Schedule+&+Syllabus

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=**S640: Seminar in Intellectual Freedom (Abbreviated Syllabus)**= Summer I 2011 (May 11 – June 22) Web-based Course

Instructor:
Robin Moeller, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor; ramoelle@iupui.edu

Required Texts

 * **Office of Intellectual Freedom. (2010). Intellectual Freedom Manual, 8th ed. Chicago : American Library Association.**
 * **Doctorow, C. (2008). Little Brother. New York: Tom Doherty Associates.** If you are interested, Mr. Doctorow has made this book available online to download for free at: [] . I have not used the downloads on this website so please be warned that, technologically, you are on your own if you choose to use these downloads.
 * **Additional readings have been assigned for each individual lesson and will be listed in “Resources” on Oncourse.**

Course Description and Objectives
This course was created in order to give students the opportunity to examine various issues of intellectual freedom as they relate to the profession of library and information science. To do this, students will be asked to use certain web 2.0 technologies available via Oncourse and Blogger.com. Since this course is a seminar, in-class discussions will serve as the primary class activity. Although this course is taught asynchronously, meaning we do not meet online at the same time, class participation will serve as a significant portion of the student’s grade. At the completion of the course, students will be able to 1. Understand the historical development of intellectual freedom in the United States and how that development impacts the library and information science profession today. 2. Understand challenges that have emerged and continue to emerge in American society. 3. Articulate and support their positions on issues related to intellectual freedom. 4. Use web 2.0 technologies to communicate with others in their profession.

Workload
Before I go any farther, I want you to understand that this is a three-credit, graduate level course being offered during this six-week summer session. Even though this is a web-based course, you are taking the class for three credits and the work load should be equivalent to any other three credit class. Three credit graduate classes at Indiana University engage in about 45 hours of “in-class” time, and there is an expectation that three hours will be spent outside class for each hour in class (an additional 135 hours). That averages out to 30 hours per week during the summer session. Furthermore, the course is a seminar with the expectation that students will share information with each other during the course via various venues; therefore, the option of taking an incomplete is strongly discouraged. If this is more of a time commitment than you anticipated, you may want to reconsider taking this class at this time.

Communication
Being that this is an online class, I will be communicating with you largely through the messaging service and announcement feature provided via Oncourse as well as the email address associated with your Oncourse profile. Please check your email and Oncourse regularly for messages and general announcements. The best way to contact me is also through Oncourse messaging, or you can email me using my IU email address listed above. I try to answer emails within 24 hours of receiving them. If you would prefer to speak with me on the phone or in person, I would be happy to set up a time with you to do that. There is also a forum called “Ask Dr. Moeller” where you can feel free to post questions. You will be expected to create an account on Blogger.com as you will be maintaining your own blog throughout the term. If you already have an account with another blog servicer, that’s fine – please make sure you can create a separate blog for the use of this class. You will also be expected to create an account with Wikispaces.com as you will need to edit our course wiki, which can be found at http://s640if.wikispaces.com/. Please note that when you sign up for this wiki, an invitation will be sent to me to accept your "application." I need to officially do this before you can begin to edit this wiki. Please allow for a 24 hour turnaround. Both of these web services are free to join.

Notes on Course Structure
As I described above, this course will be taught asynchronously, meaning that you are not required to meet with the rest of the class at a set time each week. This method of online instruction gives you a lot of freedom to work independently. That said, please be aware that you will have to manage your time wisely, especially since this is a six week course.

This summer term officially begins and ends on a Wednesday. I’m going to probably rock your world (hopefully not too hard) and treat every Wednesday as the beginning of a new week for our class. This means that I will post podcasted lectures on Wednesdays and that most due dates will fall on a Tuesday.

Weekly Blog Postings
(5 posting; 4 points/each = 20 points)

Purpose
You will create weekly blog postings in order to demonstrate how you are making connections between the intellectual freedom concepts you learn in class and the present-day issues.

Task
Each week, you will use your account on Blogger.com to create a weekly blog posting in which you will write a 225-275 word entry that describes your reaction to a current event item related to intellectual freedom. The current event item should be something you have found on your own, not through course material. Additionally, each week you will need to write a short response (around 25 words) to a classmate’s posting. Although your responses may be short, they need to reflect critical thinking. Points will not be given for late blog postings.

If you would like to work ahead on your weekly blog postings, that’s fine; however, please note that I will consider anything you post during a certain week as work for that certain week only. For example, if you post once, five times, or 10 times during the week of June 1-7, I’ll read everything you’ve written but I’ll only consider these postings for your blog grade for the week of June 1-7. Anything you write on June 8 will then be considered for your blog grade for the week of June 8-14. Please also note that Blogger allows for scheduled postings so you can control for what I see, when I see it. Use the first week of class to play around with Blogger if you haven’t before; it is for this purpose that I’ve built some “play time” into the first week of class.

Due Dates:
05/24; 05/31; 06/07; 06/14; 06/21

To Student Role Subject Commenting on older blog postings and how to receive participation points when doing so Authored By Moeller, Robin Ann (ramoelle) ( May 25, 2011 1:08 PM ) Label High
 * Addendum**:

Hi everyone, For those of you who are responding to blogs that are older than the week in which we are currently in class; as of tomorrow, I will only be looking at the current week's blogs so please email me if you have commented on an older blog and would like me to make note of that comment for the purpose of participation points. If you're commenting on the older entries of my blog, don't worry about contacting me; that's the one blog I can manage! ;-)

Please let me know if you have questions about this. Best, Dr. Moeller

Lead Group Discussion
(20 points)

Purpose
This activity provides you with the chance to explore certain class topics more in depth and from a perspective of your choice.

Task
Each student will be asked to choose one topic from our weekly lecture topics on which to lead a discussion. Assuming we have a full class of 35 students, seven students will present each week. For each student that presents, four additional members of the class will be assigned to that student as a group for that particular week. Each group discussion will be held on the “Forums” on Oncourse. Once everyone has chosen a topic, I will create the groups for each week and post the groups on the class wiki.

Students will sign up during the first week of class for the topic for which they would like to act as the group discussion leader. For your discussion, you will need to find and choose two readings (not included in course readings) that reflect your topic and post links to those readings on the class wiki under the discussion date, topic, and your name. You will also need to create two questions for each article and post them on the wiki as well. These questions need to be thought provoking. Article links and questions are to be posted on the wiki the Tuesday before the week you discuss. (Ex: if you have signed up to lead a group discussion during the week of May 18th, your articles and questions need to be posted on the wiki on May 17th.)

I will create forums every Wednesday morning. You should open your discussion in the appropriate forum on the Wednesday of the week you are scheduled to act as discussion leader (using the above example, you would open your discussion on May 18th). In your opening forum posting, you should include references to the articles you assigned, the four questions you posed, and a short introduction as to how these articles either dovetail or fill in a gap left from the assigned readings for the week. Throughout the week, you will need to monitor your group’s discussion and attempt to move the conversation along if it lags.

Toward the end of the week in which you act as discussion leader, you will need to synthesize your group’s responses into a short conclusion that will be shared with the rest of the class. This synthesis should briefly describe the main arguments of each article, the questions you posed, and the main points of discussion that were presented during your group’s discussion. Please include this as a separate posting in your Forum. The rubric that I will use to grade you for this assignment is located under the folder named “Rubrics” in Resources on Oncourse. Please feel free to “grade” yourself for this assignment and speak to me later if your “grade” and my grade don’t match up.


 * If you are discussion leader for week of: || Wiki postings are due (By Leader): || Discussions will be opened (To Group-mates): || Syntheses are due (By Leader): ||
 * 5/18 || 5/17 || 05/18 – 05/24 || 5/25 ||
 * 5/25 || 5/24 || 05/25 – 05/31 || 6/1 ||
 * 6/1 || 5/31 || 06/01 – 06/07 || 6/8 ||
 * 6/8 || 6/7 || 06/08 – 06/14 || 6/15 ||
 * 6/15 || 6/14 || 06/15 – 06/21 || 6/22 ||

Week of May 18 (choose from ethics of librarianship or request for reconsideration) Week of May 25 (choose from children & censorship; CIPA; or filters) //Week of June 1 (choose from social networking or DOPA) (Week I signed up to lead)**// Week of June 8 (choose from access; technology & the Internet; or digital divide) Week of June 15 (choose from access; technology & the Internet; or privacy & confidentiality)

Group Discussion Participant
(5 weeks/2 points each = 10 points)

During those weeks when you do not act as a discussion leader, you will need to read the articles assigned by your discussion leader and answer the questions that he or she has posed. Additionally, you will need to respond to another student’s posting. Both of these postings should reflect how you have critically considered the readings and your classmates’ responses.

Group Discussion Participants: all work is due by the Tuesday after your group’s articles have been posted

(05/24; 05/31; 06/07; 06/14; 06/21).

Request for Reconsideration Case
(20 points)

Purpose
This assignment will give you the opportunity to explore the technical side of a book challenge, while also allowing you to investigate various positions and materials related to book challenges.

Task
For this assignment, you will need to choose a partner and select a case of a challenged book from the list below of the top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010 (OIF):
 * And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell (32 pages)
 * The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (230 pages)
 * Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (268 pages)
 * Crank by Ellen Hopkins (537 pages)
 * The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (374 pages)
 * Lush by Natasha Friend (178 pages)
 * What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones (259 pages)
 * Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (221 pages)
 * Revolutionary Voices" : a multicultural queer youth anthology edited by Amy Sonnie (188 pages)
 * Twilight by Stephenie Myers

Each partner, acting as a library staff member, should choose a pro (keep) or con (remove) position. Both of you cannot take the same side. Post the case you have selected and each person’s position on the wiki by midnight, May 17th. There will be one group that has three students. Those students should contact me once they have formed their group.

Research the case in an online database and find at least one article about the case and two professional book reviews. See if you can find and review the collection policy from the effected library. Try to obtain a copy of the “Request for Reconsideration” (it may be called something else) form used by the library. If you are focusing on a school, look for the collection development policy and the “Request for Reconsideration” form on the school district web pages. If you cannot obtain a copy of their form, contact Dr. Moeller for a link to a different form.

Submit a recommendation to the library or school board stating why the item in question should stay in or be pulled from your collection. Describe the process of how you came to your decision; think critically about what you did and why. I am more interested in knowing about your own journey throughout this assignment.

Some of the easier questions I want you to answer are:
 * was it difficult to find articles?
 * Reconsideration policies?
 * CD policies?
 * A case?
 * What was it like working with your partner online?
 * Why did you choose this book?
 * Why did you choose the pro or con side to argue?
 * Was that easy?
 * What was the most difficult part of this assignment for you?
 * What were your "aha" moments?

These are the type of critical thinking questions I'm looking for you to answer:
 * Was it difficult to find any of the documentation you needed for this project?

Write your recommendation; as you do so, think about
 * how would you address a library board?
 * Which library is it?
 * Do you sound professional?
 * What are you referencing as support for your argument?

There is no page limit for your process or recommendation, but keep in mind that it is possible to “overstay your welcome” at a library board meeting by talking on-and-on, so try to make your recommendation powerful but not overly-long.

You will need to submit your work to the forum titled, “Requests for Reconsideration” by midnight on May 31st. Each group member will need to submit his or her own process and recommendation. As a group, you will need to submit the “Request for Reconsideration” form, related collection development policy, one news article, and two professional reviews. On the wiki, I used Bella and Edward as a pair of students who chose to look at the case of Twilight. Using them again as an example, Bella and Edward’s submission to the forum area on Oncourse would be in one forum posting and would include Bella’s process, Bella’s recommendation, Edward’s process, Edward’s recommendation, and the “Request for Reconsideration” form, related collection development policy, one news article, and two professional reviews they used as a pair. Once more in list form:

From each individual student I need the following documents;
 * Process paper
 * Recommendation letter

As a group, you need submit the following documents:
 * Request for Reconsideration form
 * Collection Development policy
 * One news article
 * Two professional reviews

The rubric that I will use to grade you for this assignment is located under the folder named “Rubrics” in Resources on Oncourse. Please feel free to “grade” yourself for this assignment and speak to me later if your “grade” and my grade don’t match up.

Due Dates:
05/17; 05/31

Little Brother Essay
(20 points)

Purpose
The book, Little Brother by Cory Doctorow presents several challenging ideas related to security and privacy in a post-9/11 world that thrives on technological development. Your essay will demonstrate how well you articulate and support your own position of the issues related to intellectual freedom that Doctorow presents.

Task
After reading Little Brother, answer each of the questions below in a 5-8 page, double-spaced, essay:
 * 1) How might Marcus describe his intellectual freedom rights regarding being “surveyed” and his right to circumvent the efforts of the surveyors? How might he describe how reprogramming RFIDs reflects intellectual freedom?
 * 2) How does Doctorow depict Marcus’s mother and father as representing different perspectives about the government’s oversight of individuals? Which parent’s perspective do you identify with most? Why?
 * 3) Was there a point in this book at which you felt Marcus had “crossed the line” in terms of his resistance efforts? If so, what was that point and why do you think he went too far? If not, why do you feel he was justified in his actions?
 * 4) What insights did you gain about intellectual freedom from reading this novel? What questions do you have after reading this novel?

Please use any of the resources you read in class to support the points you make in your essay. Make sure not to describe the story to me – you need to demonstrate critical thinking in this paper as you have in other projects throughout this course. Feel free to use the questions above as headings to direct my eye to the places in your paper where you are emphasizing these points. Please upload your essay to the “Drop Box” on Oncourse by midnight on June 21st. The rubric that I will use to grade you for this assignment is located under the folder named “Rubrics” in Resources on Oncourse. Please feel free to “grade” yourself for this assignment and speak to me later if your “grade” and my grade don’t match up.

Due Date:
06/21

Participation
(10 points)

Purpose
If you were to search for a definition of “seminar” on Google, you would find words and phrases like, “exchange of ideas,” “assemblage of students,” “share experiences,” “under the guidance of a professor.” In other words, the nature of a seminar requires discussion, and lots of it, among students with structure given by a professor. That’s what we’ll do in this class. My role is to give you topics and readings to explore. Your role is to share with each other what you’ve explored and try to develop new understandings together.

Task
In order to receive points toward the participation portion of their grade, students must critically engage with their fellow classmates or instructor several times a week throughout the semester. When one “critically engages” with others, his or her interactions causes them to think, react, investigate, or question. “Critical” does not always mean “finding fault;” it can also mean “careful analysis” and “reflection of meaning.” Feel free to play the “devil’s advocate;” it’s great to present multiple perspectives on an issue.

The postings that I will consider for participation points will be those postings not required for weekly assignments. For example, if you have written your weekly 225-275 blog entry and your 25 word response to someone else’s blog, and that’s it, you’ve completed the weekly requirements for the weekly blog posting assignment, but in terms of participation beyond what is required of your weekly assignments, you haven’t done anything in the blog area. If you write your weekly 225-275 blog entry and your 25 word response to someone else’s blog and write additional responses to two other students’ blogs, I would count the two additional responses as two instances in which you participated outside of assigned work for that week. You do not have to participate in each area of class (Oncourse and Blogger) each week to receive participation points. I will count any postings on either site, that exhibit critical thinking and are not part of your required course work for that week, to go toward your participation grade. In addition to your classmates’ weekly blogs, you will have the opportunity to more fully participate in the weekly group discussions, my blog, where I will post a weekly issue for discussion and possible debate, and the forum area on Oncourse where I will post a weekly forum in which you can post your own questions about the readings or course topics, and a general forum where you can post your own general questions about intellectual freedom or any library-related issues. If you participate every week, you can use the following scale to help determine what your grade will be:


 * A = 10 or more posts/week
 * A- = 7-9 posts/week
 * B+ = 4-6 posts/week
 * B = 1-3 posts/week

If you skip one or more weeks of participating, your grade will be lower than a B. If you do not participate at all, you will receive zero points.