Contemporary Influences on African American Culture

Course Syllabus
Course Title:

Notable African Americans

Delivered online:

University Spring term, 2016

Description of Course
This is an introductory online course designed to teach persons who may not have a strong background in AfricanAmerican studies, and may wish to learn more about influential individuals within the African-American
community.
This course provides a broad yet focused analysis of the subordinate/dominant statuses of individuals and groups by
recognizing the impact of race/ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic class of individuals and groups in relationship
to American society. The course is designed to foster critical analysis of the issues of difference in our society and to
prepare students to understand and interact with people from diverse
backgrounds and cultural perspectives throughout their lives.
Contacts and Communications
Instructor: David M. Harris, MS harrisd@my.uwstout.edu
See my instructor biography in the classroom link under my name. Please contact me via the email address above or
feel free to use the classroom instant message tool when you see me among the names of those currently logged in.
I will log on to the classroom nearly every day and the discussion forum is generally the best place to ask most
questions. However, if you need to contact me on an individual basis, please use email and I will try to replay within
24 hours. Your communication is important to me! To ensure that I see your message among my email, please use
the class name in the Subject line. For those of you halfway across the world from the instructors Central US
location, given the time differences, you may have to allow up to 36 hours for a prompt reply.
Technical support is available 24/7 by contacting techhelp@uwstout.edu or calling 1-800-TECHELP (832.4357).
Online Classroom Procedures
Each class week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. Although all students will have taken the software
orientation, at any point you may review the course management software features by clicking on the Guide link.
The announcements area of the classroom that you see each time you log in will be used on a least a weekly basis to
post updates and comments on class matters. The instructor will also email the class to remind students of important
due dates.
The Course Materials area, arranged in folders by week, houses the content for the course. All materials for the
course are posted and can be reviewed from the start of the class. There is also a folder within Course Materials
labelled Detailed Assignment Instructions that provides full information, criteria, rubrics, and samples for
completing each assignment.
The Discussion area contains at least one discussion forum for each week of the course. Each discussion forum will
be opened for posting at on Mondays of the new week. There is a forum labelled Student Lounge for casual
conversations as well as a general Q&A forum where questions about class requirements and other questions that do
not fit into a weekly discussion may be asked.

The Assignment Dropbox is the place to submit individual assignments unless otherwise indicated in assignment
instructions. Our classroom server is set to US Eastern Time (ET). Therefore, all due dates are noted as of US
Eastern Time. Use the World Time Clock link available in the classroom to convert all times and dates.

Course Introduction
This eight-week course provides the opportunity to learn more about the history, accomplishments and challenges
faced by the African-American community. A number of research opportunities and assignments are provided in this
course. This course is conducted completely online. To do your best in this course, it is recommended that you print
out this syllabus to keep as a reference, log on frequently (at least 3-4 times a week) to the online classroom and
keep up with all assigned readings and web work.
Course Objectives
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

Identify prominent African-Americans

Review current news articles and events within the African-American community
Identify African-American musicians and music pieces
Identify similarities and differences between the Watts Riot of 1965 and Ferguson, MO Riot of 2015

Grading Information Also See Course Assessment Rubric

Grades are based on a scale of 100 points and are distributed among major assignments as follows:

Participation on a weekly basis: 30 points

Group summary and question based on reading: 10 points
Weekly assignments: 50 points
Short essay paper: 10 points

Timelines
Participation in discussions must be completed with the week assigned. Other assignments are due according to the
posted dates and as described in instructions, either submitted via the assignment Dropbox or posted in a designated
discussion forum.
Unless otherwise noted, grades will be posted in the Gradebook no later than the end of the week following the due
date of the assignment.

Academic Integrity Policy

This university considers academic integrity to be one of its highest values. Though not a comprehensive or
exhaustive list, the following are some examples of dishonest or unethical and unprofessional behavior and, thereby,
violate the Academic Integrity Policy.
Violation of the Academic Integrity Policy will result in the disciplinary actions described here.

Plagiarism
o Copying work, written text, or images from the Internet, or any textbook or document without
giving due credit to the source of the information.
Please note that while citing information from a source will avoid the plagiarism
consequence, in this course you are to customize your analysis to the assigned case study.
If your plan simply consists of a recitation of general rules without explaining how they
apply to the case study client, you will not likely receive a passing grade.
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Using any portion of another student's coursework, to include written plan and presentation,
whether the coursework was for the currently assigned case study or a previously used case study.
Cheating/Unauthorized Collaboration
o Assisting another student with reasonable knowledge that the other student intends to commit any
act of academic dishonesty. This offense includes, but is not limited to, allowing another student to
use all or a portion of your plan to submit as their own work.
o Collaborating on assignments without expressed permission from your instructor.
o

Plagiarism, cheating and unauthorized collaboration are acts of academic dishonesty and are subject to disciplinary
action. You are expected to be the sole author of your work.
Violation of the Academic Integrity Policy
The consequences for cheating, plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration, and other forms of academic dishonesty are
very serious, and may result in a dismissal from this course.

Assignment Descriptions
Participation
Students are expected to participate by responding to the instructors questions or comment on the responses of their
classmates. A good question is as valuable as a comment. See the Participation Rubric posted under Course
Materials to understand grading criteria and expectations. There are eight (8) graded weeks of participation.

Schedule
Week 1 - Studying noteworthy African Americans in American History
Week 2 - African-American issues in the news.
Week 3 - Music within African-American history.
Week 4 Watts Riot of 1965 and Ferguson, MO Riot of 2015
Students with Disabilities or Special Needs
The Office of Disability Services suggests that you include a statement on your course syllabus acknowledging the
unique learning needs of students with disabilities and the process for requesting academic accommodations.
Following are some example statements, which you should feel free to use.
DISABILITY STATEMENT: The University makes reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities.
Students should notify the Office of Disability Services located in 206 Bowman Hall and their instructor of any
disability related needs. For more information, see http://www.uwstout.edu/services/disability/. Any student
eligible for and needing academic adjustments or accommodations because of a disability are requested to speak
with the professor.
The University will make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. Students should notify the
Office of Disability Services located in 206 Bowman Hall and their instructor of any disability related needs.
If you have specific physical, psychiatric or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know
early in the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will also need to meet with the
Office of Disability Services in 206 Bowman Hall.
If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require
accommodations, please see me and the Office of Disability Services so that such accommodations may be
arranged.
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I encourage students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning
disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate
accommodations with me.