RAMAPO COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEYFirst-Year Seminar

Human Rights Challenges at Home and Around the WorldFall 2020, INTD 101

Prof. Sangha Padhy E-mail: spadhy@ramapo.eduClass: Virtual on ZoomClass time: Tue, Fri 6:00-7:40 pm

Office Hours: Monday and Thursday 2:00-4:00 pm and by appointment

Office: G 226Telephone: 201.684.7381Virtual Office: Zoom

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85612563556?

pwd=ZDhFTDdxK25kSzFBWHUwQXAxZ2dSZz09

Meeting ID: 856 1256 3556Passcode: 997635

School of Social Science and Human Services

School Telephone: 201.684.7406Mailbox: ASB 431

College Web Address: www.ramapo.edu

College Closings Phone No.: 201.236.2902

Common FYS Description

Designed for first-time, full-time, first-year students, First-Year Seminar (FYS) provides a comprehensive introduction to college-level learning. Seminar courses are developed around an academic theme or topic that is based on one of Ramapo College’s academic pillars. First-Year students will have the opportunity to select a seminar that best suits their interests while learning about Ramapo’s academic foundation. The First-Year Seminar course helps students in their transition from high school to college life both in and out of the classroom. The common learning outcomes of FYS are: technological competency, understanding diverse communities, oral communication, and information literacy. FYS classes are small to emphasize open discussion and experiential learning within the context of the theme of the seminar course. Peer facilitators play an essential role in each FYS class ensuring that first-year students have

guidance from a more experienced student. FYS is also the home of the Ramapo Summer Reading Program; all first-year students read the same book and discuss and write about it in their seminars. FYS encourages new students to participate in a community of learners, to strengthen their critical thinking skills, and to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.

Course Description This FYS seminar provides an introduction to human rights and

the aspiration for emancipation, freedom, and dignity. The course will examine the conceptual and historical foundation of international human rights movement and law, particularly focusing on the debates between civil, political, socio-economic and cultural rights, and between individual and community rights to reflect on the predicaments of our times- be it questions of non-discrimination and dignity, right to fundamental freedoms such as movement and belonging, identity and recognition, political participation, access to basic needs such as housing, health and reproductive rights, environmental and climate justice, and the rule of law. We will assess the everyday challenges that human rights violations bring to individuals and communities. We will focus on how human rights laws provide protections, alongside assessing how individuals and communities animate human rights vocabulary through their activism and open up new imaginations for rights. We will especially reflect on the vexing questions of exclusion and inclusion, and seek to find mechanisms to mobilize against social injustices and indignities.

[photo (Photo credit: frankieleon Flickr)

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We will peruse a wide variety of scholarly and popular sources, media archives, and films to survey human rights and social justice problems. The course will provide students an opening into the world of human rights advocacy and the law. It will bring a human rights approach to considering how we can be responsible global citizens and members of the global civic community.

Course GoalsStudents will learn about human rights law and practice in the

world. They will explore questions of identity, place and belonging in this world and at this time. They will gain insights about social problems in the United States and the world, and analyze how social movements mobilize to bring change. They will understand how we can individually and socially stand up against injustices, and advocate for change. They will also learn how to analyze scholarly and media sources from multiple vantage points as well as to conduct research and write an academic paper.

Measurable Student Learning OutcomesObjective Outcome Informa

tion Literacy Session

Reading Discussio

ns-Participa

tion

Oral Presenta

tion Human Rights

Advocacy

News Discuss

ion

Peer Curricul

um

Research

Paper

Summer

Reading

Paper

1 Develop the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and employ information effectively.

1. Locate Information Effectively.

X X X

2 Speak effectively in scholarly and creative contexts.

1. Deliver a central message that is easy to identify, vivid, and memorable.

X

2. Use appropriate language for the subject and the audience.

X

3. Deliver oral

X

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communications in an engaging manner.

3 Use technology to communicate, manage, or solve problems

1. Use technology to communicate information.

X

2. Use technology to manage information.

X

4 Understand diverse communities on local, national, and/or global levels

1. Demonstrate understanding of the intersections of issues that affect diverse communities in their local, national, and/or global context.

X X X X

5 Participate in an engaged, experiential  activity that connects course material to real world settings

1. Critically reflect on the experiential activity and articulate your conclusions

X X X X

Peer Facilitators As an added resource for first-year students, each section of

First-Year Seminar (FYS) will have one or two peer facilitators. These upper-level students will attend FYS classes and act as student leaders modeling engaged participation in this seminar. They will serve as discussion leaders on issues that pertain to your personal and social development and they will facilitate weekly discussions. Your

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peer facilitator will be your mentor and will be available to you to provide guidance on navigating the different personal and social hurdles that you may encounter in your first year at Ramapo.

First-Year Academic Advising As part of the Ramapo College Academic Advisement Plan, each

First-Year Student is assigned an Academic Advisor from the Center for Student Success. During the fall semester, the First-Year Students have a mandatory advisement meeting with their assigned Advisor to select spring 2020 courses and to develop a personalized academic plan. You can see who your academic advisor is through the CONNECT software system.  If you have any questions regarding Academic Advisement, please call the Center for Student Success at (201) 684-7441 or via email at success@ramapo.edu.

Texts, Readings, Materials

Hacker, Diana, and Nancy Sommers. Rules for Writers with 2016 MLA Update. 8th ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-319-08349-6.

Hamid, Mohsin. Exit West. Riverhead Books, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-735-21220-6.

Broom, Sarah M. The Yellow House. 1st Edition, Grove Press, New York. ISBN 978-0-8021-2508-8.

Additional readings will be posted in Canvas.

Course Requirements/AssignmentsParticipation/ Discussion of Readings 15%News Reflection (4) 20%Research Paper 30%Summer Paper 15%Human Rights Advocacy/Oral Presentation 20%

Grades will be posted there throughout the course to allow you to keep track of your progress. Note: I am not using the grade book for canvas- so use canvas to see grades for specific assignments only.

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1. Reading discussions/Participation (15%): Every student is expected to participate actively and productively in class discussions. It is important that you come to class fully prepared to discuss the reading assigned for the day. I expect you to be able to summarize the reading and be ready to comment or formulate questions about the text in a way that demonstrates you have reflected on it. You should be able to draw parallels between this text and other readings or your own experience. I will be using perusal and students will be expected to annotate the readings. You must earn the points for class participation over the course of the semester. We will try as much as feasible to make the synchronous classroom experience like a face to face meeting. To do this successfully, I will encourage you to use your video and audio settings during the class time, and be well prepared to be present through the class time and participate. Grades will be based on the quality of participation and not for attendance. My hope is that virtual background will help us address concerns about privacy issues. Please email and let me know if you have concerns about the usage of video and audio or need help with technology. Unless instructed to do otherwise, turn off and put away all additional electronic devices while you are in the zoom classroom as they generally interfere with your participation in class.

2. News Reflection (20%): Students will be required to follow local news, and read a national and international newspaper to follow current events. Students will present human rights news on the topic covered in class on Fridays. Each student will get 4 such opportunities in the semester, and the presentations will be for about 5-8 minutes, and will cover a national and an international news on the topic. 3. Summer papers (15%): Students will write a 750 word reflection essay on Hamid’s Exit West. Please see Canvas assignment for instructions.

3. Research paper (30% of the grade): Students will write an 8-page paper (excluding bibliography), double-spaced, on a human rights issue. The topic should reflect their advocacy work as well.

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Each student must also submit a 2-3 page proposal with an outline and a bibliography using the MLA guidelines—for which you will not receive a separate grade but approval is necessary for final submission—well before the due date for the paper.

Guidelines for the evaluation of papers appear at the end of the syllabus.

The paper is to be submitted as an electronic copy via Turnitin on canvas. Late papers will they will be penalized one letter grade per calendar day.

Papers should include at least six citations; one book/scholarly journal article, one source from class reading, two of which should be a newspaper source, and two human rights organizations working on the issue- one in the US, and one outside the US. None of the listed citations should be a web page for which no one claims responsibility (including Wikipedia). Since this is a humanities-focused class, the bibliography must conform to the guidelines established by the Modern Language Association (MLA). We will talk about them in class. If you are unsure about how to follow them, you may seek further assistance from a tutor at the Center for Reading and Writing (CRW).

5. Oral presentation (20%): Students will work in teams to advocate for a human rights cause and through the semester contribute to this organizations work. Class presentation will be summarize the key contributions made to these organizations and students advocacy on the issue. Please submit a copy of your notes or slides to me the day of the presentation. Your peers will evaluate your presentation and provide you with comments on how to improve your performance.

General Education Program Course This course fulfills the First-Year Seminar category of the

general education curriculum at Ramapo College. Common to all First-Year Seminar (FYS) courses, you will develop critical thinking skills that are basic to college level study, regardless of your area of interest. You will be reading, writing, and participating in thoughtful group discussions with the aim of developing the skills of a scholar. You will learn to support your arguments using a foundation of

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knowledge and facts rather than simply using personal opinions and experiences.

Weekly Class Schedule (subject to change)

SEPTEMBER–DECEMBER

9/2: Opening Convocation, speaker on Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West

Week 19/4: Introduction to the course.

Memoir Writing Assignment: Go to our Canvas page. Under Introductions, post a paragraph about yourself as well as a picture. Include personal information about the place you grew up in or call home, what you love about the place, and family and/or friends who

define the place for you

Week 29/8: Discussion on Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West9/11: News Reflection: Bring two news events to discuss in class (and post on canvas as well)- from the previous week- that spoke to you after reading Exit West.

Week 39/15: Discussion on Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West9/18: Short articles on Newspaper reading- on an human rights issue, one from the US and the other from elsewhere. All students will post their news article on Canvas- and only some will present.

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Week 4 (Title IX/Bystander Intervention presentation)9/22: Meaning of human rights*US Declaration of Independence   (Links to an external site.)  (1776)

*Frederick Douglass, “What to a Slave is the Fourth of July?” (1852) (excerpt)

What does the US Declaration of Independence say about human rights? How do human rights inform the Declaration’s theory of legitimate government and justified rebellion? Why didn’t the signers try to abolish slavery before seeking independence from Britain? Why, for Frederick Douglass, are American celebrations of the Declaration of Independence a source of bitterness? Are his reflections still relevant today?

9/25: Bring in a draft of the reflection on Hamid’s Exit West for peer review. News paper reading: Read Nikki Haley Jones article in the NYT 1619 project and post your reflection on Frederick Douglass’s claim

Week 5 (Degree Planning Software, uAchieve)9/29: Universal Declaration of Human RightsAlison Renteln: Human Rights

Hand in your reflection on Hamid’s Exit West10/2: News Articles. Also, finalize your human rights issue area and country.

Week 610/6: Read: Sarah Broom: The Yellow House. Movement I-pp. 3-44.NYT: 1619 project on Cotton Plantation and Matthew Desmond: On Capitalism

10/9: Information Literacy SessionNo news articles

Week 7 (Review academic performance tasks)10/13: Read Sarah Broom: pp. 45-98Mapping Human Rights project10/16:Hacker’s Rules for Writers News articles

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Week 810/20: Read Sarah Broom: pp. 101-14510/23: Human Rights News ArticlesWeek 910/27: Read Sarah Broom: pp.146-19410/30: Human Rights News Articles Bring in proposal/outline and MLA bibliography for research paper

Week 10 (Refresher to academic advisement and registration)11/3: Read Sarah Broom: pp. 195-227Climate Migration: NYT11/6: Human Rights News Articles

Week 1111/10: Read Sarah Broom: pp. 228-28611/13: Human Rights News ArticlesWeek 1211/17: Read Sarah Broom: pp. 287- end of book.11/20: Human Rights News ArticlesWeek 1311-24: Film Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite

Thanksgiving recess (Wednesday, November 25th to Sunday, November 29th)Week 1412/1—Student presentations12/4—Student PresentationsWeek 1512/8— Final reflections Human Rights News Articles12/11__Final reflectionsHuman Rights News Articles

Important DatesFirst Day of Classes: September 2nd Last day for Class Adjustments (on the Web): September 8th

Last day to withdraw from courses with “W” grade: November 13th Thanksgiving Recess: Nov 27th – Dec 1st

Reading Day: Dec 15th Final Exam Week: December 16th – 22nd

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Common Finals: December 19th Last day to request “I” grades: December 22nd Final Exam Snow Make-Up Day: December 23rd

Grading Criteria:

Written work will generally be graded on these 4 criteria. Specific rubric for reflection papers, media commentaries, oral presentation and final research paper will be posted in canvas.

1. Depth, creativity and critical thinking: The papers should analyze the topic so as to reveal depth of understanding and your ability to think through the essential issues pertaining to the topic.

2. Integration: The paper should weave together various sources, including reading and observations/experience, into a tight, logical outline.

3. Writing style: The paper should avoid spelling and grammatical errors and be clear, well organized and written. All written work should have a clear thesis or central argument, and supporting evidence.

4. Content and sources: Source material from books, journals, government documents, selective web sites and other appropriate sources shall be utilized to support your conclusions and demonstrate your grasp of the topic. All sources shall be properly cited in the text and a bibliography shall be provided using MLA or APA format.

Grading System:

The grading system is as follows. Grades are not negotiable: 93-100 = A 90-92 = A- 87-89 = B+ 83-86 = B 80-82 = B- 77-79 = C+ 73-76 = C 70-72 = C- 67-69 = D+ 63-66=D Below 62 = F There is no extra credit

Incompletes Incomplete grades are given only in exceptional circumstances

when approved by the instructor and when requested by a student who has satisfactorily completed at least two-thirds of course

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requirements prior to the end of a term, for reasons of illness or other emergency. When the work is completed by the date indicated on the academic calendar, the grade assigned replaces the incomplete (I). If work is not satisfactorily completed by the date indicated in the Academic Calendar, the grade is changed to F.

Attendance Policy Students must attend class regularly. You are limited to one

unexcused absence without penalty. Thereafter, the final class participation grade will be lowered half a letter grade for each unexcused absence (for example, from B to B-). If you must miss a class, you are responsible for the material covered in class and for keeping up with assignments. Please contact a classmate to find out what we did in class. There is no need to e-mail the instructor about your absence.

To avoid disruption, please arrive promptly and do not leave the classroom until you are dismissed. Three late arrivals or departures count as an absence. If for some reason, you have technical issues with regards to class attendance, please email me before the class ends.

College policy states that students must notify faculty within the first three days of the semester if they anticipate missing any classes due to religious observance.

Remote LearningSince this class will be in virtual mode, we will be using email for

communication, Zoom for synchronous sessions as well as office hours, our Canvas page for discussion forums and assignments, Perusal for reading and Flipgrid for oral presentations. If you need help with access to technology to complete the requirements for the class, please email me or your peer facilitators. I assure you that we will be able to accomplish our goals and complete the semester successfully in the virtual setting.

Communication Since ours is an interactive where students are expected to

collaborate with peers, timely communication is absolutely important. Therefore, it is important that students communicate among themselves and with me. If you have any concerns about this, email

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me or see me in my virtual office hours. My email is spadhy@ramapo.edu

I will use your Ramapo College e-mail address (xxx@ramapo.edu) to communicate with you about all course-related matters.

Students with Disabilities If you need course adaptation or accommodations because of a disability that has been documented with the Office of Specialized Services, please make an appointment with me.

Please note: Students must be registered with the Office of Specialized Services (OSS) to receive accommodations. For additional information, contact the Office of Specialized Services (OSS) at x7514 or email at oss@ramapo.edu.

Writing Tutors Available: The grade for this course depends heavily on written essays, especially final research paper. Poor grammar, spelling or organization will result in a lowered course grade. If you are dissatisfied with your grade on written work in this course, please obtain a writing tutor in the Center for Academic Success (CAS), Room E-230 and Alcove, x7557.

These websites will also be great resources to you in your continued development as a scholar and writer:

Center for Academic Success (CAS):

http://ww2.ramapo.edu/academics/cas/index.aspx

Writing Center Overview:

http://ww2.ramapo.edu/academics/cas/writing.aspx?id=16682

Writing Tips (from the Writing Center): http://ww2.ramapo.edu/academics/cas/writing.aspx?id=16686

Perdue’s Online Writing Lab Writing Task Resource List:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/749/01/

If you decide to withdraw from the course, you must do so by filing the proper form with the registrar by the date listed in the academic

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calendar (usually two weeks after the semester begins). If you withdraw from the course without filing the proper form, you will receive an F in course.

School policy forbids changing grades based on work submitted after the end of the semester, unless an incomplete grade request is signed by me and filed by you in the registrar’s office by the date specified on the academic calendar (ramapo.edu/academics) (usually by the last day of the semester). I usually grant an incomplete only for emergency reasons, as incompletes are often unfair to those who completed the work by the due date(s). If you don’t have a very good reason, plan to complete your work on time.

Policy on Academic IntegrityAll members of the community are expected to be honest and

forthright in their academic endeavors.  Academic dishonesty must always be avoided as violations of academic integrity corrodes the pursuit of knowledge.

Students are expected to read and understand Ramapo College’s academic integrity policy, which can be found in the College Catalog (https://www.ramapo.edu/catalog-2017-2018/academic-policies/). Students who violate this policy will be referred to the Office of the Provost. Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. This means that plagiarism of any kind will be met with a swift and decisive punishment. If you are unaware of Ramapo College’s policy on plagiarism, you should review it. If you are unaware what entails plagiarism, you should speak with me immediately. Do not devalue your education or the reputation of Ramapo College by caving to the pressure of stress, time, family, or other issues that may arise. It should be made clear to you that anyone caught plagiarizing in this course will have their materials forwarded to the Office of the Provost and I will vigorously push for expulsion from Ramapo College.

Details on Ramapo College’s academic integrity policy can be found here: http://www.ramapo.edu/catalog-2019-2020/academic-policies/

TITLE IX and our college policy prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex or gender.  Sexual misconduct — including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking are prohibited.  The College encourages anyone experiencing sexual misconduct to talk to someone about what happened, so they can get

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the support they need and our college can respond appropriately. If you wish to speak confidentially about an incident of sexual misconduct, please contact the Counseling Center at 201-684-7522 or 201-684-6666 during nights and weekends. If you wish to report sexual misconduct or have questions about policies and procedures regarding sexual misconduct, please contact the College’s Title IX Coordinator at 201-684-7540. The College is legally obligated to investigate reports of sexual misconduct, and therefore it cannot guarantee the confidentiality of a report, but it will consider a request for confidentiality and respect it to the extent possible.   As a faculty member, I am also required by our College to report incidents of sexual misconduct and thus cannot guarantee confidentiality, but I will respect your privacy and only share the information with those who have a duty to respond. Should I become aware of an incident involving sexual misconduct, I must provide our Title IX Coordinator with relevant details such as the names of those involved in the incident.

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