Seminar Meetings:
I have developed a preliminary reading schedule below. The content of our readings may change as our interests and pace change. My role in the seminar is that of the expert learner and discussion facilitator; while I have significant scholarly expertise in some aspects of this course (particularly critical race and feminist legal theories and the philosophical foundations for most of the works we will cover), I am not an expert in every topic we will be studying, and look forward to learning together. I will moderate our discussion and clarify difficult points when I can. I hope to avoid lecture as much as possible, though I am certainly willing to talk for longer periods than most of the other members of the seminar (feel free to cut me off if I dominate).
We will begin each session by building an agenda. Every student should come to each meeting with several questions, topics, ideas that they would like to explore together with the class; these should be connected to the common readings (a reference to a quote or section will help situate others), but should not be limited to exposition. We begin each meeting by collecting these interests and deciding collectively where to focus our attention and how. If we have more compelling topics to pursue than can fit into our meeting time, we may consider breaking up into smaller groups for these discussions.
Agenda building is essential to the success of this seminar, as it ensures our shared work is driven by and responsive to the passions of the students in the course. If you have ideas you would like to contribute to the agenda but are not comfortable posing them in person, for any reason, you can send them to me in advance by email, and I will make sure they are included in the process.
Attendance:
Attendance is encouraged but not compulsory. Generally, there are two reasons to encourage attendance: community building and learning. Community allows us to enable and support one another as we work collectively throughout the semester. Continuity helps tremendously in building the level of trust and engagement needed for a seminar like this to work well; every time someone misses class and returns, the seminar dynamic changes. Regular attendance also contributes to learning, especially insofar as actively participating in a community of inquiry demonstrably increases student success and engagement with the material. I encourage everyone to try to attend class regularly, and to be fully prepared. However, I also recognize that compulsory attendance expectations disproportionately impact students with economic disadvantages and/or physical or mental disabilities.
Academic Honesty:
You are enrolled in this seminar because there are things you want to learn and projects you are excited to pursue. Your work should be your own. It doesn’t make much sense to submit the work of somebody else for an evaluation that is intended to help you figure out your own academic journey and design your next steps. There is not a set standard against which your work is being judged, apart from the expectation that you are making progress toward academic goals you have defined. I suppose you could earn an evaluation of another person’s work, but that won’t serve any purpose for your learning!
It is, of course, incredibly useful to draw upon the work and ideas of others as you generate your own projects, as all learning is collaborative and iterative. The principle to keep in mind is one of respect and recognition – you should respect those whose efforts have helped you produce your own work, and you do that by recognizing their contribution. My expectation is that you will give credit to the work and ideas of others as they inform your own, in whatever form that took (reading, conversation, videos, etc.). That is the core of academic integrity.
A note about artificial intelligence (AI): I have no objection to students utilizing AI resources to support and enhance their learning; AI is a tool that can be used responsibly (and even creatively) to assist your own endeavors. If employing AI tools as part of your learning, what is essential is that you ensure that the final work expresses your own understanding and efforts. You should avoid relying solely on AI-generated content, and certainly should not allow it to substitute for your own efforts. I expect you to treat AI like you would any other collaborator or source – anytime you draw upon the work of another, be it a conversation with a peer, a scholarly source, a query of AI, or other influence on your own thinking, you should take care to credit that contribution, which includes recognizing their work explicitly. If you use AI as part of your process completing projects submitted for evaluation, include an AI usage statement detailing which AI tools were used, for what purpose, and how you integrated it into your own work.
Academic Accommodations:
A core principles of disability justice recognizes that disability is a social, cultural, and political issue, and not solely a medical one. Requiring medicalized documentation to justify academic accommodations can be burdensome and exclusionary. I do not require medicalized documentation for academic accommodations; both “officially” documented and self-identified needs for accommodations will be recognized and respected. The contract that defines the work each student will create for the seminar will be designed to meet their particular learning needs, including academic accommodations. I will also note that you may disclose a need for accommodations at any point in the semester – contracts are amenable to renegotiation, so if you choose not to disclose and then realize you need to adjust the approach you are taking, you should feel free to raise the issue with me.
Texts:
Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical Race Theory: An Introduction. NYU Press. [available as an E-book through the Hampshire Library]
Other readings are on Moodle or available on the internet