Freshman Seminar Dickinson College

Bill Bellinger Fall, 1998

email: bellinge

REQUIRED READINGS:

Diana Hacker, A Writer's Reference.
Christopher Jencks, The Homeless.
Abraham Rodriguez, Spidertown.
Ron Suskind, A Hope in the Unseen.
Readings Packet (to be purchased in the bookstore)

Highly Recommended Reading:

The New York Times. See the bookstore to sign up for a student subscription, or see www.nytimes.com for a free on-line version. The on-line version is superior in terms of content as well as cost since it includes more news from the New York metropolitan area than the national print edition. The Washington Post on-line edition is also very well done, as are many other papers.

Members of the Class:

Class rosters are listed for class members, but are not part of this web page.

COURSE GOALS:

The freshman seminar is not meant to be a typical class, run in a largely dictatorial fashion with the goal of learning specific material. Rather, the freshman seminar is meant to combine content with a particular emphasis on the range of skills required for success during and after your years at Dickinson. These necessary skills include critical thinking, thoughtful reading, high quality writing, problem solving, good research skills, active discussion, and group interaction. Faculty are encouraged to pursue subjects in which they have an interest, but not necessarily great expertise. This fact turns the seminar into a more egalitarian search for understanding than would be true in one of my economics courses. It also means that those who expect me to tell you what to think will be disappointed, and those who want the freedom to think for themselves will be encouraged. Individual thoughts and opinions are welcome. However, progress in developing your critical thinking skills depends on a willingness to judge as objectively as possible the strengths and weakness of your prior beliefs in light of what you hear and see at Dickinson. Also, civilized discussion is a must, and abusive behavior of any sort will not be tolerated.

The primary goal of this course is to explore a series of issues relating to urban America, and to experience how those issues apply to smaller communities such as Carlisle and Harrisburg. Among the issues to be considered in this course are the reasons for development and decline of central cities and the problems and policies associated with housing, education, and crime. The readings covering most of these problems have been chosen to be primarily descriptive in nature, and to emphasize the impact of alternative policy approaches through actual case studies.
 

STUDENT ACTIVITIES AND GRADING CRITERIA:

A course which emphasizes real world issues should include significant exposure to the real world, both in an out of the classroom. Because of this emphasis, your grades will be based on a combination of class-based papers and discussions, along with and individual research paper and a series of social service and cultural activities in the Carlisle area. The final determinant of your grade will be your contribution to class discussion. Attendance may occasionally be noted as part of your discussion grade. Such discussion is generally worth a maximum of 25-30% of the total grade for the average student.

Written Assignments:

There will be two general types of writing in this course, a major research paper and between 4 and 6 short papers relating to various aspects of the course material.

The research paper will involve the description and analysis of a particular urban problem in a particular city, such as public transit in Los Angeles, or crime in New York, or development policy in Carlisle. At least 4 of these assignments, including the research paper, will be graded according to the following peer review process.

Peer review writing workshops, which take place during a class period, are opportunities to benefit from having your writing closely read and critiqued by your peers. The class will be broken into 4 groups of 3 to 4 students each. In each group you will spend 15 to 20 minutes discussing each person's paper. You will receive copies of each other's papers the day before the workshop and it is your responsibility to provide either legible handwritten or (preferably) typed comments on each of the papers written by other members of your group. For each paper which will be reviewed this way you are required to deliver copies of your papers to your teammates and to me by campus mail.

Projects and activities:

Each student will be expected to participate in at least 4 activities during the semester. These are some examples of these activities. Each will involve a brief paper.

I. Interviews or meetings with local leaders.

II. Hands-on experiences

A. Habitat for Humanity, a building day

B. Distributing food for project SHARE

C. Serving a meal at the Salvation Army's food location.

D. Field trips around Carlisle and Harrisburg

III. Computer activities

A. An analytical game of Sim-City (relates to urban development)

B. Contributions to the web site for Downtown Carlisle.

IV. Cultural Experiences

A. Attend a performance at the Carlisle Theater

B. Attend a performance of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

V. Films
One or two of the following, to be chosen democratically.
Do the Right Thing
Boys in the Hood (sp)
Colors
Stand and Deliver
Lean on Me
To Sir with Love
Others you might suggest.
 

Topic I: Urban Education

8/29 (3:30) A Case Study in Urban Education
Read: David Suskind, "Against All Odds," Wall St. Journal, 5/26/95 (handout)

8/31 (9:30) Our first film (on the topic of urban education)

9/3 (11 AM) Library introduction and research exercise. Meet in the library.

9/8 discussion of chapters 4-8 of Suskind, A Hope in the Unseen

9/10 discussion of chapters 10-14 of Suskind, A Hope in the Unseen

9/15 Our first writing workshop

9/17 A discussion of the Issue of Educational Funding

9/22 An in-class debate on the issue of School Vouchers
 

Topic II: Development in Carlisle

9/24 An Overview of Urban Development and Suburban Sprawl
Read: O'Sullivan, Essentials of Urban Economics, Chapter 7; Van Tour.

9/29 Our second writing workshop

10/1 An overview of poverty
Read" Schiller, The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, 6^th ed., Chapter 1; Rebecca Blank, It Takes a Nation, pp. 13-32.

10/6 Urban Development Policies
Read: Elizabeth Gunn, "The Growth of Enterprise Zones" Policy Studies Journal, 1993; Richard Bradley, "Downtown Renewal: The Role of Business Improvement Districts" Public Management, February 1995.

10/8 A Case Study: The History and Current State of Downtown Carlisle.
Visit Cumberland County Historical Society, Presentation by Linda Witmer, Executive Director of the C.C.H.S. and member of Carlisle's Planning Commission

10/13 The Arts in Development
Read: Werner Z. Hirsch, Urban Economics, pp. 187-193; Ralph Blumenthal, "Newark Pins Its Future on the Arts". New York Times, October 15, 1997.

Either a brief video or a brief tour of the Carlisle Theater.

FALL PAUSE

Topic III: Housing and the Homeless

10/20 The problem of housing the poor.
Read: Dan Barry, "For Landlords, Hard Numbers and Obligations," New York Times, October 10, 1996.

10/22 Public Housing
Read: Kellam, "Public Housing," C.Q. Researcher, Sept. 10,1993.
Guest Speaker: Chris Gulatta, Cumberland County Redevelopment Authority.

10/27 Homelessness I: The scope of the problem, and some causes
Read: Jencks, The Homeless, Chapters 1-2.

SERVING DINNER AT THE SALVATION ARMY

10/29 Homelessness II: Some causes of the problem.
Read: Jencks, Chapters 3-6, 8.

11/3 Homelessness III: Solutions to the problem
Jencks, Chapters 10, 11, Carol Caton, Homeless in America, Chapter 9.

Topic IV: Urban Crime and Drugs

11/5 Second Film on Urban Life (to be selected)
Start Reading Spidertown

11/10 Writing Workshop
"Jolson" at the Hershey Theater. We'll leave Landis House at or before 7:00 P.M.

11/12 Spidertown 1:
Read: The first 12 Chapters

11/17 Spidertown 2:
Read: The remaining chapters:

11/19 Crime, an Overview of the Problem.
Read: Bellinger, "Crime and Drug Policy" (handout).

11/24 Drafts of Research Papers Due

Thanksgiving Break

12/1 Drugs I: The legalization debate
Read: Miron and Zwiebel, "The Economic Case Against Drug Prohibition," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1995, pp. 175-192; Donna Shalala, "Say 'No' to Legalization of Marijuana", Wall Street Journal, 8/18/95.

12/3 Drugs II: Realistic Policy Alternatives
Read: David Beers, "Just Say Whoa" Mother Jones, July-August, 1991, pp. 38-56.

12/8 Final Drafts of Research Papers Due