DNY1000C syllabus

SYLLABUS: DNY1000C - Discover New York

General Syllabus and Guidelines for Course Development

May 2009 

Course Description
Discover New York is an introduction to New York City through the lens of a particular subject discipline. The course focuses on the themes of immigration, race/ethnicity, religion, wealth and poverty, and the environment. Students are required to take field trips as a part of their study.

Credits: 3 semester hours

Prerequisites: none 

Course Goals and Learning Outcomes 

1. Demonstrate knowledge of a specific disciplinary approach to the New York themes articulated in the course. Disciplines are drawn from all units of the University.
         a. Students will successfully complete exams, essays and projects that demonstrate discipline specific knowledge about New York.
         b. Students will complete individual and /or group oral projects on discipline specific knowledge about New York. 
         c. Students will participate in DNY research day as a way of demonstrating their facility with a disciplinary approach to New York City.

2. Demonstrate a basic knowledge of information literacy skills.
         a. Students will write plagiarism free essays and papers. 
         b. Students will understand how to differentiate reputable scholarly sources from popular sources.
         c. Students will demonstrate the ability to search databases to find appropriate scholarly material and apply the gathered information effectively.
         d. Students will demonstrate the ability to retrieve appropriate print sources from the library and use them effectively.
 

3. Demonstrate a basic facility with critical thinking skills.
         a. Students will write essays which demonstrate the ability to analyze, critique, and synthesize material.
         b. Students will use other course appropriate assignments to demonstrate ability to develop a hypothesis and follow an argument to its conclusion.

4. Experience a significant cultural and educational aspect of New York City. 
         a. Students will write reflection papers, give oral presentations, and complete other appropriate assignments that demonstrate knowledge and experience about course appropriate cultural events.
         b. Students will complete research projects about cultural elements of New York City life.

5. Learn about and experience the mission of the University.
         a. Student will demonstrate, through written and oral presentations, their understanding of the life of St. Vincent and his impact on the mission of St. John’s University.
         b. Students will participate in a service activity that connects their class work with the mission of the University.

6. Demonstrate awareness and behaviors appropriate to the transition to higher education.
         a. Students will identify support services and utilize them when appropriate.
         b. Students will demonstrate personal responsibility for learning by attending classes, meeting deadlines, and maintaining an open line of communication with the professor. 
         c. Students will learn about and participate in workshops and programs as directed by the professor to become more deeply engaged in the life of the University.

Units of Instruction

Unit I: Core New York (approximately 15% of course)
1. New York history incorporating three out of the following five themes:
         a. immigration
         b. race and ethnicity
         c. religion
         d. wealth and poverty
         e. the environment/physical New York
2. Cultural NY incorporating
         a. the arts
         b. other cultural sites and activities found in all the boroughs of New York City

Unit II: A Discipline Specific Perspective on New York (approximately 60% of course)
1. The subject discipline as it relates specifically to New York City. Faculty members will clearly demonstrate how their disciplinary approach relates to New York City.

Unit III: Transition to Higher Education & Introduction to the Mission of the University (15% of course)
1. The importance of setting and measuring educational and career goals as described in the Faculty Expectations booklet distributed at orientation and posted on St. John’s Central.
2. Specific factors that contribute to success in college.
         a. Time management
         b. Wellness issues
         c. Social adjustment
3. Awareness of academic and personal support services.
         a. Counseling Center
         b. Freshman Center
         c. Residence Life
         d. Campus ministry
         e. Dean’s Offices
4. Knowledge about individual learning style, testing style, and appropriate learning strategies.
5. The University’s mission
         a. Understanding the elements of the St. John’s mission
         b. Identifying ways to live the mission
         c. Through the inclusion of Academic Service-Learning all students will engage in a minimum of a 6-hour service experience and reflection process/method to foster an understanding of the University mission.

Unit IV: Information Literacy (integrated throughout the semester)
1. Integrate information literacy competencies throughout their semester’s work.
         a. Use of the University Library including access to services such as RefWorks
         b. Use of University online search instruments
         c. Use of turnitin.com
         d. Anti-plagiarism strategies
2. Understand basic components of information literacy as they relate to research
         a. Identifying a variety of types and formats of potential information sources
         b. Formulating and refining a topic of interest into a research question/thesis statement
         c. Developing and implementing a research strategy
         d. Evaluating selected information resources and applying that information in an appropriate fashion
         e. Understanding ethical and legal issues surrounding information and information technology

Unit V: Critical Thinking (integrated throughout the semester)
Students must apply the following elements of critical thinking to the themes of the course. They must:
         a. Make critical judgments in the context of prior scholarship.
         b. Analyze information obtained from a variety of sources (e.g. texts, field trips, media)
         c. Draw conclusions using inductive and deductive inferences

General DNY Bibliography

Bunyan, Patrick. All Around the Town – Amazing Manhattan Facts and Curiosities. New York: Fordham University Press. 1999.

Binder, Frederick M. and David M. Reimers. All the Nations under Heaven: An Ethnicand Racial History of New York City.New York: Columbia University Press,1995.

Burns, Ric and James Sanders with Lisa Ades. New York: An Illustrated History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

But, Juanita and Mark Noonan. The Place Where We Dwell: Reading and Writing about New York City. New York: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2005.

Carnes, Tony and Anna Karpathakis, eds., New York Glory -Religions in the City. New York/London: New York University Press, 2001.

Caro, Robert A. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Vintage Books, 1975.

Cudahy, Brian. Around Manhattan Island and Other Maritime Tales of New York. New York: Fordham University Press. 1997.

Dolkart, Andrew S. and Postal, Matthew A. Guide to New York City Landmarks. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons. 2004.

Foner, Nancy. From Ellis Island to JFK. New Haven: Yale University Press. 2000.

Homberger, Eric. The Historical Atlas of New York City. New York: Swanston Publishing Limited. 1994.

_____. The Timeline History of New York City. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.

Jackson, Kenneth T. The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1995.

Jackson, Kenneth T. and David S. Dunbar, eds. Empire City: New York Through the Centuries, New York: Columbia University Press, 2002.

Kieran, John. A Natural History of New York City. New York: Fordham University Press. 1987.

Klein, Milton M. The Empire State – A History of New York. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 2001.

Kroessler, Jeffrey A. New York, Year By Year. New York: New York University Press, 2002.

Lankevich, George. New York City: A Short History. New York: New York University Press, 2002.

Lehrer, Warren and Judith Sloan. Crossing the Boulevard: Strangers, Neighbors, Aliens in a New America. WW Norton and Company, 2003.

Playne, David and Gillian. Over and Back: The History of Ferryboats in New York Harbor. New York: Fordham University Press. 1990.

Riis, Jacob. How the Other Half Lives. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1971.

Sante, Luc. Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1991.

Schecter, Barnet. The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.

Sheriff, Carol. The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817 ­1862. Hill and Wang, 1996.

Simon, Kate. Fifth Avenue: A Very Social History. New York: Harcourt, 1978.

Smith, Thomas E.V. The City of New York: 1789. The Chatham Press, 1972.

Sullivan, Larry E. The New York Historical Society, A Bicentennial History. New York: The New York Historical Society, 2004.

This course meets the New York State Education Department (NYSED) requirements:
45 hours of class instruction
45 supplementary hours, including out of class events and course reading
45 hours of research
Total: 135 hours

Textbooks:

All discipline based readings will be chosen by the individual professor, based on his or her discipline. All students will be responsible for approximately 500 pages of reading during the course of the semester. (this is a suggestion, not a requirement). Again, for the NYC history component, I strongly urge you to consider Robert Tomes’ Brief History of New York (Pearson, 2006), which has been ordered in the STJ Bookstore.