my goal to make this course worth your time and effort. Therefore, I will do all within my power to ensure that you learn and succeed. If you are concerned with any aspect of this course please contact me. You owe it to yourself to talk with me since I can only help you if I know there is a problem. |
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