Criminology 572
Fall 2017

COURSE DESCRIPTION: 

Green criminology has become a world-wide movement within criminology since its introduction in 1990.  The relevance of green crimminology expands as humans continue to harm the natural environment and the systems that underpin it. This course is intended to address various forms of environmental harm--both legal and illegal.  The focus will be on how harm is conceptualized, criminalized (or not), enforced (or not), and punished (or not). That is, the course critically examines the mechanisms which cause some of these harms to be legal while others are criminalized. We also examine the role of consumerism and capitalism as drivers in these processes.  

COURSE FORMAT: 

This course is taught entirely online. Having reliable access to a computer and the internet is vital. Failure to secure reliable internet access is not a valid excuse for failure to submit assignments on time.

Basic computer literacy and familiarity with Blackboard is assumed; if this is a problem, notify me early in the term.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students are expected to know: 

At the end of the course, students should be able to:

At the end of the course, students should have:

COURSE MATERIALS:  

As I put together the readings, I ended up relying heavily on one text:

Lynch, Michael J., Michael A. Long, Paul B. Stretesky, and Kimberley L. Barrett. 2017. Green Criminology: Crime, Justice, and the Environment.  Oakland, CA: University of California Press.:  

This book came out in late September, and it has taken me a while to vet it.. One benefit of switching to the biterm was that we could use it.  I had considered their earlity book on the Treadmill of Crime (I still use a couple of articles), but it was too abbreviated to build around.  The only pitfall of the book is the lack of focus on soluitons/enforcement/remediation.  We will turn elsewhere for that.  Also, the book has a very particular theoretical perspective and I am working with the other readings to broaden the view.  Additional readings--required and optional--will be posted on Blackboard. For more details on the readings see the Schedule below.

All students are expected to act with civility, personal integrity; respect the dignity and rights of other students; and help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed through the fruits of their own efforts. An environment of academic integrity is requisite to respect for self and others and a civil community. Academic integrity includes a commitment to not engage in or tolerate acts of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty include cheating or copying, plagiarizing, submitting the work of another persons as your own, using Internet sources without citation, fabricating field data or citations, "ghosting" (taking or having another student take an exam), stealing examinations, tampering with the academic work of another student, helping other students commit acts of academic dishonesty, etc. Students charged with a breach of academic integrity will receive due process and, if the charge is found valid, academic sanctions may range, depending on the severity of the offense, from F for the assignment to F for the course.

EVALUATION CRITERIA:

Students will be assessed on the criteria listed below. The writing assignments will only display a letter grade. 

A+ = 100, A = 95, A- = 92, B+ = 88, B = 85, B- = 82, C+ = 78, C = 75, C- = 72, D+ = 68, D = 65, D- = 62, F = 55

Students should make ever effort to keep track of their grade throughout the semester and seek help if they believe they are doing poorly in the course. As a rule incompletes are not given in this course.  An incomplete will only be given if a student is physically incapable of completing required work due to hospitalization, incapacitation, or other extreme circumstances.  In addition, 10 points will be deducted from any paper for every day that it is late, so please submit on time!  

I.  Participation (10% of final grade): 

Because we do not meet in person, participation is based on the time you dedicate to the course via Blackboard. You are responsible for managing your time efficiently. Participation grades will be determined primarily by your participation in weekly discussion board postings.  

Weekly discussions end at 11:59pm Wednesday, so please make sure you have good discussions each week before this deadline.  Participation is worth 10% of  your grade, so failing to adequately participate in discussion postings will hurt your grade.

Discussion board posts:  I will leave the discussions informal--use them to replace in class debates and discussions.  this means that one or two brave souls will have to begin a discussion voluntarily each week.  You can be creative  as you like with these discussion topics--draw from the readings, lectures, current events, etc. I will post ongoing grades via blackboard every two weeks with feedback on how you can improve, so that students will have an idea where they stand.  Please note that contributing meaningfully to the discussion will be difficult if you wait to post until the very end of the week or weekend. 

Each student will participate in discussions frequently and will receive a grade based on the rubric below.

Active participation means both starting discussions and replying to other student posts. Online discussion is generally looser and more free flowing than face-to-face. Students should exercise a basic respect for one another and not engage into derogatory arguments. Although free flowing and somewhat informal, students MUST use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

II.  Reading Responses (45% of final grade):

Students should prepare a brief written response (1-2 pages typed, single-spaced) to the week readings for three weeks (your choice) out of the eight. The written responses are due at the end of the week in which the readings are discussed. I will return them by the next weekend with brief comments.

I do not expect these responses to be fully developed essays, but rather my hope is that you will use them to consider the contributions the readings make in advancing our understandings of green criminology. What are the central issues raised in the various selections? What evidence is provided to support the argument(s)? What are the strength and weaknesses of the readings? What are the broader theoretical and/or intellectual connections to readings in other weeks? Where are the points of convergence across the readings? How do the readings challenge each other? Do they use the terms in the same ways? In which ways do they suggest areas for needed additional research? In what ways could you use them on real world problems? These are just suggestions for how you might approach the reading responses. Ultimately, I am interested in your using these writing assignments to grapple with the content of the course, our discussions, and the connections to your own personal, professional, and academic interests.

III. Term Paper (40% of the final grade)

This assignment is designed to tie the readings of the semester and discussions together through the development of a term paper on a topic of interest to you that enables you to both synthesize the readings as well as focus on an area related to the topic of green criminology that you find of particular interest or importance. Alternately, the paper may also take the form of a prospectus for a research proposal for research that you would like to do in the area of green criminology. In the interest of keeping you on track, a paper proposal (1 page) will submitted to me by the date listed in the syllabus. This will not be graded, but be as specific as possible in your topic choice and how you will analyze the problem. This is intended to allow me to give you early feedback so that you can submit the best paper possible. The more specific you are, the better feedback I can give you. Your final paper should not exceed 20 double-spaced pages (charts, figures, tables and references not included). A hard copy of your final paper will be due Friday, December 8, 2017. 

Students at the Master’s level should be very familiar with academic writing and proper source citation. Plagiarism is representing the ideas of another as your own. Any idea, concept, statement or summary that is taken from or guided by a published source (including internet websites) must be properly cited in all writing assignments. Students are expected to conform to the highest ethical standards regarding academic integrity. Plagiarism will NOT BE TOLERATED and will be DEALT WITH MOST HARSHLY. Lack of dishonest intent does not necessarily absolve a student of responsibility for plagiarism. When in doubt – cite a source!! A computer software program may be used to check for plagiarized material.

IV. Self-Evaluation (5% of final grade)  

During the last weekend, the student will be asked to perform a self-assessment of their participation in this course. This assessment will be due November 20, 2010.

Summarizing:

A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, F = Below 60%

Resources:

Reseach Appointment with Personal WKU Librarian

 At WKU Libraries, your Personal Librarians are always ready to help! There are librarians for every program on campus, plus Special Collection librarians and archivists. Their goal is to save you time and help you be successful on term papers and research projects by showing you what you need to know to get started and be successful.

Student Accessibility Resource Center -- Downing Student Union 1074 

Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Student Accessibility Resource Center.  The SARC telephone number is (270) 745-5004 V/TDD.  You should discuss any accommodation you need with them and they will give you a form listing the approved accommodations to give to me to sign. This process should be completed by the end of the second week of class. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from me (Dr. Smith) without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.

Writing Assistance Center -- Cherry Hall 123

The Writing Center is located in Cherry Hall 123 on the Bowling Green campus. The Writing Center also has a location on the Glasgow campus and offers online consultations for students who live at a distance or who cannot visit during our operating hours. Their writing tutors have been trained to provide helpful feedback to students at all phases of a writing project: they can help you brainstorm ideas, structure your essay, clarify your purpose, strengthen your support, and edit for clarity and correctness. But they will not revise or edit the paper for you. See instructions on the website (www.wku.edu/writingcenter) for making online or face-to-face appointments. Or call (270) 745-5719 during their operating hours (also listed on their website) for help scheduling an appointment.  More information about the Glasgow Writing Center hours can be found at the website: http://www.wku.edu/glasgow/writingcenter.php.

Schedule:

Finally, my standard disclaimer:

© 2017, Douglas Clayton Smith
Last Revised: 07/21/17.