SS 338 Syllabus For Professor James M. Lipuma

SS 338, "Issues In Public Policy," is an upper division Social Science course which focuses on key social and political issues from a social science perspective. Problem-solving decision-making and critical thinking will be stressed throughout the semester to assist the student in understanding the various areas which are discussed. The course has no specified text because the issues examined are current. As a result, students will be asked to provide articles from current newspapers and other periodicals for discussion. These issues will be examined, discussed, and debated. As with public policy, participation is vital.

Throughout the semester, there will be homework, and paper assignments that each student must complete in order to receive a grade in the class. Weekly article summaries, an individual paper, and, most importantly, an in-class presentation and final project will be required for this class.

All papers which are handed in for this class are to be college-level research papers. A college-level paper is type written, has page numbers, contains references to research and includes a reference page, at the end, for works quoted or otherwise referenced to in the document. Citations for the research used needs to be included with the paper and should follow the APA format for citations. This means parenthetical citations within the text with a references page at the end of the document. Only works which are actually quoted from or referenced directly should be cited. This is not a bibliography but rather a "Reference Page." Please remember, simply lifting text from a dictionary or encyclopedia is something found mainly in high school. Though it may be necessary to quote from these types of sources, rarely are they the only works used for references.

I want to stress that the work for this class should be formal research papers. There should be no contractions, spelling errors, punctuation errors, or mistakes in grammar. Please be consistent within the paper with abbreviations and other acronyms. Double space the paper. Use a clear easy-to-read font that is not too large or small. Your margins should be uniform and should minimize large areas of white space within the paper.

Near the end of the semester, each student is required to submit a "best paper" for this class. This paper should represent the best work in the mind of the student. These papers are reviewed by the administration to assess the course and in no way will change the grades received on the paper. Only formal research papers should be considered for the 'best paper' and a new unmarked copy of the chosen 'best paper' should be submitted.

Attendance will be taken randomly throughout the semester. A greater emphasis is placed on participation rather than simple attendance; however, you cannot participate if you are not there. Absences and late work are excused only by arrangements with the instructor.

Students are required to keep a portfolio (available in bookstore). All the work for the class is to be kept in a binder. This includes tests, quizzes, papers, and other work from the class. The portfolio will be collected at the end of the semester and reviewed by the department administration. Students wishing to have their portfolios returned should contact the department at the end of the following semester to make arrangements for pick-up of the work.