HIS 260: HISTORICAL REACTIONS TO
CRIMINAL AND DEVIANT BEHAVIOUR
North Island College
Winter 2012Meeting Times:
Wed.: 6:00 pm - 8:50 pmMeeting Place: DIS 205 (CVC); CWG 211 (CR); CEN 210 (PA)
Instructor: Dan Hinman-Smith
Office: Village G6
Office Hours:
Tues.: 2:30-4:30 pmOffice Phone: 334-5000, Extension 4024
Home Phone: 250-336-0238 (Do not hesitate to call with course-related questions)
Web-Site:
http://www.misterdann.com/contentscrime.htmE-Mail: dan.hinmansmith@nic.bc.ca
Course Description
Once upon a time, a shipwrecked sailor washed up upon distant shores. He wondered about where he was. Then he saw a scaffold and gallows. "Thank God," he exhaled, "I am in a civilized country." What is the relationship between civilization, crime and punishment? Why have dead bodies been the symbol of law at some times and places but not at others? Why did criminal trials begin? How can we account for the replacement of torture and the "bloody scaffold" with the rise of the penitentiary? This course will ask such questions as it provides an historical perspective on changing definitions of deviancy, societal reactions to violent or criminal activity, and public policies to counteract prohibited behaviour. The time span and geographical range will be vast; we will range from the Mesopotamia of 3,000 BCE to 21st-century North America. To provide focus, the curriculum will be organized around four case studies: Crime and Punishment in the Ancient Near East and Europe; Early Modern and Industrial Britain; American Justice from Colonial Times to Court TV; and Reactions to Crime and Deviance in 19th-and-20th-Century Canada and British Columbia.
Tentative Class Schedule
WEEK1
Wednesday, January 4
a) Introduction
b) Video: "Headless Romans" (Secrets Of The Dead) [2007, 60 mins.]
WEEK 2
Wednesday, January 11
a) Discussion: Hammurabi's Code Of Laws
b)
Lecture: Draconian Measures And The Wisdom Of Solon -- Crime And Punishment In Ancient Greecec) Video: "Empire Of The Mind" (Greeks: Crucible Of Civilization)
( For anyone who wants to watch the episode from the Channel 4 Ancient Egyptians series that I originally planned to show, that can be seen on YouTube at "
The Tomb Robbers' Tale" [2003, 60 mins])Reading Assignment:
WEEK 3
Wednesday, January 18
a) Finish Lecture: Draconian Measures And The Wisdom Of Solon -- Crime And Punishment In Ancient Greece
b) Discussion: Antigone
c) Possible Video Clip from "Criminal History: Ancient Rome" [2010]
Reading Assignment:
Sophocles
WEEK 4
Wednesday, January 25
a) Lecture: The Twelve Tables, Crucifixion And Gladiatorial Punishments -- Law And Crime In Rome During The Republic And Empire
a) Discussion: "The Saint And The Hanged Man" and Fourth Lateran Council
c) Possible Video: "Root Out Heretics" (The Secret Files Of The Inquisition) [50 minutes]
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
Fourth Lateran Council (1215)
Viewing Assignment:
Video: "
WEEK 5
Wednesday, February 1
a) History Workshop: Angelique And The Burning Of Montreal
b)
Lecture: A Persecuting Society? -- Medieval EuropeReading Assignment:
Research extensively in
WEEK 6
Wednesday, February 8
a) Discussion: The Old Bailey
b) Discussion: Cesare Beccaria And Enlightenment Ideas Of Justice
c) Video: "Tony Robinson's Crime And Punishment" [2007, 60 mins.]
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
Cesare Beccaria, An Essay On Crimes And Punishments (1764).
Optional Reading Assignment:
Sean McGlynn, "Violence And The Law In Medieval England," History Today, 58 (April 2008): 53-59.
Browse in National Archives -- Crime And Punishment (Before 1450 To The 20th Century).
WEEK 7
Wednesday, February 15
a) ***Student Mini-Presentations: The Trials Of History
Wednesday, February 22
No Class: Reading Break
WEEK 8
Wednesday, February 29
a) Video: "Voyage Of The Courtesans" (Secrets Of The Dead) [2005, 60 minutes]
b) Lecture: A Just Measure Of Pain -- The Rise Of The Penitentiary In England
Optional Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in Jack The Ripper And Lizzie Borden -- An Iconic Comparison Discussion Topic.
***First Half Portfolio Due***
WEEK 9
Wednesday, March 7
a) Discussion: Discipline And Punish
b) Lecture: The Discovery Of The Asylum -- Social Order And Disorder In The New Republic
Reading Assignment:
Michel Foucault, Discipline And Punish: The Birth Of The Prison (New York: Vintage, 1977).
WEEK 10
Wednesday, March 14
a) Video: "Jesse James" (American Experience) [2006, 60 mins.]
b) Discussion: The Outlaw As Folk Hero
c) Lecture: The Outlaw Hero
Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
WEEK 11
Wednesday, March 21
a) Student Group Presentations: Organized Crime In Comparative Perspective
b) Video: "Demon Rum" (American Experience) [60 mins]
Reading Assignment:
Research in
Eric Schlosser, "The Prison-Industrial Complex," Atlantic (December 1998).
WEEK 12
Wednesday, March 28
a) History Workshop: Klatsassin And the Chilcotin War
b) Lecture: Crime And Punishment In Modern American History
Reading Assignment:
Research extensively in
Tina Loo, "Dan Cranmer's Potlatch: Law As Coercion, Symbol And Rhetoric In British Columbia, 1884-1951," Canadian Historical Review 73 (1992): 125-165.
WEEK 13:
Wednesday, April 4
a) Video: "G-Men: The Rise Of J. Edgar Hoover" (American Experience) [60 mins]
b) Lecture: The Mounties In History And Myth
Optional Reading Assignment:
Browse extensively in
**Second Half Portfolio Due
WEEK 14
Wednesday, April 11
a) Final Exam Review
b) Lecture: Crime And Punishment In Canadian History -- An Overview
c) Discussion: Is Eating People Wrong?
Reading Assignment:
Allan C. Hutchinson, Is Eating People Wrong?: Great Legal Cases And How They Shaped The World (Cambridge: Cambridge, 2011).
WEEK 15
Final Exam Date TBA
Texts
Foucault, Michel. Discipline And Punish: The Birth Of The Prison. New York: Vintage, 1977.
Hutchinson, Allan C. Is Eating People Wrong?: Great Legal Cases And How They Shaped The World. Cambridge: Cambridge, 2011.
Evaluation
Letter of Introduction 1%
First-Half Portfolio 36%
Second-Half Portfolio 28%
Final Exam 20%
Class Participation 15%
a) Letter of Introduction (1%)
Who are you? Where are you from? What are your interests? Why are you taking this course? Do you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions as we start the course? Write two or three informal paragraphs for the second class of the semester to introduce yourself to me.
b) First-Half Portfolio (36%)
The First-Half Portfolio will consist of the Trials Of History mini-essay and the Angelique And The Burning Of Montreal research project.
c) Second-Half Portfolio (28%)
The Second-Half Portfolio will consist of the Klatsassin And The Chilcotin War research project and two Discussion Topic commentaries of approximately 2 pages apiece.
c) Final Exam (20%)
The Final Exam will ask you to write paragraph identifications of significant terms and to complete one or two short essays.
d) Class Participation (15%)
The class participation grade will be based upon attendance; pre-class preparation; and the willingness to contribute thoughtfully to full-class and small-group discussion. Although attendance is not required, I will take roll, and those who are not in class regularly will receive a poor grade for this component of the course. I would like to encourage a classroom environment in which all are eager to share their ideas and in which lectures are accompanied by thoughtful dialogue.
Assigning class participation grades can be quite arbitrary. When I assign participation grades at the end of the semester, I place each student in one of three following categories:
1) Regular class attendance and excellent class participation.
2) Regular class attendance and fully satisfactory class participation.
3) Irregular class attendance and preparation.
Those in Category 1 receive top participation grades. Those in Category 3 receive poor participation grades. Those in Category 2 are most likely to receive no specific participation grade but rather have the 85% total for their written work pro-rated to a 100% scale (in some cases the participation component may help a Category 2 student's final grade but in no instance will it lower the final grade). Thus, shy students are not penalized for class participation so long that they attend faithfully and I need only to distinguish between strong, satisfactory and weak participation rather than attempt to make fine distinctions.
A Note On Plagiarism
Everything that you hand in should be your original work unless otherwise indicated. Violations of this policy may result in failing an assignment or the course in its entirety. Please talk to me if you have any uncertainty about what is permitted here.
Welcome To The Course
