Ps 456g Syllabus Fall 2009

PS 456G FALL 2009

APPALACHIAN POLITICS TR 12:30PM-1:45PM CB 245 AppalachianPolitics.pbworks.com INTRODUCTION: Then: “Almost heaven, West Virginia…”. Now: “Almost level, West Virginia…”. Welcome to the st Appalachia of the 21 century! This course on Appalachia is designed to gaze Janus-like on this mountainous region, looking at the examples, culture and political struggles of the past as we seek to understand its present, and from there to explore the future of the people, politics, culture and economics of Appalachia. Geographically, we will be focusing on what is commonly referred to as “central” Appalachia – the mountains of eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, southeast Ohio, southwest Virginia, northeast Tennessee and western North Carolina. Intellectually, we will be grappling with the following themes: • Understanding the Dynamics of Space and Place and the Construction of Appalachia – What do we mean by the terms Appalachia and Appalachian? How can we conceive of Appalachia as a site of multiple and contested spaces and places, and how does this impact our understandings of power, knowledge, culture, community, democracy, economy and environment? • Power/Knowledge and Resistance – What is power? How is it constructed and used (and by whom)? What role does the construction of knowledge play in this process? What are the sources and methods of resistance? • Community Groups and the Construction of Democratic Public Spaces – What are the past, present and future roles of community groups in Appalachian politics and in promoting democracy, community, a healthy environment and a just economy in the region? • Policy Roads Taken and Not Taken and their impacts on the past, present and future of the region. • Sustaining Appalachia – Building a region that works environmentally, economically and politically. If you are looking for a class in the “horse race” approach to local and regional politics, this is not the class for you. Rather than focusing on local governments and elections and a procedural/institutional/constitutional approach to studying politics, we will be focusing on the political processes underlying these phenomena. To do so, we will largely focus on political theoretical approaches to the subject, but always grounded in local case studies and histories. If youʼre interested in interrogating the “why” and not just the “what” of Appalachian politics, then this is the course for you. Be advised that the reading level for this course will at times be quite heavy, and how well things go for you individually, and for the class as a whole, will depend to a large extent on how well you participate in class, to what extent you keep up with the readings, and how ready you are to discuss and critique the subject matter and course materials. This will be an active learning environment, so be ready for all that entails! Welcome aboard!

INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION: Instructor: Dr. Christopher S. Rice Office: 1649 Patterson Office Tower Office Hours: M 9am-10:30am

Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ricetopher Telephone: 257-7030

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Grades and Examinations:

Your final course grade will be based on three (3)

components: • Mid-Term Exam (Due October 20) – 50% • Final Exam (Due December 17) – 50% • Attendance – (See “Attendance Policy” below)

Course Readings: • • • • •

The following texts are required reading for this course: Couto, Richard. Making Democracy Work Better. ISBN: 978-0807848241. PBK, required. Eller, Ron. Uneven Ground. ISBN: 978-0813125237. HBK, required. Fisher, Stephen. Fighting Back in Appalachia. ISBN: 978-0877229773. PBK, required. Gaventa, John. Power and Powerlessness. ISBN: 978-0252009853 PBK, required. Shnayerson, Michael. Coal River. ISBN: 978-0374125141. HBK, required.

All of the reading in this syllabus is REQUIRED. You should read all of the assigned material before the class period for which it is assigned, be prepared to discuss it in class, and also prepare to be examined on it even if it is not discussed in class. Our class time will not be spent simply “going over” the assigned readings. Rather, the readings will serve as our point of departure for lectures and class discussions. When given, most lectures will involve information not contained in the readings. So do the readings for each class on a timely basis! You have been warned.

Exams: Both the Mid-Term and Final Exams for this course will be take-home essay exams, the questions for which will be handed out one week before the exam is due to be handed in. The Mid-Term and Final Exam must be word processed, printed out neatly, and returned to the instructor in class at the beginning of the class period in which they are due. Questions for the Mid-Term will be handed out on October 13, and your answers must be returned on October 20. Questions for the final exam will be handed out on December 10, and your answers must be returned to me in my office between 10:30 and 12:30 on December 17. Late exams will not be accepted except under the circumstances outlined by University policy (see “Late Assignments” below). Should you wish to dispute the grading of an exam, you may submit a written grievance. Your grievance should identify the question/answer in dispute and provide arguments supporting your position. The appeal should be word-processed and must be personally submitted (along with your exam) to me within two class periods following the return of the assignment. I will provide a written response to your grievance within one week of its receipt.

Attendance Policy: Attendance for this course is MANDATORY. I will randomly pass around a sign-in sheet during the semester for purposes of taking attendance. When I was an undergraduate, it was assumed that in a three-hour, TR course, you should accumulate no more than two unexcused absences. I still believe this to be a sound guideline. Therefore, after two (2) unexcused absences, EACH absence that is not accompanied by acceptable documentation (doctorʼs excuse, funeral program, appropriate university letter, etc.) for an excused absence will result in a reduction of the studentʼs final course grade by five (5) percentage points (i.e., a 94% final course grade would be lowered to an 89%). Excused absences should, if at all possible, be explained to me before the absence, and follow the guidelines outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Exams will be heavily based on lecture material in addition to the course readings, issues covered during class discussion and current events. Much of the lecture material will not appear in the course readings, and you are responsible for all information presented in the lectures, videos AND class discussion. Moreover, the lectures will provide important clues as to what things are likely to show up on the examinations. To do well in this course will require regular and engaged attendance.

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Graduate Students: If you are a graduate student taking the course, your requirements will differ slightly from the details above. The Mid-Term and Final exams will each count for 35% of your grade. You will have an additional requirement for a research paper that will count for 30% of your grade. Please see me about developing the topic for your research paper by February 5.

COURSE POLICIES: Classroom Standards: I expect all students to behave in a professional manner during class time. This means coming to class on time and being ready to start class at 12:30pm. It is disrespectful to me and to your fellow students to come late and disrupt class, so be on time. I will not tolerate chronic tardiness, and if you arrive to class more than 5 minutes late, you may be asked to turn around and leave. Also, unless you have obtained prior approval from me, you may not leave class early. Furthermore, I do not tolerate rude and disruptive classroom behavior. During class, refrain from engaging in non-relevant and distracting side-conversations, reading a newspaper, doing crosswords, sudoku or other puzzles/games, sleeping, text messaging or other cellphone use, or listening to your iPod or other .mp3 players. When in class, turn-off your cell phones – silencing will not suffice when many of your phones have a “vibrate” function that could crack a walnut. Laptops and other internet access devices ARE permitted in class for taking notes and looking up material relevant to that dayʼs work on the internet. Please do not abuse this privilege by using your internet access device to Facebook, do email, shop online or play games. I reserve the right to dismiss from class any student in violation of these policies.

Grading: All exams and research papers will be graded on a 0-100 point scale.

The grading scale for the exams and papers, as well as the final course grade for undergraduate students is as follows: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, D = 60-69%, and E = 0-59%. For graduate students, the grading scale for this course is as follows: A = 90-100%, B = 80-89%, C = 70-79%, E = 0-69%. The course is not graded on a “curve.”

Email Policy: You may always feel free to contact me via email. However, I do have a few general guidelines you must follow when doing so. Always begin the subject line of an email to me with “PS 456G:”. This will put your email into the appropriate inbox, allowing me to respond to your email in a timely fashion. Emails that do not have “PS 456G:” at the beginning of the subject line may not receive a response. Also, emails are NOT text messages/IM communications. When emailing me you should open the email by addressing me as Dr. Rice, identifying who you are and which course you are in (and at what time the course meets), concisely providing the nature of your problem/request, and then signing off with your name. If you have followed these directions, you may expect a response within 48 hours of its receipt. If you have a pressing emergency, you should speak to me during office hours, before or after class, or by phone. As a final note, I will NOT provide your grades (nor discuss any personally-identifiable grade information) by email or over the phone.

A Brief Note on Cheating & Plagiarism: In addition to being in generally poor form, plagiarism and cheating are theft of othersʼ intellectual property. Plagiarism or cheating will NOT be tolerated. If cheating or plagiarism is found to occur, it will be dealt with according to University Senate Rules. If you have ANY doubts or questions as to what constitutes plagiarism, I recommend you review this document: http://www.uky.edu/Ombud/Plagiarism.pdf.

Classroom and Learning Accommodations: If you have a documented disability that requires academic accommodations, please se me as soon as possible during scheduled office hours. In order to receive accommodations in this course, you must provide me with a Letter of Accommodation from the Disability Resource Center (Room 2, Alumni Gym, 257-2754,

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[email protected]) for coordination of campus disability services available to students with disabilities.

One Last Thing – Dropping the Course: Not that I hope you choose to leave our little soiree, but there are a couple of dates you should keep in mind should the need arise. The last day to drop this course without it appearing on your transcript is September 16, 2009. The last day to withdraw from the course is November 6, 2009.

COURSE SCHEDULE: NOTE: All items in the Course Schedule are subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. These changes will be announced in class and/or on the course website. You are responsible for all announced changes, so come to class and visit the course website often.

Understanding the Dynamics of Space and Place and the Construction of Appalachia September 1 – Fisher, Chs.12, 14 & 15 September 3 – FILM: “Strangers and Kin (1984) September 8 – FILM: “Beyond Measure” (1994) – Gaventa, Ch. 1

Power/Knowledge and Resistance September 10 – Gaventa, Chs. 1 & 2 September 15 – Gaventa, Ch. 3 September 17 – Gaventa Ch. 4 September 22 – Gaventa, Chs. 5 & 6 September 24 – Gaventa, Ch. 7 September 29 – Gaventa, Ch. 8 October 1 – Gaventa, Chs. 9 & 10 October 6 – FILM: “Justice in the Coalfields” (1995) October 8 – FILM: “The Big Lever” (1982) October 13 – Discussion of Gaventa, Films October 15 – NO CLASS – Work on Take-Home Exam

History of Public Policy in Appalachia October 20 – FILM: “Rough Side of the Mountain” (1997) – Mid-Term Exam DUE October 22 – Eller, Intro & Ch. 1 October 27 – Eller, Chs. 2 & 3 October 30 – Eller, Ch. 4 November 3 – Eller, Ch. 5 November 5 – Eller, Ch. 6

GROs, CBOs and the Construction of Democratic Public Spaces November 10 - “You Got to Move” (1985), Fisher Ch. 2 November 12 – FILM: “To Save the Land and People” (1999), Couto, Ch. 2 November 17 – Couto, Ch. 3 November 19 – Couto, Ch. 4 November 24 – Couto, Chs. 5 & 6

Thanksgiving Break (November 26) –– NO CLASS

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Coal River: Environmental Policy and Politics December 1 – Shnayerson, Chs. 1-5 December 3 – Shnayerson, Chs. 6-9 December 8 – Shnayerson, Chs. 10-15 December 10 – Shnayerson, Chs. 16 & Epilogue

FINAL EXAM DUE – December 17, 10:30AM – 12:30PM in 1649 POT

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