John.Tiedemann@du.

edu
Keelie.Sorel@du.edu
T 4:005:50
Margery Reed 217
Blog: sjus.blogspot.com

Johns office hours: T 122 and W by

appointment
Johns office: Anderson Academic
Commons 380U
Keelies office hours: MT 11:0012:00
Keelies office: Driscoll South Suite 1

social j ustice 2 020: s tories o f s ocial j ustice

THE CLASS
Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools in the struggle for social justice. By telling and sharing
stories, we discover ourselves, forge communities, and preserve histories that might otherwise be
erased. This term, we will spend our time at the intersection between storytelling and activism,
reading some of the rich histories, memoirs, and other texts of the social justice movement while we
learn how to become more accomplished social justice storytellers ourselves.
Well organize our efforts around a new Social Justice LLC project: the lunch of The Denver AntiPoverty Activism Archive. The Archive will collect stories about the struggle against poverty and
injustice here in Denver, and youll be the first scholar-activists to contribute to it, by recording your
own volunteer experiences this year and gathering oral histories from our community partners. The
Archive will be digitized and made available to other scholars and activists via the University Libraries
and, we hope, the Denver Public Library.
To encourage the variety of our interests, keep our conversations relative intimate, and give
everyone a chance to contribute to the discussions, youll have a choice of readings most every
week, and, based on your choices, well form two discussion groups each class.

ASSIGNMENTS
In addition to contributing to the Denver Anti-Poverty Archive and taking part in discussions and
activities in and out of the classroom, each student will write a learning journal, adding at least one
new entry each week. Your journal is a place to engage with the readings, further explore issues and
ideas raised in class, reflect upon your experiences, and express yourself creatively. Youll receive a
new journal assignment each week. Students will share their learning journals with John and Keelie via
Google Drive. Instructions are on the Sharing tab our course blog: http://sjus.blogspot.com/

GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

Goals

SJUS 2020 is the second of three courses taken by the students in the Social Justice Living & Learning
Community. The course has two goals. First, by reading, telling, and collecting stories of social justice,
students will acquire a deeper understanding of the cultural and historical context in which their own
efforts on behalf of social justice are taking shape. Second, in order to grow as social justice scholars
and activists and to work effectively with the broader community, we must learn how to organize
ourselves as a community, one that embodies the social justice values we hold in common. This first
course in the SJUS sequence, then, lays the foundations for the work students will do in the second
and third courses, as well as for the work they do in the community.

Expectations

The experience of taking part in the Social Justice Living & Learning Community differs from more
traditional classroom experiences in important ways. Each SJLLC student has a great deal of
autonomy in shaping his or her learning experience and thus a high degree of responsibility for
contributing to the experience of the group. Whats more, the learning experience includes not only
the work that is officially part of SJUS classes but also other, unofficial learning opportunities that
the SJLLC sponsors, such as service opportunities, guest speakers, retreats, and symposia. Finally, the
work that SJLLC students do in the classroom is directly relevant to the work they do in the community
outside it, and vice versa. In short, the SJLLC learning experience does not consist of completing a
compartmentalized series of discrete tasks that you can tick off on a checklist. Rather, it consists in
collaborating with one another and with the wider community to create and sustain an ongoing,
open-ended process of active intellectual engagement.
That said, some of the expectations for this course can be stated in conventional academic terms: In
addition to class time, students can expect to devote four or more hours a week to reading, writing,
group work, and community work. In short, SJUS classes are designed to be every bit as intellectually
rigorous and rewarding as any other class on campus.

GRADES, ETC.

Grades

Grades will be calculated on the basis of (1) participation in and out of class (33%); (2) your learning
journal (33%); and (3) your contributions to the Denver Anti-Poverty Archive (33%).

Engagement and attendance

I expect you all to be active, involved learners and thoughtful, helpful collaborators. Your
participation is made manifest in a number of ways. It includes preparing for and contributing to inclass discussion, taking part energetically and responsibly in community work, and in your efforts to
improve not only your own learning experience but that of the entire class. I will assess your
engagement as follows:
o

Superior engagement means that the student is always prepared, often adding additional
insights to class discussion and participating fully in our community activities. S/he
demonstrates active learning via consistently thoughtful and energetic engagement with
the material, his or her peers, John and Keelie, and our community partners.
Average engagement means that the student generally seems prepared and willing to
take part. Is or her engagement in class and out of it seems to encourage and support
others. The students presence is generally productive.
Weak engagement means that the students participation in and out of class is listless,
lackluster, or only intermittent.

CONFERENCES

John is available for conferences in his office between 2:00 and 4:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays
and by appointment. You can make an appointment by going to
http://www.meetme.so/Tiedemann and following the instructions.
Keelie has office hours on Mondays and Tuesdays from 11:0012:00.

Civility, Tolerance, and Inclusive Excellence

The Social Justice LLC is committed to fostering a diverse learning community that is inclusive and
respectful. We encourage and appreciate expressions of different ideas, opinions, and beliefs, so
that conversations and interactions that could be potentially divisive instead turn into opportunities
for intellectual and personal growth. Respecting what others say, their right to say it, and listening to
each other are the ways that we all can further thoughtful and enlightening dialogue. Because our
course relies heavily on interactions between all members of the LLC, we must all act in a manner
that not only respects but actively supports different positions, perspectives, cultures, heritages, and
gender, racial, ethnic, class, sexual, and other identities. This means that we strive to include one
another fully in all of our interactions, and perhaps especially with respect to the ways we talk with
one another. We aim to use inclusive language. We aim always to listen to one another, never to
interrupt, and always to respond thoughtfully and respectfully. And, because civility also means not
distracting other participants or checking out of the conversation. So no internet surfing, no phone
checking, and so no side conversations.

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The Social Justice LLC will provide reasonable accommodations to every student who has a disability
that has been documented by The University of Denver Disability Services Program
(www.du.edu/disability/dsp or 303.871.2455).

CALENDAR
Unless otherwise indicated on the blog, all readings will be made available on Blackboard, in the Content folder.
T Jan. 6
T Jan. 13
T Jan. 20
T Jan. 27
T Feb. 3
T Feb. 10
T Feb. 17
T Feb. 24
T March 3
T March 10

Storytelling and social justice.

Taylor Branch, At Canaans Edge.
Stephen Blackburn, Each One Teach One: Up and Out of Poverty, Memoirs of
a Street Activist; OR Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy.
Jeanette Walls, The Glass Castle: A Memoir; OR Elliot Liebow, Tell Them Who I
am.
Jonathan Kozol, Rachel and Her Children; OR Nick Flynn, Another Bullshit Night
in Suck City.
[Open week, to accommodate our trip to SAME Cafe.]
The Essential Nawal El Saadawi; OR Gloria_E. Anzaldas Borderlands / La
Frontera.
The DU John Evans Study Report; OR Mary Crow Dogs Lakota Woman.
Project work.
Project work.

Final drafts of all work due on Google Docs by noon on Tuesday, March 17.