Course Details

Course offered Winter 2006

H A&S 350 A: Public Problems: Who is Responsible and How Should They Be Solved?

H A&S 350 A: Public Problems: Who is Responsible and How Should They Be Solved?

SLN 4683 (View UW registration info »)

Eugene Edgar (Education, Honors Faculty Scholar 2006-2007)
Office: MGH 211 B (Office hours: Tuesdays 2:00-3:30), Box 352800
Phone: 221-3431
Email: ebedgar@uw.edu
Frances McCue (English)
Email: frances@francesmccue.com

Credits: 2, c/nc
Limit: 20 students

Credit Type

Myriad problems confront us daily; violence on the Ave, the earthquake in Pakistan, homelessness in Seattle, Sweatshops in developing countries, binge drinking on campus, the AIDS epidemic in Africa, adolescent suicide. The list is endless.

Who is responsible for addressing these problems? Some would respond that “government” should step up and deal with these problems, others advocate for a free market approach, Neoconservatives advocate for individual responsibility and local charitable organizations, neomarxists point to the class struggle and the structures of society. So who is responsible for stepping up and doing something? And how should “they” proceed?

In this seminar we will try to confront these questions through readings, discussions, research, developing proposals and defending these proposals in a public forum with community leaders.

We will read and critically deconstruct a proposal of John Graham and the Giraffe project. In teams of three or four, we will develop a short paper (2 page maximum) explaining Graham’s proposal and the criticisms of this proposal.

Then these teams will research alternative proposals and develop a two-page paper explaining the alternative to Graham and critically deconstructing that proposal.

Each team will then chose a proposal they believe has the most merit for action (maximum one page paper).

These papers will be distributed to the entire class and three community leaders. On March 7 the class will meet with these three community leaders, in a forum open to the public, and the teams will orally present their proposals for action and defend their choice to the panel of community leaders.