Studies in Conflict Resolution (University of Washington Syllabus)

Bryn Gribben, Instructor

Autumn 2004

Office: Padelford B36

Office Hours: Mondays 3-4, Tuesdays, 12-1

bryn@u.washington.edu

ENGL 121C: Studies in Conflict Resolution

"If people tell me there is no clearly defined nonviolent way to deal with a situation, then I answer that we have got to experiment and find one. God knows, we have experimented long enough with other methods." --A. J. Muste

Required Texts:

*Course pack, available at The Ave Copy Center (specify section)

*Current MLA Handbook (You must have one; proper humanities citation style counts towards your grade)

*Several manila folders (not the enclosed kind): Because all writing done for class is considered part of your portfolio, you will need to save all class writing. Consider getting a notebook/binder with pockets to help you save stuff (an accordion folder is useful), though you will only turn in papers of the sequence from which youre working.

*About $15 for photocopying papers for peer reviews. Each peer review is worth a days participation grade. If you forget to bring copies at the beginning of class, on the due date, you will be asked to leave and will not receive any points for that day.

*A computer disk for storing your work--if printing or writing on campus, most computers in the labs will not let you save onto their C: drives. Always save your work on disk and print it out well before class, since printing problems are not considered a valid excuse for a late paper.

*An Active UW Email Account: Check it daily, even if its not your primarily email account. I will often send out reminders and sometimes alter reading schedules or topics for upcoming discussions. If you didnt get the email because you dont check that account, dont expect any sympathy or leniency, regarding grading or make-up work.

paper grade)

Course Overview, regarding Theme:

Folksinger and activist Utah Phillips says we are "raised in a violent culture. It's like being an alcoholic--you don't just wake up one day cured. No, you have to wake up each day and say, 'Hi, I'm Utah and I am raised in a violent culture . . . armed to the teeth with the weapons of privilege.'" I believe the concept of peace is frequently undefined and/or misconstrued by our government, media, and culture; courses in conflict resolution at least help us consider how to change that.

Civic responsibility is cast aside by our culture in many arenas, encouraging blind patriotism rather than critical inquiry, and passive acceptance instead of active engagement with one's community. In short, civic service has become servile or self-serving, and peace is defined only as the impossible absence of conflict. I believe, with my hero Colman McCarthy, that peace is something that does not come naturally but rather is something that must be taught and encouraged as a rational notion. If one believes that is not possible, that humans must always fall prey to base instincts, then one must question why human beings possess reason at all.

Some of our class goals, then, regarding peace and/or conflict resolution, will include:

*Defining and clarifying notions of peace, according to the individual, your sites, and our cultureand, by extension, what constitutes violence at your site v. in the larger world

*What are conventional problems with peace as a concept and as a practice, and why they reoccur

*Why and how violence guides our culture in ways not readily apparent

*How your service-learning experiences and sites conceptualize and move towards making peace and non-violent alternatives

*How your site expresses its goals to the public, and how these representations (for example, pamphlets, posters, or videos) contribute to or detract from advancing the sites ultimate aims

While much time could be spent on this subject and on violence alone, I intend for this class to be an overview of certain problems and theories of peace. That is, I ask that you come in willing to examine the theories not just in relation to violence but as arguments in themselves--which piece presents most clearly principles and actions that seem logical and able to be practiced, etc. That's why this is such a good theme for a service-learning course: you'll be able to see and test out first-hand what's hardest about working towards and working with non-violent responses to violent conditions, as well as what's most needed for your own site's focus. This is a good class for those already willing, as the Beatles say, to "give peace a chance" and who feel they need to develop a more solid intellectual and political basis for this feeling. It is also a good class for those who wish to support some of the institutions we might interrogate, for that same reason. This shouldn't necessarily be a "conversion experience" class (enter as an ROTC student and leave an active pacifist), but I do hope the class encourages and develops in you a sense of responsibility to your communities, as an active and thoughtful citizen.

Course Overview, regarding Writing:

Though beginning writers are often told to "write what [they] know," this class is equally concerned with the "how's" and "why's" of your writing's content. That is, this is a class not only about theories of peace and non-violence but really also about how something is said and why different kinds of thinking emerge from different ways of saying.

Ideally, the most important things for students to get out of this course for college writing are:

*Critical thinking, which Ill define here as your ability to recognize patterns of interpretation and thought and why those lead you to particular conclusions. As you develop skills to trace your own tracks back to the values and perspectives that drive your writing, you become better able to question and/or refine those same values and perspectives.

* Writing cohesive, well-supported argumentative essays using those skills. By "argumentative," I mean you learn to articulate and support a particular claim and/or position on particular assignment- and audience-focused issues.

Writing classes are mere exercises in grammar and form unless you consider them critical thinking classes, as well. Engaging critically with and in the world of writing means, in my class, you are able to position yourself within and against multiple perspectives in a supported manner--to leave the world of "I don't know. It just IS."

Your writing should go beyond appreciation and into critical engagement with the text. Rather than fearing or resisting the questions a text poses for you, consider what questions youre particularly invested in answering. The more investment you have in pursuing a question or topic, the more carefully crafted your argument usually becomes: as in conflict resolution, youll communicate better when you know somethings at stake. The degree to which you can be specific about how aware you are of your position in relation to the text is the degree to which you are writing a well-supported argument.

Course Overview, Regarding the Rest of Your College Career

Though you are writing about a specific theme in this class, the critical thinking skills you develop in this class will extend beyond peace studies to many different kinds of writing. So, learn it now. I truly believe college is primarily about expanding your ability to understand an idea or issue without necessarily having direct experience with that issue/idea. Thinking can become a mode of experience, if you think critically. Since this is a service-learning course, you are faced with the rare opportunity to utilize your site experiences (real life experiences) and your academic experience (critical analysis). What becomes clear quickly is that there is little separation, when you approach your site (and your life) as both an experience to be hadand to be understood. College thinking asks you to learn the conventions of academic discourse and to adapt one's writing process to the demands of academic writing so that you might be able to take yourself as seriously as you take your homework . . . and not to stop analyzing your world when you leave school. While you will not emerge from ENGL 121 knowing something about all disciplines, students who have worked through the sequenced assignments we offer here will have most of the tools necessary to face other kinds of disciplinary writing in other university classrooms.

Evaluation:

20%=Class participation, including daily work, collaborative journaling, peer reviews, a group presentation, and a reflective letter for your portfolio. No in-class work can be made up, unless you notify me one class period in advance (see late policy); that work is then due the class period you come back.

Class participation includes:

*Any daily or in-class assignment (quizzes, ten-minute writings, homework, participation in discussion, or games). These are worth from 5-10 points each, depending on the activity. Collaborative journals are in this category--ten-minute writings in which you respond to another students journal entry.

*Peer Reviews. Argumentative writing is about clear communication. Its dumb to think teachers only make comments on your papers because they want you to write like them/think like them, and peer reviews, when done thoughtfully, help you see how clearly youre communicating with your readers, whomever they may be. Again, if you do not bring copies for peer reviews, as required, you will be asked to leave (if we do them in class) and will simply not receive any points for them.

*Reflective Letter (10 points): Though these are only 5 points, the reflective letters are intended to give you a chance to explain your writing process and development in this class at the quarters end, both to me and to yourself. You will turn this in with your final revision during finals week. A reflective letter is an argument about what skills you feel you developed and what writing issues you improved upon in your papers, using your own papers as evidence for each ground you develop. You must explain why you chose to revise the paper you did, at some point, and what you did to that paper to improve the essay, as well as how that process reflects your writing process in this class. You may also comment and reflect on our classs concluding understanding of peace in Seattle.

Group Presentation. (50 points) Within our broad theme, the various sites offer a considerable range of experiences and perspectives that would benefit the entire class, as we try to understand where we end our class, theoretically. Therefore, each sites service-learners will work together to teach their site to us, in relation to class readings and discussions. You will research and design a 30-minute presentation (20 minutes of material and at least 10 minutes of discussion) for the class, including full explanations of your site and what you identify as the most compelling/important connection to the issues we have discussed in class. You will need to involve the class in an activity (discussion questions, multi-media response, etc.), so your group is not merely reading off of a sheet. Therefore, it is wise to exchange email and contact numbers with your group as soon as possible, so you will have time to plan dates to work together. The most difficult and most rewarding moment of this class is trying to understand where we end upthe group presentations function as a final file on how peace is promoted in Seattle.

80%=Writing Sequences. Each step is due at the beginning of the class period designated. The grade of a .3 paper turned in after that class periodeven an hour lateris reduced .2 from the 4.0 grade and is reduced .2 each day it is late. Steps .1 and .2 will merely receive zeroes, and you will not receive the commentary on them that would help you on other steps.

Sequence 1 (25%)

Sequence 2 (25%)

Sequence 3 (30%)

You will concentrate on weekly readings and three intensive writing sequences, divided into three steps each. The University of Washington writing program encourages sequenced writing so that students consider how complex, analytic reading and writing is process-based--that there are many activities in which a writer engages for producing a piece of writing. As a student, you will need to know how the writing process (drafting, seeking response, revision, inclusion of new evidence, and editing for particular audiences) works in college-level, academic writing. Each assignment sequence includes:

*A .1 stage, in which you begin to close-read a particular passage of a text or

respond to a particular prompt (5 points)

*A .2 stage, in which you draft an argument, using close-reading

as support in some way for the argument's claim (10 points)

*A .3 stage, in which you complicate the .2 claim with an additional text, such as critical articles and/or site experiences (Given a grade out of 4.0)

Particular criteria for evaluating papers

Pay attention to the following categories of academic writing. On the bottom right-hand corner of the last page of each .3 paper, I give you points out of 5 in each category on each .3 paper, in addition to a grade so that you can see which area/s, specifically, on which you should focus in further writings. 5 is excellent, 4 very good, 3 is average, 2 is scanty or inconsistent, 1 means you need a lot of work in this area. I do this so you can also learn to identify and highlight skills, as well as weaknesses.

*Clear Claim and Introduction: This category has to do with the clarity, specificity, and complexity of your central claim--the specific position you are taking on the text. It also has to do with the effectiveness of your introduction. Good introductions start specific and stay specific, culminating in a focused and coherent arguable claim. They engage the reader and clearly set up the terms in which the essay's claim will be argued and supported.

*Logic/Argument: This category deals with how well you reason and how well you stay on track during the course of your argument. A strong paper remains focused on the claim it sets up, without wandering from the importance of the point being made. Note the word "importance": aim for a claim complex enough to have implications to explore but focused enough to compose an argument meaningful because of its specific implications--instead of its lack of them. That is, don't assume gaps in logic mean a claim is "universally profound" and therefore, something that doesn't require specific proof. Sound logic means specific proof that supports your claim.

*Specific details: How well do you notice what's going on in the text? A strong paper draws its reader's attention to a sufficient number of interesting textual details to fully develop its thesis. At the same time, it has sorted through the textual details in order to focus only on those relevant to the central claim of the paper. It will also present those details effectively and in conjunction with the claim.

*Exploration of Details: How fully and convincingly do you explore the significance of the details of the text you have highlighted for your argument? Explain what you see happening at a particular point in the text, but also explore the way in which the language of the text works in order to support those observations. Always go beyond mere assertion or statement--show how each observation you make corresponds to your essay's main claim.

*Structure/Conventions: Strong essays are clearly organized--clear and intentional organization (not just scattered observations and support but a path that really takes a reader through certain logical developments into a conclusion that couldn't have been made without the organization presenting such development in the ways that it did), strong and useful transitions between ideas and paragraphs, and almost totally free of grammatical errors. The more you care about what you say, the more invested you should be in having someone focus on your content without having to struggle through the structure.

How to Submit Your Work:

All papers (including first drafts--believe me, it's easier for all involved) should be typed (this does mean word-processed), double spaced, using one-inch margins, on 8 1/2 x 11 bond paper. (Note: printing with colored ink--no, thank you.) Number all pages using this format: Your last name in the upper right-hand corner with the page number (example: Gribben 3)--if you forget, do it in pen. Your name, class, my name, assignment number and title (Example: 1.1: Response), and the date the assignment is due should be in the upper left-hand corner of the first page of each assignment. Title your essays--the title should immediately focus the reader's attention on your own focus! Staple papers for your own safety. Try to keep the word processor type dark and easy to read. Place the paper, assignments leading up to the paper, all notes, drafts, and peer feedback in a manila folder--a separate folder for each assignment with your name written on the tab. No need for title pages (dead trees) or report covers (slide-all-over-my-desk covers).

Attendance and Late Policy:

Think of it this way: If you're required to turn in all notes, drafts and peer response with your final revision--much of which we'll be generating in class--in order to have that paper even considered for evaluation, not being in class makes it that much more difficult for you to slap those things together. Class participation's 20 percent, and it's 20 percent that helps you set up at least 97 percent of your writing process. All of my students (ever) cite class discussions as the one of the most interesting, exciting and useful parts of class.

These activities and assignments make our daily classes function, so it is vital that you be present each day to take part in them. As it will be difficult for you to earn credit for work you do not hand in (on time) or for which you are not present to complete, absences from class will prevent you from receiving full participation credit.

**You are granted one extension on a .1, .2 OR .3 draft, but you must notify me one class period ahead of the due date BY EMAILthis includes classes missed due to illness.

**If you're suddenly taken violently ill, you can get word to me directly before class (rather than a class period ahead) by email or by a friend, and you will be allowed to make up a daily activity.**You are not allowed to make up any paper steps without the notification asked for above (one class period), even if youre sickwhy werent you working on it earlier?!!

**If you do not notify me before class, dont ask to make up any work. You can turn in a .3 draft with the according grade reduction (see Writing Sequences above), but .1 and .2 steps will be given zeroes and receive no commentary. I resent having to re-teach a class you missed, so I suggest you ask your peers what you missed, rather than me.

**You will have two, twenty-minute conferences with me during the quarter (one during the first assignment sequence, one during the third) where we will talk about and examine your essays in progress. To miss a conference is the equivalent of missing two class periods, so you will lose 10 points from your class participation grade.

Plagiarism:

You will receive an automatic zero on any paper, in which I detect plagiarism; I am, unfortunately, good at it, and UW writing teachers often discuss websites or papers that are going around among ourselves.

I suspect plagiarism, usually, when I see a significant shift in diction or level of critical thinking in a student paper; I read so many papers by each of you that I get a sense of what you are capable of and when to be suspicious. Often, beginning college students do not know how to cite sources or they learned somewhere that paraphrasing isnt plagiarismI dont care anymore. Ideas and language have value: what we read, what you write, all of it. Many of these ideas and language are the property of single, identifiable owners. Therefore, it is your responsibility to clearly mark where your information is coming from another source. Maintaining control over this kind of linguistic and intellectual property and teaching people to respect its exchange is one of the essential components of an academic community like that of the UW; the University has a strict policy regarding plagiarism. At its core, plagiarism is the theft or misuse of someone else's words and/or ideas, which is to say taking those words and ideas and using them as if they were your own, without acknowledging that they belong to someone else--this includes "mosaic plagiarism," which is changing a few words around while still copying. The University treats plagiarism as a crime and punishes it accordingly. If you are ever unsure about whether or not something you have written is misusing someone else's work, or if you ever have such difficulty writing a paper that you are tempted to use someone else's work in lieu of your own, you should come see me: we can work to help you develop and present ideas that are your own.

Other Concerns About the Class:

If, for any reason, you have concerns about this course or about my role as instructor, please come see me or e-mail me about these concerns as soon as possible. If, however, you are uncomfortable talking with me about these issues, or if you are not satisfied with the response I give you, you may contact the English 121 supervisor, Elizabeth Simmons-ONeill.

If after speaking with Ms. Simmons-ONeill, you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you may contact Dr. Richard Dunn, English Department Chair, in Padelford Hall, Room A101, at 543-2690.

Students with learning and/or physical disabilities should contact the appropriate student support services (probably in Schmitz Hall) so that useful classroom arrangements can be made to accommodate and assist those students. Please contact me, as well, so that I might participate in that assistance.

*No cell phones, pagers, or headphones in use in class, please. Special circumstances must be relayed to me.

*A final note on student/teacher etiquette: Because I dont like the increasing depersonalization of this relationship, I will not accept personal emails about course concerns. That is, I want you to actually come and talk to me about any issue that you have with the class or with me. Though some may find this intimidating, a face-to-face visit prevents hostile or rash emails to me; real interaction is also more in keeping with the topic of our class. Please respect this.

Tentative Readings Schedule

Week 1 Kahne and Westheimer, Colman McCarthy

Week 2 Day, Thoreau

Week 3 Didion, Gandhi

Week 4 Peer reviews and conferences

Week 5 Sayles, Friedman

Week 6 Bowling for Columbine

Week 7 Forch

Week 8 Forch

Week 9 Site presentations

Week 10 Site presentations and Conferences