If I was to design this course, I would  not change the readings. Instead, i would include video clips, documentaries and movies that tie into the idea of Race and Justice. For example, after reading Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, I would have included the movie “The Great Debaters” because Thoreau’s ideas are mentioned and referred to in the final debate. It would show the significance of his work and how it has been interpreted in everyday cases and trials. Also, I would include some other background sources such as Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement since was a time where Thoreau’s ideas from the text were used.

Another thing I would include in this class is  open discussions about current events related to race and/or justice.  Looking at race and justice through what is happening today would help students understand the meaning of these terms and why it is important. Also, it would help students be able to identify where racism and injustice occurs in everyday issues that may affect them.

I had neutral feelings at the beginning of the semester. When this course began, however, I thought that I was going to hate my class and that I chose the wrong course. I was wrong though. I read some fairly interesting articles, stories and accounts throughout the entire class so far. Among others, “Let’s Spread the Fun Around”, “Hip Hop Theory of Justice”, and “Civil Disobedience” stood out to me the most; not to say the others didn’t. The course was different from most of the English classes that I’ve taken over the years. When the class had to interpret song lyrics, it reminded me of my English class in the seventh grade. My class did that once but just with Kanye West’s “All Falls Down”. I liked that a lot.

If I had to redesign this course, I wouldn’t change too many things about it. However, I would incorporate more stories and accounts of injustice from other ethnic groups. Everyone has their own story to tell but some stories are more heartfelt and heartwrenching than others. Although I’m not a full blooded Native American, I did have some prior knowledge of the injustices that Native Americans endured. I already know of the injustices that African Americans endure because I am mostly African American. It’s always refreshing to read stories about my ethnic groups. But I really do feel that I would learn more and be getting more from this course if I did read about other groups of people. I thought it would be interesting to know how others felt about injustice. No one lives a perfect life or lives in a utopian society. Injustice occurs everywhere and pretty much everyone.

I think the theme for our english 2150 class is very interesting.  There are so many amazing different resources to teach from its hard to just pick one style, so I definitely would try to incorporate all different learning techniques in the course while trying to teach students the material.  I would also look at different stages of the theme race and justice.  So I would focus on cases from history to cases relevant in the present time.  It’s easiest for me to learn and grasp an understanding of things through seeing them visually.  I personally retain information better through watching movies or videos, looking at pictures, etc.  So if I was designing the class, I would incorporate plenty more of these things.  I also think visuals can make learning more fun and exciting.  I would pick one significantly famous movie to show during the semester.  It would probably be “Do The Right Thing”, a movie directed by Spike Lee, which basically shows racism to every single race.  Every class would be focused around some sort of specific idea to discuss and I would try to show a relevant video clip or pictures for the visual of that day.  Similar to the blogs due once a week, I think it would be cool to have students find current issues from the news dealing with race and justice around the world.  The students would have to write a page response to what the article was talking about.  I think that would be a good idea for students to stay updated on current events and get an even better in sight of how relevant race and justice are today.  Obviously it is english class so there would be plenty of reading material.  Just as the class is now, there would be an assigned reading for each class.  I would choose all sorts of different readings and excerpts from books like, “to kill a mockingbird” to speeches as famous and well-known as Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “I have a dream”.   There would be class lead discussions about the readings each day.  People show they know certain material, when they can teach it or explain it to someone else.  I would want every student to leave my class with a strong opinion of race and justice in the United States today.

Prior to signing up for this course, I was under the impression that we would just be taking a traditional English course. Obviously this was not the case and we are geared toward the issue of race and justice. This has not only made English different but far more enjoyable. It allows us to look back at our own lives and see how certain experiences may have been differently affected due to our race.

The most interesting assignment I believe our class was faced with was deciphering the rap lyrics of Nas. Being a prominent rap artist Nas is heard in our everyday lives. By bringing this everyday life element to our learning environment it made the learning experience very enjoyable. More lessons of this sort I believe would enrich the course and get a more current feeling on certain races and problems they are faced with everyday.

So far in this course my favorite reading has been Leonard Peltier’s “Prison Writings” this book brought issues to my attention that I was completely ignorant to. This book was not only well written but unbelievably current due to the fact that it is an on going issue. That coupled with other readings like the Columbus Day have truly opened my eyes to certain issues.

In this course we have not just looked at major issues, but rather had to look inward to see how race and justice has affected our own lives. This is the element that I enjoy most about this course.

                I think the course has served as a good blue print for understanding the judicial system. Authors such as Thoreau, Paul Butler, and Peltier help me better understand the different treatments justice distributes according to race. In addition to these books I would have also like to see a follow up with videos. I do like the way we analyzed literature as oppose to just studying the history. Every piece was connected and offered a unique interpretation of how different ethnicities are affected by racism in justice. To be honest I am not sure how I would redesign the course, I think the outlining of the course proved to be extremely effective.

                Readings like a Hip Hop theory proved to be easier to understand than that of Thoreau’s. Literature is a product of its time, and I understood connection that Paul Butler made much better than the ones made by Thoreau. Benito Cecenero was extremely hard to understand, the themes in that story did not stand out as well, and it served me ineffectively. Besides one or two readings that were very difficult to analyze, I find the course to be very pleasant and informative.

Sandra Levkovich

When picking this course for the spring 2010 semester of my freshman year, I had no idea that it would be about race and justice. I was pleasantly surprised when I had discovered that was what we would learn about for the next several weeks. It is one of my favorite topics to discuss and right about because I am very oppionated about these matters.

Professor Moriah, in my opinon had picked out the best articles to discuss in class. As far as the readings go, they are very much interesting and turns my mind about the main topic this course entails. On the other hand, I would discuss Martin Luther King Jr. and activists as such that fights for justice in our country. I would show more videos because when Professor Moriah shows videos, I feel like it captivates the students more then reading because we learn better when we see examples of topic we discuss.

Overall, I do not think I would change much if I was given the oppurtunity to redesign the course. The things we have learned such as Churchill, Leonard Peltier, Paul Butler’s ” A Hip-Hop Theory” has intrigued me. The saying “you learn something new everyday” greatly relates to everyday in this course.