Find it:

• Index / search
• Contact us
• Calendars
  • Academic calendar
  • Campus events
  • Class schedules
  • Library and
    Media Services
  • Athletics
• Maps and directions
• News
  • Athletics
  • Public Relations
  • Press Releases
• Forms
• Policies
  • WOU policies
    • Table of contents
    • Searchable index
  • OUS policies
• Logins (Email: etc.)
  • Web Email (Sun Convergence)
  • Account lookup & password change
  • Blog server
  • Forums server
  • Wiki server
  • Federal workstudy
       Program Student Lookup
  • Physical Plant
       work request
  • Registration
  • WebCT Classes
  • Web for employees
  • Web for faculty
  • SSN to V-number
• Jobs at WOU

• Undergraduate
• Transfer
• Graduate
• International
• Dual enrollment
• Visiting campus

Paying for college:

• Financial Aid
•   General information
•   Scholarships
•   Grants
•   Loans
•   Work study
• Costs
•   General information
•   Estimated expenses
•   Tuition and fees
•   Housing & Dining
• Veterans benefits

Academics:

• Academic advising
• Academic calendar
• Register online
• Registration info
• Registrars Office
• Request transcripts

Back to Archive List

Nature of course request C01883 :

New course

400/500 course

First term offered : Summer 2012
Course Prefix&Number	Descriptive Title	Credits/Hours
CJ 433/533	Criminal Justice and Popular Culture	4 -

Abbreviation for Class Schedule(20 spaces) CJ and Pop Culture

Catalog Description: CJ 433/533: Criminal Justice and Popular Culture will focus on evaluating printed and electronically mass-produced works of fiction, ¿non-fiction¿ (e.g., the news), and other entertainment & ¿infotainment¿ media as they relate to crime and criminal justice in America. In this course we will generally explore the mass media¿s fascination with crime and punishment but will concentrate our academic efforts on developing a better theoretical understanding of the impact that the mass-media has on criminal justice discourse and policy. In applying multiple media theories to our understanding of mass media and criminal justice, students will leave the course with a more sophisticated understanding of crime and criminal justice.

Course Goal and Objectives: -Develop an understanding of basic concepts and theories related to mass media portrayals of crime and criminal justice (i.e., media literacy). -Develop a more sophisticated and theoretical sense of how one might consume mass media products more productively. -Develop analytical tools for deciphering media portrayals of crime and criminal justice. -Understand how the profit motive influences the news and entertainment one receives. -Develop the ability to identify and understand deceptive and/or distorted portrayals of crime and criminal justice phenomenon. -Develop the ability to understand the difference between factual/data-driven portrayals of crime and criminal justice and artistic or otherwise creative discussions regarding crime and criminal justice. -Develop a more sophisticated sense of how mass media products influence crime and criminal justice policy generally. -Develop an introductory but increasingly sophisticated sense of how public perceptions may or may not influence the politics of punishment, the construction of deviant categories, and criminal justice practices.

Justification for adding the course (e.g. alignment with other institutions, program revision, etc.): I previously offered this course at WOU in the Summer of 2010 as CJ 407/507. Both sections (graduate and undergraduate) filled to capacity. There is clearly a demand among WOU students for this course. This course is in line with elective CJ course offerings at other universities. I have been developing this course for eight years, primarily due to the demand for a CJ media literacy course at each university at which I have taught. Additionally, numerous CJ journal articles support the inclusion of a CJ and pop culture course in a CJ curriculum due to the heavy influence that mass media has on public perceptions of crime and criminal justice. In preparing students for professional or academic career in criminal justice, media literacy is an essential skill set given the interactive and collaborative nature of most work in criminal justice.

Faculty and facilities needed: As an online course, I will deliver it entirely through Moodle.

Brief Course outline: Texts: Undergraduate & Graduate Students: 1.Surette, Ray (2007 or 2011). Media, Crime, and Criminal Justice: Images, Realities, and Policies ISBN13: 9780534551476 Wadsworth Publishing Company (Primary Text). 2.Jewkes, Yvonne. (2005). Media & Crime. ISBN13: 9780761947653 Sage Publications (Primary Text). 3.Camus, Albert. (any edition). The Stranger. New York: Vintage International Books. 4.Pierre, D.B.C (any edition). Vernon God Little. United States: Harcourt Books. Graduate Students: 1.Sasson, T. (1995 or later). Crime talk: How citizens construct a social problem. 2.Neuendorf, K.A. (2002). The Content Analysis Guidebook. Sage Publications. ISBN:0-7619-1978-3 3. OPTIONAL TEXT-Not Assigned) Rafter, N. (2006). Shots in the Mirror: Crime Films & Society. ISBN-13: 9780195175066 Oxford University Press. Reading Packet Readings Movies (Student Rental or Moodle Streaming) Paradise Now (Instant Streaming via Netflix) A Clockwork Orange (Instant Streaming via Netflix) Les Misérables (DVD Only via Netflix) The Woodsman (DVD Only via Netflix) The Shawshank Redemption (DVD Only via Netflix) Student grading: 1) Task 1: Five (5) Scheduled Online response posts (20 points each) = 100 points & 25% of student¿s grade. 2) Task 2: Midterm Media Paper: 100 Points (25% of student's Grade). I will post a list of five (5) topics for students to choose from. Students will be required to analytically assess their chosen media topic and draw from assigned readings and lectures in their responses. Assignment requirements will be posted on Moodle. 3)Task 3: Final ¿ Final Analytic Paper or Work of Fiction (50% -- Must be completed to pass course!). Undergraduate students will have two final project options. Graduate students may only choose Option A. The two (2) Final paper/project choices for undergraduates are: Option A: Undergraduate Students will be responsible for completing a 6-10 page final essay on one subject to be selected from a range of topics that I will provide (see online topics to choose from in Moodle); Graduate Students will be responsible for developing their own, researchable crime and media topic and completing a 15-20 page final research paper. Any student may propose a topic of their own choosing, which I will approve (I¿m very flexible, within reason). On presentation day (see assignment summary schedule below) all students will give the class a brief overview (one page) of what you have researched. You will accomplish this by posting a one page executive summary of your final paper on the discussion board. Option B: With prior approval, undergraduate students may develop and present a creative (and electronically transmittable) work of crime/criminal justice fiction or non-fiction linked to the materials presented in class. Past projects have included: Short stories featuring crime/mystery themes; Western crime fiction featuring violence/crime-fighting themes; a published letter to the editor on a crime issue; a published newspaper column on the ¿Meth Epidemic¿; Film projects; Internet projects; Musical presentations; painted art work/sculpture presentations; ¿slam¿ poetry featuring prison/imprisonment themes, and more. All projects must be [eventually] formatted so that they may be electronically transmitted and presented, publicly, to the class. A four (4) page descriptive/analytical essay must accompany all ¿Option B¿ projects. This essay will be descriptive and explanatory in the sense that you will describe how your project is linked to themes/theories covered and discussed in this class. Reading and Lecture Schedule: Module A¿Socially Constructing Crime ¿Reality¿: Lecture Series 1 Module B¿Constructing (and Controlling) Media Boogeymen: Lecture Series 2 Module C¿Constructing Notions of Punishment in Literature and Film: Lecture Series 3 Finals

Approval Queue C01883

Attached Files: