Designed by: Dr. Caroline (“Kay”) Picart With the Assistance of: Jason McKahan Greg Thompson

General Course Objectives

1. to examine what “human rights” are, in terms of its characterizations in law, literature and film;
2. to examine how the “international human body” is depicted, in terms of nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, class, and age, among other factors, in legal/political documents and in popular culture;
3. to expand upon the theoretical gains of the “law and literature,” “critical legal studies,” “critical race theory” and “feminist legal theory” jurisprudential movements, and situate the meaning of “human rights” within broader interdisciplinary inquiries, inclusive of literature, film, and popular culture;
4. to discuss questions of ethics in relation to depictions of “human rights and the body” in law, literature and film.

Required Texts

Tentative: See Timeline

Course Format

This course will employ principally a discussion and seminar format, and will integrate the effective use of technology (e.g., Blackboard, powerpoint, videos, when relevant). {For samples of technology enhanced and web courses I have developed and taught, refer to: http://english.fsu.edu/picart --go to the “Teaching” section; a completed virtual course can be found at: http://english3.fsu.edu/~kpicart/humfilm.

Student Profile

What kind of student are you? (.ppt file; 92K)

Grading Criteria

Attendance and Participation: 20%
Blackboard Posts: 10%
Powerpoint Presentations: 20%
Proposal: 5%
Draft: 20%
Final Paper: 25%

Attendance and Participation

Ultimately, this proposed course is largely discussion-oriented, and students play an active role in ensuring the success of the course. Students are required to come in, having read the assigned texts for the day, in order to present and defend their interpretations of the texts, as well as critique those of others and pose clarificatory questions. In-class oral participation and attendance will also comprise 20% of the total mark. Note that given that we are meeting only for six weeks because it is proposed as an annual summer course, cross-listed between law and humanities, only two excused absences are allowed; having more than two absences is sufficient reason for an “F”.

Blackboard Posts

To take this course, it is imperative that you sign up for a mailer or garnet ACNS account:

After several sessions handled principally by the professor, the duty of giving a brief summary and critique of some of the assigned texts for the day, and of generating discussion, will be rotated among the students in pairs or singly, depending on the size of the class. This is designed to enable students to be more actively involved in class discussions. Students giving powerpoint presentations are required to e-mail their presentations to me (kpicart@english.fsu.edu) 24 hours before they are due to report. On the day of the presentations, the presenters are required to come in with a diskette version (just in case something goes wrong with the web) and two hard copies of the powerpoints in “hand-out” format. AGAIN, NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED.

The student powerpoints should feature:

1. the aims of the particular class session;
2. key terms/concepts and examples of them, featuring specific clips;
3. an outline of projected activities;
4. an interactive activity, which is usually a student edition powerpoint presentation that may incorporate a game, small group work, acting a skit, etc.
5. guide questions for discussion.

On the day of the presentation itself, the students should come in with two powerpoint handout copies (see below for instructions) to submit to the professor. One will be marked and returned to the students; the other will be kept on file.

The items outlined above comprise the criteria for the evaluation of the students’ work for this component, which comprises 20% of the total mark, with each component above equally weighted. The presentations should be more specifically geared at sharing critical insights rather than general commentaries on the material. Posting these powerpoint presentations is a prerequisite to passing the course; failure to do so will result in failure. 20% of your total grade will come from this presentation. There are NO exceptions to this rule; you may switch teams and dates if you tell me ahead of time, and work out arrangements with each other.

In order to save on ink and paper, you may print out a “handout” version. Instructions for this are listed below. If it is easier for you, just print out an ordinary copy of the powerpoint presentation and photocopy it to save ink.

Powerpoint Printing of Handout Copies of Powerpoint Presentations

1. From the web (You must have the PowerPoint program installed in your computer to do it this way)
   1. Use Netscape to get to campus.fsu.edu.
   2. After you log in and get to the course webpage, click to External Links.
   3. Click on the PowerPoint presentation you would like to print out.
   4. A window will open to ask if you would like to "save it to disk" or "run from the current location". For convenience's sake, click "run from current location." This will download and transfer the presentation to the PowerPoint program on your computer.
   5. Go to "File" on the menu. Scroll down to "Print".
   6. When the print menu pops up.
      1. You can choose from "slides". This will print each slide on a full page.
      2. To save paper, you can choose to print as "handouts". On a section on the right, you can choose how many slides you would like on each page.
      3. Also, there are checklist options at the bottom, I recommend clicking "pure black and white" for clearer pictures on a black and white printer.
      4. When you are finished, click the "OK" button.
2. From the PowerPoint Program.
   1. Click on the "my computer" icon.
   2. Click on the icon representing where your file is saved (for example, if the PowerPoint presentation you wish to open is on your disk, click A:)
   3. Click on the file in order to open.
   4. Go to "File" on the menu. Scroll down to "Print".
   5. When the print menu pops up.
      1. You can choose from "slides". This will print each slide on a full page.
      2. To save paper, you can choose to print as "handouts". On a section on the right, you can choose how many slides you would like on each page.
      3. Also, there are checklist options, I recommend clicking "pure black and white" for clearer pictures on a black and white printer.
      4. When you are finished, click the "OK" button.

Proposal, Draft, and Final Paper

The final requirement for the course is a 25-30 page paper, which is to be developed in a stepwise fashion, starting from a 3 page proposal, inclusive of an annotated bibliography and statement of aims, to a 15-20 page draft, and 25-30 page final paper, with a minimum of 20 sources, 10 of which must be new; the other 10 should be taken from source material used in class, and should entail a good blend of books; scholarly, literary and popular texts; Internet sources; and films. Note that you are required, at the least, to focus on one legal text, one novel, and one film. These add up to 50% of the final mark. The breakdown for this component of the grade is: 5% proposal; 20% draft and 25% final paper.

Grading Scale

93-100% A
90-92%   A-
87-89%   B+
83-86%   B
80-82%   B-
79-77%   C+
76-73%   C
70-72%   C-
69-67%   D+
66-63%   D
62-60%   D-
59-0%     F

Academic Honor Code

The Florida State University General Bulletin contains an Honor Code that is repeated verbatim in the Student Handbook. You are responsible for knowing and conforming to it; in addition to the information listed in the Handbook, you are also cautioned that:

1. If you take material that is not yours, from any source (inclusive of websites), and copy it into anything you submit, you are obligated to provide a footnote, endnote or parenthetical reference and works cited list at the end of the paper.
2. Material that is lifted verbatim from other texts must be placed in quotation marks or, in the case of anything longer than three sentences, blocked quotes, indicating its source, as in item # 1 above.
3. Material that is paraphrased must also be documented as in item # 1.
4. Persons who violate the Honor Code and any of the items above in any requirement, whether minor or major, will receive an “F” for the course.

ADA Statement

Students with documented disabilities needing academic accommodations should, in the first week of class:

1. register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) and
2. bring an authorized letter from SDRC to the professor, indicating the need for academic accommodations, if necessary. This and all other class materials are available in alternative format, upon request. I will do everything I can to ensure fairness to everyone in class.

Final Note

By week 2, please hand in the following information on the smallest sized index card with a recent photo of you (photocopy your I.D. cards, if worse comes to worst). For students who have taken courses from me in the past, you may skip the photo, but I will need your latest contact information and your profile below.

Name:
Nickname:
Year:
Major:
Minor:
Background in English, Humanities, Philosophy, Criticism or Women’s Studies (if any):
Home Phone:
E-Mail:

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