How your final grade is calculated
15%
15%
40%
30%
Special Note:
Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please schedule an appointment with the instructor early in the semester to discuss any accommodations for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support Services as indicated in your DSS accommodation letter.
Class attendance and participation
First, regular attendance is a must for this class. Absence in more than two classes will impair your participation grade.
To be successful, this class requires that everyone complete the readings by the day they are assigned, participate in discussions substantially, and engage the issue of corporate power seriously. Do not just answer my questions; pose your own, draw on other students' comments, and call attention to other issues or events of relevance. Participation also means cultivating your interest in corporate power outside of the class. Via the business news I have linked to the scheduled readings, keep abreast of current events or public concerns that relate to the topics we discuss. Think about how corporate power pertains to ideas you have learned in other classes.
I realize that all students are not equally vocal in class, whether by general disposition or an occasional loss for something to say. If you do not speak up in class on a given week, you should compensate by joining in subsequent on-line class discussions that I initiate on Moodle (e.g., by extending classroom discussion, calling attention to a related news item), or at least attending my office hours to ask substantive questions.
Each week that a book or articles have been assigned to read, one or two students will be assigned to give a 15-20 minute presentation each at the beginning of the class. I am happy to discuss with you how you might organize your presentations. While the format is flexible, each presentation should at least include:
- Questions for discussion. Presenters should view this assignment as their opportunity to direct the conversation in each class meeting. To this end, they will pose at least 3 general questions in their presentation to stimulate discussion. Presenters should also prepare follow-up questions or other techniques to sustain the dialogue they have initiated. Questions may address concepts or issues that you didn't understand and want further clarification, but most should give the presenter a way to introduce...
- A clear argument that addresses the questions/themes/debates assigned in the presentation schedule. These are intended to provide a framework to structure your presentation and develop the course themes out of the readings. Do not worry about saying all there is to be said; an insightful analysis of a few key ideas will get a higher grade than a weak and rushed discussion of everything.
- New material for discussion. Your argument should incorporate new material that supplements or challenges the readings. Among the ways you can do this, you might introduce relevant data or case study (see the research resources); juxtapose a reading to prior arguments or themes we have encountered; discuss the readings' historical or theoretical contexts in useful ways. Hand-outs are encouraged!
- No rote summary of the readings. Assume everyone else has done the readings and do not rehash what they already know. Instead, if you choose to discuss points and quotations from the readings, frame these so that the conversation moves to a level beyond "what the author said."
On days when two students are assigned presentations, these need not be scheduled back-to-back; instead, they should be formatted in order to lead class discussion in the direction they believe most valuable. For instance, the first student may begin class with an argument that organizes class discussion for 30 minutes; in the second hour, the second student may present a counter-argument that organizes class discussion in a different direction for the rest of class. I strongly encourage students assigned to the same week to coordinate their presentations with each other in advance of class day.
For 8 weeks' reading assignments of your choice, you will write an analytic brief of minimum 500-word length. Plan your reading/writing well over the course of the semester. I expect that these briefs will have a clear progression (thesis, evidence, counter argument, conclusion); stream of consciousness or personal feelings, no matter how potentially fascinating, are inappropriate. These briefs are to be posted onto the corresponding Blackboard discussion board by the appropriate deadline (see below); do not turn in hard copies of your brief in class.
There are two kinds of briefs, for which you will write 4 of each: (a) those written before the class, and (b) those written after the class.
Briefs written before the class will explicitly respond to the reading(s) assigned for that week. They are due at the beginning of class, and no late briefs will be accepted. These can take the form of either (a) a theoretical discussion or (b) an application of the readings to a real-life example you find in the news. In either case you should strive to analyze, synthesize, integrate, or apply the ideas you have found provocative. Do not simply summarize or compare two readings. Think of issues that you would like to discuss in class. Good commentaries generally raise more questions than answers, so you may conclude your analysis by listing several additional concerns.
Briefs written after the class will correspond to the readings and debates discussed in this previous lecture and on Blackboard. These are due within 24 hours after each class meeting; for example, one student will submit by March 29th a statement that pertains the March 28th seminar on Welch's Jack: Straight From the Gut. These after-class statements should reflect and build upon the ideas developed in class and the readings; they should demonstrate a more knowledgeable and sophisticated understanding of the materials, after you have resolved confusion over and/or better understood the readings and had time after class to mull the ideas over.
The final assignment is a term paper in which you select a case study event or problem of corporate power, describe its history, and analyze it in terms of the theory and methods we encounter in the course. You will turn in a proposal on April 11, present your case study during the last two weeks of class, and turn in the final term paper on the first day of finals week.
The Case study: Select a corporation, nonprofit business organization, event, trend or problem that is current and relevant to the class.
Data Sources: I expect that you will draw heavily on secondary sources for this case study, primarily journalistic and electronic. I have compiled some additional research resources to help you find a topic of interest; Vassar librarians can help you find articles, books, and other online resources once you have chosen a case study. Corporations produce numerous documents about themselves, so you should request an annual report as well as other legally mandated reports; use written advertisements, promotion brochures, and media communications. You may also gain enough access so that you can obtain internal memos or press releases, or possibly complete interviews with key informants.
Case Description and Analysis: Your challenge will be to consolidate the various sources of information into a 10-12 page case-study description, followed by a 5-6 page case analysis.
The description of your case study should include:
- Context. Relevant contextual elements might be internal and/or external to the organization and issue, taking into account historical, technological, social, legal, cultural, and demographic considerations as appropriate.
- Problem. This should be described in historical constructivist terms, e.g., how did this issue become a problem?
- Solution. The "solution" is likely to be contested, so describe the various stakeholders and the unanticipated consequences thus far.
Remember, you will present your case-study description in class 2-3 weeks before the written term paper is due. In the final paper, this portion will be graded for completeness and clarity of presentation.
The analysis should assess the case as a whole from several sociological perspectives, as covered throughout the course readings, lectures, and additional sources that I refer you to. This section should also include alternative solutions to the issues at hand. This portion will be evaluated for depth and breadth of analysis, use of course concepts, and writing ability.
For an excellent example of a Corporate Power term paper, here is one written by Rob Strauss in Spring 2000. (For some reason, it lost its title page on its way to this site -- don't let that happen to your paper!)