Prof. Beth Hartung
Prof. Renny Christopher
Course Texts
Shipler, David The Working Poor: Invisible in America (2005)
Tea, Michelle, Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing up Working Class (2004)
Ricketts, Wendell, Everything I Have is Blue: Short Fiction by Working-Class Men about More-or-Less Gay Life (2005)
Rivera, Tomás, And the Earth Did Not Devour Him (1987)
Catalog Description
Examines the lives of working people using various thematic approaches and disciplinary methodologies. Materials include literature, film, case studies.
Expanded Description
This semester, Narratives of the Working Class meshes sociological and literary perspectives, and enables students to work on writing their own narratives.
Course Requirements
This course centers on the reading and discussion of the assigned texts; therefore keeping up with the reading, attending class and taking part in class discussions are vital elements of participation in this course.
All requirements must be met. All due dates are listed in the syllabus. Students should be aware that under CSUCI's academic dishonesty policy plagiarism is a punishable offense.
Learning Objectives
Upon completing this course, students will:
Explain class structures in the U.S. and internationally;
Discuss issues of blue-collar and pink-collar employment and unemployment
Analyze textual representations of working-class life
Explain the historical development of class stratification
Discuss issues of classism
Have completed their own working class narrative via use of the oral history method
Course information may also be accessed through Blackboard
Grading
+/- system
Participation (including attendance, in-class writings, discussions) 50 points
Essay on a literary work 50 points
Midterm exam 50 points
Oral History 50 points
Final Exam 50 points
Total points possible: 250
The following list of assignments is subject to change with notice.
Week 1 Jan. 23-25
Introductions
What is Social Class?
Week 2 Jan 30-Feb. 1
Class and consumption; articles by Fussell & Peterson
Week 3 Feb. 6-8
Shipler
Week 4 Feb. 13-15
Shipler
Week 5 Feb. 20-22
Shipler
Week 6 Feb. 27-Mar 1
Rivera
Week 7 Mar 6-8
Rivera
Week 8 Mar. 13-15
Rivera
March 20-26 is Spring Break
Week 9 Mar. 27-29
Ricketts
Week 10 Apr 3-5
Ricketts
Week 11 Apr. 10-12
Ricketts
Week 12 Apr. 17-19
Tea
Week 13 Apr. 24-26
Tea
Week 14 May 1-3
Tea
Week 15 May 8-10
Bringing it all together
Final exam period: Monday, May 15, 1-3
CSUCI policy on academic dishonesty
All work that students submit as their own work must, in fact, be their own work. For example, if a paper presents ideas of others, it must clearly indicate the source. Word-for-word language taken from other sources - books, papers, web sites, people, etc. - must be placed in quotation marks and the source identified. Likewise, work on tests and exams must be the student's own work, not copied or taken from other students' work, and students must comply with instructions regarding use of books, notes, and other materials.
In accordance with the CSU Channel Islands policy on academic dishonesty, students in this course who submit the work of others as their own (plagiarize), cheat on tests and examinations, help other students cheat or plagiarize, or commit other acts of academic dishonesty will receive appropriate academic penalties, up to and including failing the course.
DISABILITIES STATEMENT
Students who have disabilities or special needs and require accommodations in order to have equal access to classrooms must register with the designated staff member in Student Affairs in order for us to better accommodate special needs. Students will be required to provide documentation of a disability when accommodations are requested.