CAFF Syllabus SPS

Taught during Fall Session I (on Thursdays): 30 Aug. - 28 Sep.
INDP 301 - 5:30 - 6:50 = I credit hour; INDP 303 - 5:30 - 9:30 = 3 credit hours
By Jeremy Lewis. Revised 25 Sep. with corrected APSA citation style link).
Learning Objectives | Outcomes | Purpose | Requirements | Books | Disabilities Notice

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

To encourage reading of current affairs articles from news magazines and other news sources.
To engage in critical thinking about current affairs articles, both in discussion and in writing.
To ground our understanding of current affairs in historical perspectives.
To gain comparative perspectives on current affairs.
To understand topical events in the light of academic disciplines such as political science, political history, international relations and economics.
To develop the ability to present a summary of key points of a news analysis article.
To develop the ability to write brief summaries of key points from news analysis articles.
To develop the ability to write research papers on current affiars topics, from news analysis and classic articles.
To develop the ability to write critical essays on current affairs topics.

EXPECTED OUTCOMES:

You will become more conversant with current affairs
You will develop more understanding of current affairs
You will gain understanding of historical and comparative academic perspectives on current affairs, from such disciplines as political science, international relations, political history, economics, public administration and public policy.
You will be able to discuss competently the topics of the week and term.
You will be able to give a brief presentation to the class competently a news analysis article about current affairs.
You will be able to identify key events, problems, concepts or issues in a paragraph of good prose.
You will be able to write competent, critical essays about topics of the week
You will be able to write competent, critical term papers about topics of the term
You will be able to write competent, critical examination essays about topics of the term

PURPOSE: Description: a current affairs course, covering rotating topics in the news, emphasizing global public affairs, especially national and international political and economic stories. The course may be taught both in a classroom and via bidirectional video link, emphasizing seminar discussion and the writing of essays and papers.

Required to be scalable in credit from 1-3 hours each 5 week term, the course will take several different public affairs topics per evening. We will discuss about three topical articles per ninety minute period corresponding to a credit hour. For each article we shall try to set the current issue in broader, academic, historical and comparative perspectives. Participation in the set time plus satisfactory work in associated tests, exams, and homework will qualify you for one hour of credit.

You will be expected to read three articles from a newsmagazine each week, and be prepared to present a brief summary of one in class. Newsmagazines usually arrive in bookstores (and on web) on Monday and in the mail on Tuesday. Each weekly class will be based on articles published in sufficient time before the class session for you to read in advance; the instructor will guide you (via email, and by web postings) on which to read.

This course will present you with some of the moral debates and questions about public affairs and explain some of the choices the American system has made in public programs. It will also show you the way in which American choices in public policy differ from those in other regions, especially western Europe.

To put each current topic in context, we shall examine classic, short readings in politics and political economy -- and perhaps recognize the echoes of their arguments in current political debates.

Each week we expect to discuss about three, varied topics in current affairs, grounded in the classic and current academic materials. A homework essay each week will be written based on the previous week's topics and materials. For example, a discussion of a current article could lead to a homework essay, developed from a couple of similar newspaper or magazine articles plus a couple of the classic readings on electoral campaigns of the past in the Annual Editions.

REQUIREMENTS FOR CLASS:
See also General Requirements and notes, on my Requirements Page.

Featured articles: Check the week's featured magazine article assignments posted via email and online by Tuesday evening at http://fs.huntingdon.edu/jlewis/Syl/SPS/CAFFtimetableSPS.htm.
Annual Editions articles: Read the classic articles from Annual Editions that are posted in the Timetable online.
Weekly Participation and Presentations (25%): Give a brief, four minute presentation (per 1 credit) in each class of your assigned current article or classic article. (Two presentations per 3 credits). This grade will include all your contributions to discussion.
Weekly essays (25%): Send a one-page single-spaced (or 2 pages per 3 credits) essay via email to jLewis@Huntingdon.edu, by Sunday at 7pm, analyzing a current magazine topic from the previous week's discussion. Title your email and your essay Caff06SPS-yourname-Essay1 (and increment the number for each week.) Plain text is best, or you may send attached files in Word or WordPerfect format. Standard 12 point Times New Roman or Arial Narrow fonts apply on all typed work.
Term Paper (25%): Send a three page single-spaced paper per 1 credit hour (or 5 pages per 3 credits) to the instructor before the final class session, taking a fuller look at a chosen current affairs issue by comparing newsmagazine article(s) with three articles from Annual Editions or the quality press. Use APSA citation style (similar to APA style, and illustrated on my web pages). Send email titled CAFF06SPS-yourname-Paper1 (or -Paper3 for 3 credits).
Final Essay exam (25%): in the final class session, you will be expected to write (or type on a computer if preferred) a page of four one-paragraph accounts of articles, major events or concepts we have discussed, plus a one-page single-spaced general essay on a broader topic we have discussed (e.g., an election campaign, a war, a natural disaster, a profiled statesperson.) (For 3 credits, the exam will two pages of four one-paragraph identifications, plus 2 one-page single-spaced essays). If sending via email, titled CAFF06SPS-yourname-Exam1 (or -Exam3 for 3 credit hours). Exams are in closed-book and closed-notes format.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

Annual Editions, World Politics.Dushkin /McGraw-Hill. Inexpensive anthology, revised annually, of classic and current short articles in world politics. Useful for your class paper as well as for class discussion.

For Fall 2006, purchase Helen E. Purkitt, Annual Editions: World Politics 06/07, Twenty-Seventh Edition, ISBN: 0-07-351606-6, April 2006. Table of Contents. Used, around $26.

Annual Editions, American Government.Dushkin /McGraw-Hill. Inexpensive anthology, revised annually, of classic and current short articles in American politics. Useful for your class paper as well as for class discussion.

For Fall 2006, purchase Bruce Stinebrickner, Annual Editions: American Government 06/07, Thirty-Sixth Edition. ISBN: 0-07-351599-X, April 2006. Table of Contents. Used, around $26.

A news magazine: Time, Newsweek or US News. From the magazine we will extract the best articles on current affairs, and discuss them systematically in class and in papers. The class, given only five weeks, is too short for a subscription -- so read a news magazine online, or in your home, local library, HC's library, or professional office. These magazines are published on Monday and arrive in Tuesday's mail. By Tuesday evening at 9pm, the instructor will notify you via email and posting to the web based Timetable of the articles to discuss in the next class.

Links: Time | Newsweek | US News | NY Times | Washington Post |

Recommended: quality national and international newspaper articles followed selectively each weekend, either in hardcopy or online (links provided). For writing a term paper, you will need to read more widely on one chosen topic. You may find useful news analysis articles in quality national newspapers such as the daily or Sunday New York Times or Washington Post; and have access to international newspapers (at least those in English, such as the Electronic Telegraph, or the Economist) via a library or the world wide web. Many US Sunday papers hold the best stories for discussion, such as those in the New York Times Week in Review section.

Students With Disabilities, HC notice: "Huntingdon College makes every reasonable accommodation for disabilities that have been processed and approved through our Disability Services Committee in accord with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. In order to request disability-related services at Huntingdon College, students must self-identify to the Disabilities Intake Coordinator, and provide appropriate and up-to-date documentation to verify their disability or special needs. After the accommodations have been approved by the Disability Services Committee, the 504 Coordinator, will notify your professor(s) of the Committee’s decision. If you have any questions regarding reasonable accommodation or need to request disability-related services, please contact Disability Services at (334) 833-4556 or email disabilityservices@huntingdon.edu."