Journaling (30%): One page per week, online, on the reading or the lectures or on a current event. You will turn your journal into your TA three times throughout the semester. Your journal entries can do lots of different things; the main idea is for you to show engagement. Some ideas: what struck you about a particular reading or lecture? What question did you mean to ask, and why does it interest you? What is missing from the reading? Why current impacts do you think this history has? What is the background, or what would you like to learn more about, concerning a news item? Keep your journal as a shareable document in Google Docs or as a Word document–really anything is fine so long as you make it shareable and your TA can comment in it.
I need 5 journal entries with each being at least 250 words long. If you need to see one as an example I can show you so that you can make sure you are correctly fulfilling the requirements. I will attach the entire syllabus under this so that you can get a good idea of the type of subject matter I need for these journal entries.
AMST 278
Crimes and Punishments
Remote Synchronous | TR 12:30-1:45 | Spring 2021 | 3 credit hours | Lecture
Sakai: https://sakai.unc.edu/x/CmgRQM
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Class Zoom: https://unc.zoom.us/j/95136184298?pwd=N25sQXZzRlFLajkrK3FqaHRBT3ZCZz09
Meeting ID: 951 3618 4298
Passcode: 374570
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Instructors:
Seth Kotch (he/him)
sethkotch@unc.edu
Office Hours: after class and by appointment
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Katelyn Campbell (she/her) Office Hours: by appt |
Danielle Dulken (she/her) Office hours: by appt |
Bri Sikorski (they/them) Office hours: by appt |
Crime and punishment are all around us: a parent scolding a naughty child, some poor soul being handcuffed in the McDonald’s parking lot, scofflaws sniffing cocaine off keys in the bathroom at La Rez, 37,000 inmates living in North Carolina’s prisons. But how much crime and punishment do we even notice? This course aims to help you notice punishment–by introducing you to its history, by making you knowledgeable about its structures and intentions, by engaging you in a discussion of its past, present, and future.
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Target Audience and Prerequisites: There are no prerequisites for this course. It fulfills the Historical Analysis (HS) Approach and the North Atlantic World (NA) and Communication Intensive (CI) Connections.
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Goals:
- Explore American history through the lens of crime and responses to crime.
- Understand contemporary conversations and controversies in a historic context.
- Engage the comparative impact of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, age, ability, religion, and regional identity on criminal justice.
- Encounter and evaluate examples of successful scholarship and primary source material.
- Develop communication, research, and writing skills.
Along with many other courses across UNC, this course is participating in an important initiative by the Institute of African American Research called Student Learning to Advance Truth and Equity. IAAR-SLATE seeks to increase undergraduates’ understanding of race, racism and racial equity. All courses, like ours, in the program will include at least six required activities that explore this topic. By enrolling in this course, you are also committing to joining in all of the assigned activities for the program, some of which are in-class and some of which take place outside of our class time. We will discuss some material together in our class, but we will also have opportunities to meet and learn from people whose work or lives help us understand race, racism and racial equity better. In some of the activities, you will also be able to dialogue with students in other courses who are also participating in the same required activities.
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Practices and Policies: Your active participation is essential to making this class worth attending. Please attend class and participate when given the opportunity.
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Course Content: We will be discussing a variety of disturbing crimes, punishments, and social sanctions as well as sex, murder, abuse, and other difficult subjects.
Technology: Whenever possible, please keep your camera on and your mic off. We know it is not always possible or reasonable to have your camera on.
Attendance: No right or privilege exists that permits a student to be absent from any class meetings, except for these University Approved Absences:
- Authorized University activities
- Disability/religious observance/pregnancy, as required by law and approved by Accessibility Resources and Service and/or the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (EOC)
- Significant health condition and/or personal/family emergency as approved by the Office of the Dean of Students, Gender Violence Service Coordinators, and/or the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (EOC)
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The Honor Code: I am obligated to report suspected academic dishonesty to the Honor Court. If you have any questions about the honor code please visit studentconduct.unc.edu.
Diversity: This classroom is intended to be a welcoming and inclusive environment for UNC-Chapel Hill community members of all races, sexes, ethnicities, national origins, ages, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions. If you ever feel otherwise please talk to me immediately. If you are not comfortable talking with me, you can create a throwaway email and contact me anonymously or contact a TA.
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Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): CAPS is strongly committed to addressing the mental health needs of a diverse student body through timely access to consultation and connection to clinically appropriate services, whether for short or long-term needs. Go to their website: https://caps.unc.edu or visit their facilities on the third floor of the Campus Health Services building for a walk-in evaluation to learn more.
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Accessibility: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill facilitates the implementation of reasonable accommodations, including resources and services, for students with disabilities, chronic medical conditions, a temporary disability or pregnancy complications resulting in barriers to fully accessing University courses, programs and activities.
Accommodations are determined through the Office of Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS) for individuals with documented qualifying disabilities in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. See the ARS Website for contact information: https://ars.unc.edu or email ars@unc.edu.
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Title IX: Any student who is impacted by discrimination, harassment, interpersonal (relationship) violence, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, or stalking is encouraged to seek resources on campus or in the community. Please contact the Director of Title IX Compliance (Adrienne Allison – Adrienne.allison@unc.edu), Report and Response Coordinators in the Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office (reportandresponse@unc.edu), Counseling and Psychological Services (confidential), or the Gender Violence Services Coordinators (gvsc@unc.edu; confidential) to discuss your specific needs. Additional resources are available at http://safe.unc.edu.
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Grading and Evaluation: We will endeavor to provide feedback on all assignments quickly.
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Here is a basic rubric:
- does it appear that this student cared about this project?
- does the project show intellectual creativity?
- does the project show intellectual ambition, pushing past obvious ideas and showing thoughtfulness on the page?
- does the project show analytical rigor, whether with a well-defended thesis or other way of synthesizing research and original thinking?
- is the project clearly organized?
- is the project well-written and/or well-executed?
- does the project have a title, numbered pages, few to no typos, and follow rules linked to in the style section of this syllabus?
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Here is what UNC says about grades and grade ranges:
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A: Mastery of course content at the highest level of attainment that can reasonably be expected of students at a given stage of development.
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B: Strong performance demonstrating a high level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.
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C: A totally acceptable performance demonstrating an adequate level of attainment for a student at a given stage of development.
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Students receiving grades below the C-range will be asked to redo their work.
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95-100 = A 87-89 = B+ 77-79 = C+
90-94 = A- 84-86 = B 74-76 = C
80-83 = B- 70-73 = C-
Style: Papers should be footnoted. Footnotes should follow the Chicago Manual of Style. If you are wedded to another style, that is acceptable, as long as you are consistent. Use 12-point Times New Roman font with standard margins. Number your pages, and though it is undeniably ugly, double-space so there is room for comments. One space after periods. Oxford commas. Proofread your papers. Take a look at a grammar PowerPoint here.
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Assignments
Citizenship, Buy-In, and Dedication (10%): Your active participation and basic decency as class citizens are essential to the success of this course. Please come to class prepared to contribute, turn your camera on when possible, use the chat. Yes, it’s a big class but there are ways to make your presence felt. Assessed over course of semester.
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Punished (10%): In this brief (3-5 page) paper describe and explore a punishment you experienced. What did you do to earn this punishment? What form did the punishment take? What were its effects? Given what you now know about punishment history and theory, how did that punishment fit into the larger scheme of things–what was the theoretical rationale for the punishment, if any? Due early, will be peer-reviewed and then revised and submitted.
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Journaling (30%): One page per week, online, on the reading or the lectures or on a current event. You will turn your journal into your TA three times throughout the semester. Your journal entries can do lots of different things; the main idea is for you to show engagement. Some ideas: what struck you about a particular reading or lecture? What question did you mean to ask, and why does it interest you? What is missing from the reading? Why current impacts do you think this history has? What is the background, or what would you like to learn more about, concerning a news item? Keep your journal as a shareable document in Google Docs or as a Word document–really anything is fine so long as you make it shareable and your TA can comment in it.
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Midterm (20%): IDs, short answer, and a long answer about course reading and content up to the end of unit three.
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Midterm Substitute: Policy Brief (20%): Historians shy away from being proscriptive, but also complain that no one pays attention to history when making policy. For this assignment, create a short (4 page) policy brief that lays out a problem, its history, and what you propose we (e.g., the government) do about it. Read this for more on policy briefs: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/policy-briefs/. Submit via Sakai.
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Final Exam (30%): Short answers, long answers, and IDs drawn from readings and lectures and longform answers that ask you to synthesize course material, address core problems, and analyze the histories we encounter in this course. Take home, open notes. All material is from lecture and readings and will be post-midterm, not cumulative. Will be distributed and collected via Sakai. If you want to do something different and equivalent, start the conversation with your TA now.
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The exam will be available by noon on May 10. It will be due no later than 3pm on May 12.
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Required Texts
You have one required text. It is available via your local independent bookseller, such as Flyleaf Books.
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- Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?
Virtually all course readings are available directly through the syllabus. Please report issues with links as soon as you notice them. Also: online readings are sometimes password protected by the university. If you access readings off campus please be prepared to navigate the university’s proxy system for access. You will never need to purchase an article.
Important Dates
February 4: Punished paper draft due
February 11: Punished paper final due, with rough draft
March 16: Midterm happens
May 11: Final Paper due
Daily Work
This schedule is subject to change but will not be altered without notice. Readings and other preparation listed under a date should be completed by that date.
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Day 1
Tuesday, January 19: Introductions/Bias, Belief, Knowledge, and the College Classroom/Why Do We Punish?
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Part 1: Theories and Origins
Why do we punish? What role does punishment play in American society?
Thursday, January 21: Witches and Why We Need Them
(optional) Excerpt from Kai Eriksson, Wayward Puritans
“A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials”
“Massachusetts Clears Five in Salem Witch Trials”
Tuesday, January 26: Organizing Western Crimes and Punishments
Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishments (1767), Intro, Ch. 1-6, 16, conclusion
Thomas Jefferson’s accounting of crimes and punishments in Virginia
Thursday, January 28: Thinking about Prisons
Chai Woodham, “Eastern State Penitentiary”
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Part 2: Police and Sheriffs
Why do police exist? How does their origin explain their current role?
Tuesday, February 2: Slave Patrols and Slave Control in the American South
“An Act Concerning Slaves and Free Persons of Color” (NC Criminal Code, 1831)
Thursday, February 4: Origins of Police and Detectives in Cities
Punished Paper due in your group
Draw a picture of a detective
Tuesday, February 9: Technologies of Surveillance
Listen: “Prisoners Led to the Forensic Use of Fingerprinting”
Thursday, February 11:
Revised Punished Paper due with first draft
Tuesday, February 16: No class, “wellness day”
Thursday, February 18: Massive Resistance
Robert F. Williams, Negroes with Guns chapter 5
Tuesday, February 23: Massive Resistance
Robert F. Williams, Negroes with Guns chapter 5
Part 3: The Feds
Why do we have a federal system of law enforcement? What’s its purpose?
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Thursday, February 25: Origins of Federal Law Enforcement
Draw a picture of a federal agent
Tuesday, March 2: Federal Law on Indian Land
Walter R. Echo-Hawk, Ten Worst Indian Law Cases Ever Decided, Foreward – 29
Thursday, March 4: J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI
Beverly Gage, “How J. Edgar Hoover Shaped the FBI”
Tuesday, March 9: Public Enemies
Michael S. Rosenwald, “Bonnie and Clyde Were Depression-Era Kardashians”
Scott Simon, “‘Here’s the Story of Bonnie and Clyde’”
Thursday, March 11: No class, “wellness day”
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Part 4: Death Penalties
Tuesday, March 16: Midterm during class time or Alternate Midterm Due
Thursday, March 18: Lynching
Walter F. White, “I Investigate Lynchings”
Visit lynching.web.unc.edu and look at the map.
Tuesday, March 23: The Legal Death Penalty I: Prison Journalism
Info on the death penalty today from the Department of Public Safety
“12 Years without an Execution”
Lyle May, “Prison Releases”
Guest lecturer Lyle May
Thursday, March 25: The Legal Death Penalty II: Recent Developments in Law
Guest lecturer Lyle May
Tuesday, March 30: Abolition and What It Means
Lyle May, “Life without Parole Is Silent Execution”
Lynden Harris, ed., “Death Sentences”
Guest lecturer Lyle May
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Part 5: Prohibitions
Thursday, April 1: Opium, Heroin, and Cocaine
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A True Dream
Jack Black, You Can’t Win, Ch. 17
Tuesday, April 6: Marijuana
Watch: Reefer Madness (1936)
Thursday, April 8: CLASS CANCELED
Tuesday, April 13: Alcohol
Benjamin Rush, “An Inquiry into the Effect of Ardent Spirits …”
Sarah Hepola, “Why the Pilgrims Wore Beer Goggles”
Thursday, April 15: The War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration
Janet Cooke, “Jimmy’s World”
Watch: Crack (2021)
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Part 6: Nowadays
Tuesday, April 20: Food
Guest lecturer Dr. Kelly Alexander
Sandra Cate, “‘Breaking Break with a Spread’”
Arielle Pardes, “The Art of Gourmet Cooking in Prison”
Amy B. Smoyer, “Feeding Relationships”
Thursday, April 22: Abolition
Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete?
This book is free: Alex Vitale, End of Policing
Tuesday, April 27: Work
Bayard Rustin, “ … Report on 22 Days on the Chain Gang at Roxboro, NC”
Optional, Bayard and Me
Thursday, April 29: Money
Tuesday, May 4: But What about the Witches?
No reading
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May 11: Final Paper/Exam due by 3pm
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