CCCC 7010:
City, Culture, and
Community (CCC)
Pro-Seminar I
Fall 2011 Newcomb Hall, Room: 314
Wednesdays, 2:00 - 4:30
Professor Kevin Fox Gotham, Ph.D.
Sociology: 220 Newcomb Hall
Office Hours: By appointment only
Phone: (504) 862-3004
Email: kgotham@tulane.edu
Professor Charles Figley, PhD.
Graduate School of Social Work
Office Hours: By appointment only
Phone: (504) 862-3473
Email: Figley@tulane.edu
Course Description
This pro-seminar is for first-year CCC
doctoral students. The course will cover
a wide range of topics central to their professional development, including
finding and working with an advisor/mentor, developing a program of study and
dissertation focus, developing a research agenda, building skills related to
time- and information-management, publishing one’s work, making professional
presentations, and creating and writing an annotated bibliography. In addition, workshops on bibliographic
software and reference databases will provide students with practical
information about conducting literature reviews as the foundation for doing
research. CCC faculty members will come
to class each week to provide an expert's perspective on these and other topics.
Course Objectives / Learning Outcomes
This course contributes to the CCC
doctoral program by introducing a variety of topics central to professional
development, such that the student will be able to:
1. Integrate, synthesize, and apply disciplinary,
multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary perspectives on city, culture, and
community as demonstrated by classroom participation, and writing assignments.
2. Describe the process of searching for and working with an
advisor/mentor as demonstrated by classroom participation and direct
questioning.
3. Describe how to search, select, and evaluate the merit of
scholarly articles, books, and other works as demonstrated by classroom
participation, and writing assignments.
4. Explain how information gained from workshops on bibliographic
software and reference databases can
assist in developing a research topic as demonstrated by classroom participation,
and writing assignments.
5. Develop a research agenda with research questions,
synthetic literature review, and annotated bibliography as demonstrated by
writing assignments
6. Develop skills in time-management and information management , as demonstrated by their turning assignments in
on time and being prompt to class, classroom participation, and writing
assignments.
7. Demonstrate breadth and depth of knowledge about the
logic and process of publishing articles and books as demonstrated by classroom
participation, and writing assignments.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in planning and organizing an
oral presentation of a research topic as demonstrated by classroom
participation, and writing assignments.
Educational Activities
To enable students to reach these educational objectives
the instructional team has developed five educational activities.
1. Class Participation
Each student will attend class on time,
participate fully in all discussions, without being distracted by various
communication devices. The professors are especially happy with graduate
student discussions that center on scholarship, research methods, or other
scholarly discourse. Active and consistent participation is worth 40% of the final grade.
2. Completing an Annotated Bibliography
Students will receive further guidance on the selection
of scholarly works and the detail of the annotation. This can be the first step
to developing a dissertation research topic and agenda. The
annotated bibliography is worth 20% of the final grade.
3. Presentation of a Research Topic
The purpose of the oral presentation is to present a
research topic to an audience of peers and clearly communicate an argument,
results, and scholarly contributions. The presentation is worth 10% of the final grade.
4. Completing a Literature Review
The purpose of a literature
review is to establish a theoretical framework for a research topic / subject
area; define key terms and concepts; identify studies, models, methods, and so
on supporting the topic; and state clearly what empirical and theoretical gaps
the research intends to fill. The
literature review is worth 30% of the final grade.
Grades
Class Participation
40%
of grade
Annotated
Bibliography 20%
of grade
Oral Presentation 10%
of grade
Literature
Review 30%
of grade
The CCC
program requires that graduate students familiarize themselves with the Unified
Code of Graduate Student Conduct: http://tulane.edu/provost/upload/Unified-Code-of-GS-Academic-Conduct-11-14-07.pdf (accessed August 16, 2011).
Tentative Schedule
Week 1: Introduction to CCC Program (Aug. 31)
Readings
·
Provost's Office. Tulane University.
"Innovation and Interdisciplinarity in Graduate
Education at Tulane 2010-11." http://tulane.edu/provost/upload/Innovation-and-Interdisciplinarity-in-Graduate-Education-2.pdf
· "Multi/Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in City, Culture, and Community (CCC). A Proposal in Response to the Innovation and Interdisciplinarity in Graduate Education RFP." Tulane University. Fall 2009.
Week 2: Disciplinary, Multi-Disciplinary, and Interdisciplinary
Perspectives (Sept. 7)
Guest Professors:
·
Professor Diane Grams, Department of
Sociology
·
Professor Joel Devine, Department of
Sociology and Urban Studies
Readings:
·
Stember, Marilyn. 1991. “Advancing the social sciences through
the interdisciplinary enterprise.” Social Science Journal, 28(1).
·
Bruce et al. (2004) “Interdisciplinary
Integration in Europe: the case of the Fifth Framework Programme.”Futures 36 (2004) 457–470
·
Grams,
Diane 2010. Introduction chapter and chapter 1 (“Theory of Local Art Production
Networks”). Producing Local Color: Art
Networks in Ethnic Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Read at least one of the following articles:
·
Griffin,
Larry J., Wallace, Michael, and Devine, Joel A. 1982. "The Political
Economy of Military Spending: Evidence from the United States." Cambridge
Journal of Economics 6 (1): 1 - 14.
·
Devine,
Joel A., Sheley, Joseph F., and Smith, M. Dwayne.
1988. "Macroeconomic and Social-Control Policy Influences on Crime Rate
Changes, 1948-1985." American Sociological Review 53 (3): 407 -
420.
·
Devine,
Joel A., Plunkett, Mark, and Wright, James D. 1992. "The Chronicity of
Poverty: Evidence from the PSID, 1968-1987." Social Forces 70 (3):
787 - 812.
·
Devine, Joel A., Brody, Charles, and Wright, James D. 1997.
"Evaluating an Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program for the Homeless: An
Econometric Approach." Evaluation & Program Planning 20 (2):
205-215.
·
Devine,
Joel A. and Sams-Abiodun, Petrice.
2001. "Household Survival Strategies in a Public Housing Development.” Critical
Perspectives on Urban Development 6: 277-311.
·
Overstreet, S., Devine, J., Bevans,
K., & Efreom, Y. 2005. “Predicting Parental
Involvement in Children's Schooling within an Urban African American Sample.” Psychology
in the Schools 42(1): 101-111.
Week 3: Disciplinary, Multi-Disciplinary, and
Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Sept. 14)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Richard Campanella, Geographer, Urban
Studies Program
·
Professor Mimi Schippers, Department of
Sociology
Readings:
·
Peruse
Campanella’s website http://richcampanella.com to see how his work demonstrates the
trans-disciplinary nature of geography, as well as a variety of
methods/tools/approaches that researchers can use to characterize and explain
spatial patterns.
·
Schippers,
Mimi. “Recovering the Feminine Other: Femininity, Masculinity, and Gender
Hegemony.” Theory and Society 36.
2007: 85-102.
Week 4: Finding and Working with Faculty Mentors (Sept.
21)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Stephanie Arnett, Department of
Sociology
·
Professor David Ortiz, Department of
Sociology
Readings:
TBA
Week 5: Developing a Research Agenda (Sept. 28)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Qingwen Xu, School of Social Work
·
Professor So'nia Gilkey, School of Social Work
Readings:
Week 6 – (Oct. 5).
Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Urban Latin America
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor
Tom Reese, Latin American Studies Program.
·
Professor
Carol Reese, School of Architecture and Urban Studies Program
Readings:
·
TBA
Week 7: Workshops on Bibliographic Software and Reference
Databases (Oct. 12)
1. "Refworks"
2. "Managing
Your Research Materials"
3. "Comprehensive
Literature Review"
4.
"Keeping Current with the Literature"
Week 8: Developing Skills of Time-Management and Information-Management
(Oct. 19)
Readings:
Assignment: first
draft of reference list for annotated bibliography (organized into categories)
Week 9: Writing Synthetic Literature Reviews (Oct. 26)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Richard Ager, School of Social Work
·
Professor Michele Adams, Department of
Sociology
Readings:
·
Richard Reis. November 24, 2000. “Getting
Published as a Graduate Student in the Sciences.” Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/article/Getting-Published-as-a-Grad/46335/
Behavioral Sciences. Los Angeles:
Pyrczak Publishing.
Assignment:
First draft of annotations for five or more sources
Week 10: Publication Process (Nov. 2)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Katie Acosta, Department of
Sociology
·
Professor Carl Bankston, Department of
Sociology
Readings: TBA
Week 11: Professional Development Strategies (Nov. 9)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Yuki Kato, Department of Sociology
·
Professor Jade Miller, Department of
Communication
Readings:
·
Kato,
Yuki. 2011. “Coming of Age in the Bubble: Suburban Adolescents' Use of Spatial
Metaphor as Symbolic Boundaries.” Symbolic
Interaction. 34(2):244–264.
Assignment: final version of annotated bibliography
Weeks 12 - 13: Dissertation Proposal Development (Nov. 16
and Nov. 23)
Guest Faculty:
·
Professor Fred Buttell, School of Social Work
Readings:
·
Levine, Joseph. 2011. Writing and Presenting Your Thesis or
Dissertation. LearnerAssociates.net.
http://www.learnerassociates.net/dissthes/dissguid.pdf
·
Article from Chronicle of Higher Education
Week 14-15: Peer Review Workshop and Research
Presentation (Nov. 30 and Dec. 7)
Assignment: