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News & Public Affairs
Course Objectives:
This course examines the important political, social and scientific events that
have shaped America's more
recent history beginning the early 20th century and continuing with September 11th, the war in Iraq and beyond.
Special attention is given to the role of the news media as a chronicler of those events as well as an important
force that shapes the American political process. We operate with a basic premise that in order to understand
the present; you must first understand the past. As philosopher George Santayana writes, “Those who do not learn
from history are doomed to repeat it.” This course will include a number of in-depth profiles that
examine the lives of famous American and international figures that have contributed to the political, cultural
and social landscape of the 20th and
21st centuries.
REQUIRED READINGS AND MATERIALS
Com. 4440 Course Pack - Power Point Presentations
A course pack containing a set of power point presentations will be available for purchase
at the university book store representing the major presentations given in this class.
Daily News Readings
Daily news readings will include: the New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/
National Public Radio (NPR) http://www.npr.org/
and USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/
Electronic Readings
There will be a set of electronic readings that will also be assigned in this class.
The readings will be available in two formats: - E. Article listings available on-line
through the WMU library as well as direct website readings.
Notebook
A three ring binder -- with 10 section tabs
Evaluation
There will be three exams and a project assignment that will be given in class. The combination
of exams and project are each worth 25% of your grade. Two professionalism credits (worth a maximum
of 5 points each) will be added or subtracted from your final grade based on two class quizzes covering
reading assignments.
Grading Scale
| 93-100 A 87- 92 82- 86 B 76-81 C/B |
70-75 C 65-69 D/C 60-64 D -59 E |
Attendance
Very simply. Attendance makes a difference... You are permitted two excused absences - no questions asked.
Please use your excused absences carefully. Save them for personal or professional obligations. Any additional
absences
may result in a lowering of your final grade. Missed classes become especially important later in the
semester for purposes of establishing extra credit.
Syllabus