Remote Homepage: Deviant Behavior & Social Control

Welcome to our remote classroom homepage for Deviant Behavior & Social Control Spring 2020! All information about changes to scheduling and the syllabus will be available here in one easy-to-access location!

First… the bottom line:

Times are tough. And I know many of you are dealing with logistical stresses, social disappointments, academic frustrations, and anxiety about your health and the health of your loved ones. Know this — your health and safety come first. They are more important than school and they are more important than statistics. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you are struggling to get work done on time during this transition. I assure you that everything is figure-outable. I just ask that you communicate early and often if you are not keeping up with coursework so that I can can provide support. I have 85 students this semester and I am fully committed to supporting all of you, but I will miss things without being able to see you twice a week, so help a girl out! Tell me if you’re struggling.

Our new format:

We’re moving our Wednesday evening classes to Zoom, which means you will have to download the Zoom app on either your laptop or your phone. If you are unable to download the app please email me immediately so that we can come up with an alternative way for you to participate in the class. Sign up for a free account with Zoom here: https://zoom.us. I’ll send a link to our “classroom” every Wednesday via Canvas. Simply sign in, click the link, and you’re in!

I will still give my lectures, you will follow along as I screen-share my powerpoint live. You will still post discussion questions and lead your discussions, and you will still present your final projects, but we will do this all via Zoom!

We are also pushing our schedule back a bit. We will meet for the first time on March 25th. You will receive a Zoom link via an announcement on canvas. We’ll cover some of the changes then.

*Tip: I ask that you all “mute” your own audio and visual when you enter the space, and if possible wear headphones to reduce feedback when speaking. You will unmute yourself only to ask a question, but you will also be able to ask questions via the instant message group chat.

New Schedule

March 13th

No meetings, no due dates

March 18th

No meetings, no due dates

“Pathology & Madness, Medical Explanations of Deviance”

March 25th

  • Welcome to Zoom, updates, Q&A

  • Unit Review on the early asylum, atavism, pathologization, “criminal insanity” and eugenics

  • A peer-facilitated discussion of the week's readings

Assigned Reading

  • “The Measure of a Man: Cesare Lombroso”

  • “Controlling the Planet: A Brief History of Schizophrenia” by Jonathan Metzl

April 1st

  • Discussion of Jon Ronson’s book

  • Summary of the Unit and Short Debrief

Assigned Reading:

  • So You’ve been Publicly Shamed: Chapters 5 “Man Descends Several Rungs in the Ladder of Civilization” & 6 “Doing Something Good”

  • So You’ve been Publicly Shamed: Chapters 7 “Journey to a Shame-Free Paradise” & 8 “The Shame-Eradication Workshop”

“Theorizing Conformity: Propaganda & Advertising, Consumers & Crowds”

  • 20th Century Theories of Conformity

  • Audio-Visual Suggestion & Crowd Behavior

April 8th

  • Unit Lecture on consumer culture, simulation, and the hyper-real

  • Archival exercise: Imaging War

  • So You’ve been Publicly Shamed: Chapters 9 “A Town Abuzz over Prostitution and a Client List” & 10 “The Near Drowning of Mike Daisey”

April 15th

  • Short film: “Mickey Mouse Monopoly” 

  • A facilitated discussion of the week's readings

Assigned Reading:

April 22nd

  • Discussion of Jon Ronson’s book

  • A Summary of the Unit and Short Debrief

 Assigned Reading:

  • So You’ve been Publicly Shamed: Chapters 11 “The Man Who Can Change the Google Search Results” & 12 “The Terror”

  • So You’ve been Publicly Shamed: Chapters 13 “Raquel in a Post-Shaming World,” 14 “Cats and Ice Cream and Music” and 15 “Your Speed”

April 29th

  • Final Project Presentations

  • Wrap Up

Office Hours & Contact

That’s about it, friends! If there are changes I’ll update them here. Keep an eye out for the Zoom invites on Wednesdays before class, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions or concerns! I’ll be holding office hours Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons from 11am-5pm via Google Hangout at my BC email address: carrolct@bc.edu. Simply email to let me know you’re waiting to chat! We can DM, audio-chat, video-chat, or screen-share from there!