SO103
Streetwise Sociology
Don Stannard Friel
Ralston Hall 303
x3770
don {at} ndnu(.)edu
Office Hours Tu.: 3:30-5:30, Wed.: 1-2, 5-6.
The Course
Streetwise Sociology is a course designed to familiarize the student with the inner city culture by studying it, learning sociological understandings of why it exists, and, perhaps most importantly, by becoming a part of it. We do this by taking on projects that benefit the community, and in so doing meet, interact with, and learn from individuals who live and work there. Our specific activities will involve Halloween in the Tenderloin, The Youth College Project, and Miracle on 6th Street (a Christmas event). These are three independent projects that will involve us in community action and team building with other groups on campus and in the inner city. We will also tour the neighborhood and meet with residents and activists in their environments. Students in Sociology 178, Halloween in the Tenderloin, will be partners in organizing and implementing the Halloween festival. NDNU Admissions and Financial Aid offices will join us in the College Night and Campus Visit events. The Theater Arts Department and Campus Ministry will work with us on the Christmas in the Tenderloin program. And members of the Tenderloin community residents, merchants, and service providers will partner with us in all three events.
As a service learning class, we learn by doing, reflecting on those activities, and by studying the root causes of our discoveries. This will involve ongoing discussions, readings, and writing assignments.
The Instructor
Don Stannard Friel is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at NDNU. His work has involved community organizing, conflict management, organizational development, and social action field research. He has worked with youth, educators, mental patients, street people, convicts, cops, union organizers, and community activists. He is currently completing a book about the Tenderloin community.
Grading
The most important elements of the class are involvement, reflection and analysis It is essential that the student attend all class meetings on campus and in the community, which will be held, for the most part, during class time. Additional research, community organizing, and the actual activities that we help develop will be done outside of class time.
Evaluation of specific work will include:
Participation
Ongoing involvement in developing and implementing the projects (this includes attendance at the class meetings on and off campus, and producing various assignments, such as communication with community partners, outreach to people we hope to serve, presentations, and other work to be discussed in class)
Field Diary
Beginning the week of September 9, you are to make a minimum of twice weekly entries in a notebook, of at least a 12 pages in length
which will be collected at midterm (October 16) and at the final exam class meeting (Tuesday) December 10. 2 4:30 pm) detailing your observations, feelings, ideas, concerns, and experiences about the class process and your discoveries in the field (see attachment to this syllabus).
Reflection Paper
Using material from the assigned and outside readings, your Field Diary, and experiences in class and in the community, write a (minimum) ten 12 page on what you learned about the people, problems, and culture of the inner city (see attachment to this syllabus). Due the last day of class (Tuesday, December 10).
The Readings
Service Learning: A Movement's Pioneers Reflect on Its Origins, Practice, and Future, by Stanton, Giles, and Cruz. To be read by October 16
Stories of Survival: Three Generations of Southeast Asian Americans Share Their Lives. This is to be read by Wednesday October 23
(when we are scheduled to visit the Indochinese Housing Development Corporation, the organization that produced the book) and incorporated in your reflection essay.
Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, and Culture, by Brook, Carlsson, & Peters (Eds.). Specific chapters will be assigned to individual students
in class, to be read by November 20.
Important Dates
We will meet every Wednesday, 2-5 p.m., on campus or in the community. Students from So. 178, Halloween in the Tenderloin, will join us on September 4 (on campus), September 11 (in the Tenderloin), October 23 (in the Tenderloin), October 31 (in the Tenderloin). The Halloween event, itself, will involve being in the Tenderloin on October 31st, from mid-afternoon to about 9 p.m.. The combined classes will also meet on November 6 (on Campus). As we plan Halloween in the Tenderloin, The Youth College Project, and Miracle on 6th Street, we will decide as a group, and with our community partners, when and where our other meetings and the events themselves will take place. We will be holding a potluck final reflection on Tuesday, December 10, from 2-4:30. Halloween in the Tenderloin students will be invited to participate, as will other members of the NDNU and Tenderloin communities.
Field Diary
The Field Diary is an ongoing record of your experience in the Tenderloin. You should be aware of what is going on around you, and inside of you, when you are on the streets and in residences, playgrounds, and offices of the Tenderloin community, or as you prepare to go there. Record your feelings and observations. Note what you hear and read about in the news (there are very frequent reports on what is happening in the Tenderloin). Draw maps or pictures of what you see. Include photographs if you take pictures (Be careful of what you photograph. This, and other legal/ ethical issues, will be discussed in class). Cut out or copy or write summaries of stories that catch your attention (including your own story of Halloween night and College Night and your visits to the Seneca Hotel and Indochinese Housing Development), and include them in your Field Diary. Include brochures, handouts, articles from street papers (there is a newspaper called the Street Sheet that reports on the plight of the homeless). Check out the Internet. Your weekly entries should reflect a serious attempt to capture your growing understanding of the "TL" culture and its place in the broader community. This information should be used as a resource to develop your Reflection Paper.
The Field Diary is due October 16 and December 10. The Reflection Essay is due December 10
Reflection Paper
Your reflection paper should be at least 10 pages in length (double spaced, 1" margins). It should describe your experiences, observations, and
what you learned in the Tenderloin. In organizing your reflection paper, consider the following:
1. Tell the reader about the Tenderloin. Using material discussed or distributed in class, the assigned readings, and any other sources you may have discovered
(news articles, television reports, the Internet, etc.), describe what the Tenderloin is all about, why it exists, and discuss, from a sociological perspective, the
social issues that you discovered.
2. Write about your experiences in the Tenderloin. What were your observations, feelings, impressions? Drawing on our time in the Tenderloin including the
Halloween, College Night, and preparation for the Christmas event explain what was it like for you to experience the community. The people in the
community. Share your personal observations. What are your fears and hopes or dreams for the people of the Tenderloin? What did you see, read, hear, or
experience that has caused you to think about their future?
4. How has this class affected your own worldview? What have learned that you will take with you as you go on with your life?
