Civics: Democracy, Citizenship, and Public Policy:
Civics Course Syllabus 2020-21 Teacher: Joseph Mais [email protected]
THEME 4: Justice Week of May 3rd: We began our discussion of corrective justice by considering the broad themes and goals of corrective justice and considered tools we use to determine just remedies for wrongs or injuries. Week of April 26th: In concluding our discussion about distributive justice, we watched The Pursuit of Happyness. and discussed its implications for social responsibility to address need in our society both through public policy and the government, and through communities and civic society outside the realm of government.
Week of April 19th: We continue our focus on distributive justice, considering different perspective on need, capacity, and desert, and considering scenarios for each.
Week of April 12th: We spent this week focused on distributive justice and some of the analytical tools for considering issues of distributive justice. Students should be familiar with the principle of similarity and how it can be applied to need, capacity, and desert.
Week of April 5th: This week we discussed the ancient history of justice. We considered the three types of justice and the similarities and difference of each. Then we applied the types of justice to different scenarios.
THEME 3: Privacy
Week of March 22nd: We finished up the Third quarter and the topic of privacy with a final hypothetical situation and some writing. Week of March 15th: We continued our work in privacy by acting out a health privacy hearing.
Week of March 8th: We spent this week and will spend much of next week applying our learning in the area of privacy to hypothetical situations and roleplay activities.
Week of March 1st: We continue to discuss privacy and the government. We focused much of this week on the scope and limits of privacy.
Week of February 22nd: This week we prepared for and presented a Supreme Court simulation of New York Times v. United States, the Pentagon Papers Case. HOMEWORK DUE THURSDAY 2/25/21: Be sure to finish your preparations for the simulation of the hearing.
Week of February 15th: What are the consequences of privacy? What do we gain by having strong protections for privacy; what do we give up? Week of February 8th: This week, we consider how different cultures may have different expectations of privacy.
Week of February 1st: We began the week with our congressional hearing simulation.
Week of January 25th: We continue or discussion of privacy. We considered different ways that people maintain privacy in different circumstances and when and why those expectations may be compromised. We also considered institutional privacy. We began preparations for a simulated congressional hearing next week. DUE MONDAY 2/1/21: HOMEWORK: Complete your preparations for Monday's role play.
Week of January 18th: We began with a general discussion about the meaning and importance of privacy. Students worked in small groups to consider scenarios and to think about and apply these ideas. We considered that people may have different expectations and levels of privacy for any of a number of situations.
THEME 2: Responsibility Week of January 11th: We applied our learning for the quarter to a couple of scenarios related to responsibility.
Week of January 4th: We considered this week who should be held responsible both for good and for bad things that happen. We considered ways to evaluate when several people may contribute some responsibility.
Week of December 14th: This week, we considered the challenges of deciding between competing responsibilities and we developed some of the terms of art in that area. We then applied that and previous work on responsibility to real-world scenarios.
Week of December 7th: We discussed the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and then discussed Civil Rights since 1968.
Week of November 30th: We read Book One of March and discussed this week. In addition, we considered some of the consequences of responsibility and how those ideas are organized. We applied those concepts to the responsibilities John Lewis took on as a civil rights leader.
Week of November 16th:The theme in class this week was that, despite the legal prohibition of slavery, inequality and separation of people based on race continued in the United States, both in law and in practice. We focused on the time period of the sixty years between Plessy v. Ferguson, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS. DUE MONDAY 11/23/20: HOMEWORK: Complete and turn in the questions related to the Prince Edward County Schools work we did in class Thursday. DUE WEDNESDAY 11/18/20: HOMEWORK: Complete and turn in the questions related to the Plessy v Ferguson reading.
Week of November 9th: This week we talked about slavery in America and its aftermath. We watched the PBS documentary: "Slavery by Another Name." DUE 11/16/20: HOMEWORK: Be sure to answer the questions on the assignment tab of Teams before class Monday.
Week of November 2nd: The responsibility to vote in a democratic society. Students should be able to apply the work we've done this past week on the discussions of the next few weeks.
Week of October 26th: What is responsibility? What are the sources of responsibility? Be sure to review the tools we have developed and the questions in the form on analyzing responsibility.
THEME 1: Authority
DUE 10/5/20: HOMEWORK: Complete the "Who is Who?" document on the Assignments page on Teams.
Due 9/29/20: Homework: Fill out the "Applying Consequences to Your Project" document on the Assignments page on Teams.
Due 9/23/20: HOMEWORK: Read the article "Megafire" in the Class Materials folder on your Files page in Teams. Then answer the questions on the article in the document posted to your Assignments page on Teams.
Due 9/17/20: HOMEWORK: Be sure to write a paragraph about the issue you chose. Follow directions in the document "Finding Your Why" posted to your Assignments page on Teams.
Due 9/14/20: HOMEWORK: Read the article "2020 Education Ballot Measure" in the Class Materials folder on your Files page in Teams. Then answer the questions on the article in the document posted to your Assignments page on Teams. HOMEWORK Part II: Be sure to pull together your issues list and post potential topics you are considering in the document posted to your Assignments page on Teams.
Due 9/10/20: HOMEWORK: Complete the worksheet "Evaluating Rules and Laws" posted on your Assignments page on Teams.
Due 8/31/20: HOMEWORK: Complete the "Public Policy and Civil Society Solutions to Problems" worksheet in time for class Monday. The document is posted to your Assignments page on Teams.
Due 8/27/20: HOMEWORK: Be sure to read the article on "Vigilante Justice" and answer the questions post to your Assignments page on Teams.
OVERVIEW: Students will reflect on the ways society is organized and how decisions are made both through and apart from government. This class will consider the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy, including how public policy is developed and how authority and responsibility are assigned. In addition, student will examine the relationship of the individual to the law and to the legal system.
CLASS PLAN: Students are expected to read, write and participate every class. Class will generally consist of a topic of discussion that students will be able to develop throughout the duration of the meeting time. Students will be expected to apply the lesson to experiences they have had personally or know about. Work will be produced individually and in groups. In addition, grading for the class will consist of regular quizzes and occasional scheduled exams as well as an essay at the end of the first semester and a project at the end of the second semester. A more specific breakdown of the grading details can be found below under “Grading Criterion.”
LESSONS: The class will be divided into four parts that will roughly follow the quarterly timeline of the school. Each part will focus on an important element of an engaged citizenry, needed for a well-functioning government and a healthy civil society. The focus of each part will be as follows: Part I: Authority Part II: Privacy Part III: Responsibility Part IV: Justice
MATERIALS: Students are expected to follow all the rules in the school’s Code of Conduct as well as the remote teaching addendum. These include arriving to class on time and ready to begin, avoiding distracting behavior or environments, and other important instructions. Please be familiar with those. In addition, students should have the following materials with them at the start of each Civics class. When students attend class unprepared, it will negatively impact their grade: Pen and/or pencil; A writing surface such as a notebook or binder with loose leaf paper; Notes from previous classes in a neat and accessible format.
GRADING CRITERION: Consistent with Sky Island High Schools Uniform Syllabus, student grades will be determined based on a number of factors including: attendance on time, active participation in class, preparation for class and organization of work, completed work including homework, classwork, essays, etc., and exams and other evaluative tools.
It is your responsibility to ensure these rules are followed and that you put forward your best work. Falling short on any and each of these things will negatively affect your grade.
ONLINE ACCESS: Until it is safe for in-class instruction to resume, students will attend class remotely through Teams and Zoom. Go to the Teams page for this class to find more information and for the Zoom link.