Greetings and welcome to WS150 RACISM and SEXISM in the U.S. on line. My name is Dr. A. Gerri Budd, and you can contact me either by phone at (973) 464-6142, or by e-mail at budda@wpunj.edu. Please feel free to contact me by either method, but it is generally better to email than to phone for the quickest response. Course Description This course examines systems of oppression and liberation struggles. Racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism are the major issues addressed. Laws, historical documents, academic articles, narratives, statistics, films, and personal experiences are used to investigate and question oppression. Course Materials: There is one text for this course: Rothenberg, Paula S. Race, Class and Gender in the United States. 8th Edition. New York: Worth Publishers Class Participation In this section of this course, all or our interaction will occur online. BlackBoard is quite easy to learn and is accessible 24/7 anywhere you have an Internet connection. An online course is neither more difficult nor easier than the same course taught in a conventional classroom. BlackBoard keeps track (as do I) of your participation; you cannot just decide to skip a few M,T,W,Th days, then log on, and submit assignments. There is a date stamp on your discussion participation, and you should keep current with our topics. It is strongly recommended that you not wait until the end of the class to go back in and post to the discussions - doing so will result in a lower participation grade. I will post discussion questions quite often, and you are responsible for joining the discussion on the Discussion Board, as well as for sending me your weekly journal entries via the Digital Drop Box feature on Blackboard. You are also required to submit essays as detailed in the syllabus. Some important requirements to remember – you are responsible for: 1. Regular reading of all assignments and announcements; 2. All assignments, including completion of discussion questions, journals and papers, submitted on time; 3. Strong typing and writing skills, as this is a keyboard driven experience; and 4. Proper use of the English language – I take points off if your spelling is unacceptable. Assignments will be graded on form, which includes spelling, punctuation and grammar. How to Access Blackboard: To log on to Blackboard go to http://bb.wpunj.edu and click the Login button in the upper left. Then enter your username and password in the spaces provided and click login again -- you'll find your course Bb sites listed on the right. Some things to be aware of as you work with Blackboard: You probably won't find all your courses listed; the only ones that will appear are those that have been activated by the professor teaching the course. Professors who don't use Blackboard will not activate their courses. Your username is comprised of your lastname and firstinitial, usually appended with a numeral. If you don't know your WPUNJ system username password you can use the Username lookup link at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or go to it directly at: https://webapps.wpunj.edu/misc/username_lookup/username_lookup.cfm If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the first login button. Find Blackboard Help at Bb Home, http://bb.wpunj.edu, before you access Bb, or on the Blackboard Support tab once you've logged in. You can always obtain Bb help by using the Problem Report form at http://bb.wpunj.edu , or by going to it directly at: http://euphrates.wpunj.edu/bb/sc/ . WPUNJ Student Email: To log on to WPUNJ Student Email, go to http://student.wpunj.edu and enter your username, then RETURN. A dialogue box will pop up, into when you re-enter your username and password, then RETURN. Some things to be aware of as you work with Student email: Blackboard courses will use student email; third-party email addresses will not work on Bb. If you are already logged in to the WPUNJ system through WPConnect you won't have to re-enter your username and password -- just click the Email tab. Good luck and have fun in the course!
