Journals
All students in SOC 345 are
required to maintain a journal of items related to conflict and dispute
resolution.
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Requirements: Students must purchase a folder
with two pockets in which they can insert typed journal entries. The folder should
have a white label on the front with the studen't
name. Each time journals are submitted there must be one new separate entry.
Each entry must be a half page to a page long (double spaced with a 1.5 inch
margin on the left side and typed in arial font, 12
points in size). This amounts to approximately one entry every three weeks (a
bit less than that over the entire semester). That is, each student's journal
will be submitted 4 times over the course of the semester. If your journal
entry is based on a written article or on the internet, i.e. if it is based
on anything other than a television show or a personal experience, you must
make a copy of the article and include it in your journal. Each time you
submit your journal entries, please include all of your previous journal
entries. |
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Topics: Each journal entry must report
on some case of conflict and/or conflict resolution. Reports related to
innovative means of conflict resolution are especially encouraged. Topics
related to labor and employment issues are permitted but other types of
interpersonal conflict are encouraged as topics. |
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Sources: Sources include newspapers, magazines, the internet (although weblogs are not acceptable), television news reports, etc. and these should be from within the past month. Students may also use personal or family experiences as journal entries (they need not be recent) but no more than one such entry can be used over the course of the semester. Each entry must clearly identify its source. For newspapers, magazines, internet sites, etc., you must print out or cut out a copy of the article you are using and include it in your folder along with your journal. The journal should analyze the sources of conflict and the analysis should lead to a suggestion for a process of possible resolution (not the substance of what that resolution should be). |
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Evaluation: At regular intervals indicated
on the course syllabus students will be required to present in class their
journal entry for the most recent period. There will be class discussion of
the nature of these conflicts, the techniques being used to resolve them and
whether there are other techniques that might be more successful. Journals
will be submitted to the instructor at the end of each such class for
evaluation. All entries must be maintained in the journal for the entire
semester. Journals will be collected by the instructor at the end of the
semester. |
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Feedback: Each time your journal is
submitted, the first new page must be a response to all questions and/or
observations the instructor wrote in the journal when it was last submitted.
"Okay" is not an acceptable response. You must answer any question
asked and you must respond to any comment by indicating how you could have
done better. If the comment is that a
sentence is poorly written or difficult to understand, you must rewrite that
sentence. However, do not rewrite and
resubmit the entire journal entry!
Just answer the questions and respond to the comments. |
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Schedule:
Students will discuss and submit their journal entries during class on
February 17, March 4, 25 and April 15.
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Samples:
Below are three samples of journal entries from an earlier class. The first
received a "C" grade because it did not analyze the issue in terms
of class concepts and it did not use that analysis to suggest possible
solutions to the conflict. The second received a "B" grade because
it did some analysis of the causes of the conflict and possible modes of
resolution. The third received a high "A" grade because it made
excellent use of class concepts and used those to suggest modes of
resolution. |
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Sample 1:
Source: Currently same sex marriages are
not banned by law in This situation is similar to other
cases across the country that have been talked about in the past year or
so. The debate of same sex marriages
comes down to religious beliefs that homosexual couples feel are unfair
because society has changed since the original concept of marriage. The attorneys representing the gay couples
were being discriminated against and denied fundamental rights in the same
manner that some state laws used to ban interracial marriage. The situation between state courts
and same sex marriage has been a problem for many years. Only until recent years has this situation
become so important and controversial because homosexual relations are
becoming more apparent in the world today.
There doesn’t seem to be any way to get both sides to fully agree on
the situation. The decision on the
lawsuits from |
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Sample 2:
In
a new episode of a children’s PBS show, “Postcards from Buster,” the main
character visits a In
this issue, conflict has arisen over two points. First, Spellings and the producers appear,
at least subconsciously, to have a conflict of values. The show in question was produced by a
Boston-based TV station while Spellings was appointed to her position by
President Bush. While these two facts
may not on the surface appear to generate conflict, the fact that the show
was produced in a state, like Vermont, that recognizes same-sex marriages,
and that Spelling was appointed by President Bush, someone who is vehemently
against such recognition, does generate conflict. It is never explicit, but underlying the
whole conflict lays the controversy over the morality of homosexuality. Second and stemming from the conflict of
values, Spellings and the producers have a conflict of interests. As Education Secretary, Spellings has a
duty to ensure that programming funds are used appropriately for
education-based initiatives. Since she
recognizes the controversy that could result when airing a tax-payer funded
episode featuring homosexual lifestyles, Spellings feels that the episode is
not appropriate for PBS. On the other
hand, producers of “Postcards from Buster” wishing to promote diversity and
understanding, featured lesbian couples to educate and open dialogue between
parents and children. The solution that Spellings and
PBS eventually decided on was to refund the production funds received to make
that episode back to the Education Department and PBS would not distribute
the episode. The Boston-based
television station will instead fund the episode, with no government or PBS
assistance and make it available to any stations that wish to air it. Refunding the money was probably ideal for
curbing any controversy surrounding the episode. However, completely refusing to distribute
the episode is likely to alienate viewers who see no controversy with
homosexuality, especially when parents, not PBS should decide whether the
episode should be viewed by children. |
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Sample 3:
On labourstart.org there was
an article about the drivers for the train company One in England and how
they are refusing to work overtime because of a policy instated banning the
drivers from wearing shorts. They are now being required to wear a shirt and
tie; something they feel will make them look like “little tin soldiers”. They
also say that the old cars are very hot. The union ASLEF says that the
dispute is not official and that the drivers are not working on their days
off as is their right. There have been other disputes regarding dress codes,
one of them resulting in the employer removing disciplinary action against
those with “bulging pockets”. I think that here there is a
conflict of interest. The employer wants the drivers to look more professional
with a shirt and tie. The drivers feel that this uniform would be
uncomfortable and they place more value on comfort. This is an issue of
focusing on the issue, not the positions. Part of the issue is the
ventilation of the old cars and the resulting heat for the drivers. If both
the employer and union sat down and discussed the issue, not the positions,
they could probably come up with a uniform that is both professional and
cool. They also may decide that something needs to be done about the ventilation
in the old cars. They could compromise to either leave the shorts as part of
the uniform or fix the cars that probably need to be fixed anyway and instate
a new, more professional dress code. Either way, I think that this is a
problem that probably could be fixed if both sides looked at the issue at the
heart of this matter, not just that the drivers want to wear shorts. |
[1][2] Education Secretary condemns Public Show With Gay Characters.” Cnn.com. 26 January 2005. http://www.cnn.com/2005/education/01/26/education.secretary.pbs.ap/index.html.