Fall Semester 2023

The general research seminar introduces you to some of the main tools of social science research methods. You will learn and apply tools that will help you a) ask and try to answer critical questions about the world around you; b) understand the logic and significance of evidence-based research for analytical writing, policy recommendations and decision-making; and. c) explore research tools for your own research project. You will learn how to formulate focused and researchable questions, identify reliable data and relevant sources, and produce a robust literature review. You will also learn the uses and merits of case studies, and develop tools to reading statistical analyses and findings to better support your own research projects. Finally, you will be introduced to the elements of a policy brief and will be encouraged to use your internship experience to apply your research skills for the final research project.

Ultimately, this class aims to strengthen your research competence and confidence in using tools relevant to whatever career path you choose.

About the Professor: Professor Loubna Skalli-Hanna is a teacher, scholar and practitioner with subject area expertise in development, gender, youth and communication. She has taught at numerous universities in Morocco and the United States, including the American University (2003-2015). She is the author, co-author and editor of numerous peer reviewed journal articles, book chapters and books. As a practitioner, Professor Skalli Hana co-founded many women’s organizations and participated in the activities of a few others. She also consulted with numerous intern/national development organizations and agencies including USAID, World Learning, U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of State. Professor Skalli Hana earned her BA from Mohamed V University in Rabat (Morocco), her MA in social and cultural anthropology from Essex University (England), and her PhD in International Communication from the Pennsylvania State University.

Requirement for ALL semester students:

The first four weeks of this semester (August 23 to September 13) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions.

Your selected seminar will begin the week of September 18 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.

**NO additional registration required.

How does political and social protest bring about change? What strategies and techniques do social movements and protests use to take on entrenched and established powers in the nation’s capital? Achieving real change is difficult. Yet, there are several examples of successful social movements in American history and politics that came to Washington and effectively changed the course of the nation's politics and history. This class will explore the dynamics of mass mobilization and advocacy on the national stage. By discussing protests and other advocacy events and interacting with guest speakers, students will learn about the successes—and failures—of social groups’ efforts to make change in American politics and society.

About the Professor: Professor Dale Crowell serves as the Congressional Liaison for the Organization of American States headquartered in Washington, DC; the premier political multilateral organization for the Western Hemisphere. In that capacity, he advises the Organization's top leadership on strategies to engage and communicate with the U.S. Congress and works to ensure that their priorities are better understood by decision makers on Capitol Hill. Prior to his work at the OAS, he managed press and media relations for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, directed public relations for Bethesda-based Honest Tea, and served as the communications director for a member of Congress from New York during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He also has extensive experience managing USAID and State Department-funded international development projects for various non-profit organizations promoting social, political, and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is currently a PhD candidate in American Politics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC where he received an APSA Minority Fellowship. He received his BA from the University of Maryland at College Park as a McNair Scholar and volunteered in Baltimore for President Bill Clinton's Americorps pilot project, the Summer of Service in 1993. 

Remember back throughout your life to disputes among people, possibly about fairness or justice.  You probably have heard people say, “I’ve got a right.”  “It’s a free country and it’s my right.”  Or, “You don’t have the right to do x.”  The concept of civil rights plays a prominent role in the way we define ourselves and our society in the U.S.  But how much of the discourse we hear and speak about rights actually is true?  Do we really “have a right to do x?”  Does having a shared right help to create group identity?  How might claiming rights influence a social movement? 

In this course you will be invited to examine the role of rights in law, politics, and society, and the ability/inability of legal rights to shape, to change, to define. . . our reality.  We will consider in an in-depth manner the nature of rights, the mobilization of rights, and the institutional nature of rights.  We will draw on comparative examples from other countries in order to better understand whether ‘rights’ are an American idea or if they also have an important part to play in other countries.  You will also be asked to consider how important culture and national institutions are in shaping our understanding of rights.  You will be invited to consider what the advantages and disadvantages of the American approach to rights are and what makes a legal right most effective in different situations and for different people and groups.

 

About the Professor: Jackie Gehring is an associate teaching professor of Politics and Legal Studies at UCSC. Jackie arrived at UCSC in the Winter of 2017 after serving as Department Chair and Associate Professor of Political Science at Allegheny College. She earned her Ph.D. in Jurisprudence and Social Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and has also been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at UC Berkeley, as well as at universities in Europe.

Requirement for ALL semester students:

The first four weeks of this semester (August 23 to September 13) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions.

Your selected seminar will begin the week of September 18 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.

**NO additional registration required.

Much is said about Washington. Much of it is wrong. This course will immerse students in the history, institutions and rituals of nation’s capital. You will learn about Washington’s transformation from a remote federal city to the world’s most powerful capital. We will analyze the accuracy of Washington’s depiction throughout history, how it is represented – and misrepresented -- in modern culture, and why it is ridiculed by politicians who want to work there. We will examine the glorification and vilification of Washington in literature and film and assess the truth behind popular Washington myths. We will probe Washington policy debates and rituals and survey the research tools used to separate fact from fiction. You will have an opportunity to study and visit monuments and museums, as well as iconic institutions as the National Portrait Gallery and Ben’s Chili Bowl.

About the Professor: Professor Marc Sandalow is an Associate Director of the University of California Washington Program (UCDC). He is the author of three books, including “Madam Speaker,” a biography of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He has been a journalist for 30 years, including 21 years at the San Francisco Chronicle and more than a decade as the paper’s Washington Bureau Chief. He is a former columnist and contributing editor for the California Journal, and is a currently a political analyst for Hearst Argyle television stations and KCBS radio in San Francisco. Professor Sandalow has been the UCDC program since 2008.

Requirement for ALL semester students:

The first four weeks of this semester (August 23 to September 13) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions.

Your selected seminar will begin the week of September 18 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.

**NO additional registration required.

Immigration. LGBT rights. Healthcare. Abortion. The death penalty. Cell phone privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided cases on all of these topics in recent years, and its decisions ultimately touch the lives of all Americans. In this class we will study the Supreme Court's place in the U.S. legal system. Topics we will cover include: how a case gets to the court, the justices, the role of lawyers before the court, the purpose of oral argument, the court building and its symbolism, and media coverage of the court.

In addition, students will listen to the arguments in current Supreme Court cases and spend class time discussing them. In papers, students will be asked to rigorously explain why the justices likely took those cases and how they will come out based on what they hear at oral argument. This class is geared not only toward anyone who is interested in the law or government service but also toward anyone interested in working on or being informed about the biggest issues of the day.

About the Professor: For the last decade Professor Jessica Gresko has been a reporter for The Associated Press, first in Miami and now in Washington. As a legal reporter, she covers court cases at all levels, both local and federal. She has been at the Supreme Court for many recent high-profile decisions including cases on gay marriage, healthcare and the death penalty. Professor Gresko earned her B.A. from Columbia University in New York and a M.S.L. (Master’s in the Study of Law) from Georgetown University Law School. She grew up in Southern California and took her first journalism class at UCLA.

Requirement for ALL semester students:

The first four weeks of this semester (August 23 to September 13) will be spent in a special topics module taught by Professor Marc Sandalow on Wednesdays from 6:30-9:30p.m. This module will account for 15% of the core seminar final course grade. Please contact Professor Sandalow (marc.sandalow@ucdc.edu) with questions.

Your selected seminar will begin the week of September 18 and your seminar instructor will officially be your instructor of record for the term, responsible for computing and submitting final course grades at the end of the term.

**NO additional registration required.