SW 97/197 Social Issues, Social Action
Co-Sponsored by the Cal Corps Public Service Center and Residential Living
Thursday 3:00- 5:00pm Spring 2009 Unit 3 APR
Course Facilitators:
Minh Dang John Robert Paul
mdang@berkeley.edu pauljr@berkeley.edu
510.642.3916 510.642.0009
OH: Fridays 2-4pm OH: TBD
Faculty Sponsor:
Jill Duerr Berrick
dberrick@berkeley.edu
Professor, School of Social Welfare
Course Objectives:
Through academic coursework and direct service projects, students will
Study social issues and social injustices such as hunger, homelessness, poverty, environmental justice
and educational inequality.
Describe the interconnections between self and community, connecting their personal challenges
with larger social issues and social injustices.
Students will understand the concept of leadership through service and determine what method for
change they want to pursue.
Course Requirements:
Failure to complete any of the course requirements will result in a NP for the course .
Attendance & Participation
As this is a Pass/Not Pass course, attendance to lecture and service events is required. Students
may not miss more than one class and must contact course facilitators in advance. Two tardies
will also count as absence. Students are responsible for making up all missed assignments and
material. If you think you will have an issue with arriving to class on time, please speak with us!
Service Requirements
There are three mandatory days of service and an alternative weekend retreat. All students are
expected to attend for the entire duration of the events. Service projects will take place on two
Saturdays and one Friday in the local Berkeley area with respected community organizations.
Residence Hall Service Advocates will facilitate these service projects. Missing a service project
can result in a NP for the course, unless unexpected circumstances arise.
Academic Requirements
Essays: There will be two essays for this course. They will be used to measure your growth and
learning throughout the class, and will ask you to share about yourself. The two prompts will be
discussed in detail during class sessions.
Journals/Reading Response: Each week, there will be a journal or a reading response assigned.
Journals will be reflective writing about a personal experience you had or about a collective
experience in the classroom. These journals will allow you to reflect on what you have learned
academically, personally, inter-personally, and about society. Reading responses must be
completed the Tuesday before class. We will assign questions for you to think about while
reading and ask you to post your responses on bSpace. Your response should be about two-
pages typed and double-spaced.
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Course Schedule:
Wk Date Topic Readings/Assignments
1 1/29 Information Session N/A
2 2/5 Course Introduction Assignment: “Where I’m Coming From” Essay
Reading: C.Wright Mills “Sociological Imagination”
3 2/12 What defines community?
Assignment: Bus Ride & Field Notes
Reading & Response: “Unpacking the Invisible
4 2/19 What defines Community?
Knapsack” [McIntosh]
2/20- Journal: Write about a personal experience of
Alternative Weekend
2/21 “lacking”
Reading & Response: Nickel and Dimed [Barbara
5 2/26 Building Allies
Ehrenreich]
Assignment: Keep a log of how much and what you
6 3/5 Poverty
spend your money on for one week
3/7 Service Project – YEAH! None
Reading & Response: “Essentials of Servant
7 3/12 Poverty Leadership” [Greenleaf]
“The Great Turning” [Macey]
Assignment [Due 4/16]: Interview a student leader
Leadership through Service on campus
8 3/19
Reading & Response: “Savage Inequalities”
[Jonathan Kozol]
9 3/26 SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS
10 4/2 Educational Inequality None
Fri. 4/3 Service Project – Shadow Day None
11 4/9 Educational Inequality Assignment: Student Leader Interview Due 4/16
Reading & Response: In Defense of Food [Michael
12 4/16 Leadership through Service
Pollan]
13 4/23 The Environment None
Service Project – Malcolm X
4/25 None
Community Garden
Assignment: “Where I’m going” Essay
14 4/30 Leadership through Service
Assignment: Final Presentation
15 5/7 Final Presentations None
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