Professor Jose B. Cuellar, Ph.D.

Office: Psychology 422	Phone: 415 338-6044	Email: josecuel@sfsu.edu
Open office hours on MWF 8-9 am and 1-2 pm. Call for appointment.

 

Expanded Course Description

This lower division General Education (GE) Raza Studies course is designed to develop your basic critical thinking, reading, writing and speaking skills.   It involves critical comprehension, deconstruction and construction of arguments with reference to written, visual and aural materials reflective of Latino and other Third World cultures in the U.S.  

This course is organized with various components - lectures and other presentations, large/small group and online discussions, and student presentations - all focused on building your logic and reasoning abilities.   

Successful completion satisfies the 3 Segment I: Basic Subjects Critical Thinking units required for General Education.    

Specific Course Objectives

Fulfill SFSU Critical Thinking GE requirement in logic and reasoning by providing the practices, materials and discussions within the comparative Ethnic/Raza Studies Paradigm to:

* Improve critical reasoning and reading, writing and speaking skills.

* Improve ability to comparatively analyze ideas and ideologies, individuals and institutions from various multidisciplinary perspectives.  

*   Improve ability to deconstruct and construct written and oral arguments.

*   Improve ability to reach valid implications and conclusions on the basis of critical analysis.

*   Improve understanding of the different forms of arguments as well as the different proofs and fallacies that make conclusions either true or untrue.

*   Improve understanding of available frameworks and information regarding the experiences and expressions, conditions and concerns, circumstances and commitments, problems and potentials of Latinas and Latinos living in the U.S.

*   Improve ability to make significant interactive contributions to the learning of others

General Requirements

*   You are required to have a SFSU e-mail account and use it to participate in this course's online Blackboard component by engaging in discussions and using e-research resources. Students may sign up for free computer accounts at the University Computer Center Help Desk, ADM 110, in the West Wing of the Administration Building

*   You must satisfactorily complete all required readings, assessments and assignments.

*   Late work penalized accordingly.

*   Cellular phones and pagers are allowed on silent mode only.

Required Participation (40 possible points).

The class presentations and discussions are essential for developing the necessary skills and understandings. Successful completion of this course requires regular class attendance (15 points), participation in small group (5 points) and online discussions (15 points), as well as oral class presentations (5 points).

Required Midterm and Final Assessments (50 possible points total).  

There are two take-home course assessments.   Each includes a mix of responses to questions designed to assess your understanding of the course readings, presentations and discussions.   The midterm assessment (25 possible points) is due March 19 .   The final assessment (25 possible points) is due May 26 no later than 10:30 am.  

Required Writings (20 points possible).

Where I'm Coming From - A Critical Assessment of My Assumptions ( 20 points).   You are required to submit a five-page (typed, double-spaced), original essay describing your life in terms of the major unstated biases and assumptions that you bring to this course.   It should describe your development over time and space, using examples to underscore your positive critical analysis of how your assumptions affect and reflect the critical thinking skills that you bring to this course.   Your essay should have the following five sections of more or less one typed (doubled-spaced) page each: I. My Introduction II. My Approach and Perspective, III. My Findings, IV. My Interpretive Critical Analysis, and V. My Summary and Conclusions. It is due Fri, Apr 23 .

Required Readings

Sylvan Banet and Hugo Bedau.   Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing: A Guide to Argument .   Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999.

Roger Burbach and Ben Clarke, editors, September 11 and the U.S. War Beyond the Curtain of Smoke.   City Lights Books, 2002.

James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me:   Everything Your History Book Got Wrong .     Touchstone Books, 1996.

Recommended Readings

Pilar Aguilera & Richard Fredes, Chile:   The Other September 11.   Ocean Publishers, 2002.

M. Neil Browne & Stuart M. Keeley, Asking The Right Questions: A Guide To Critical Thinking. .   Prentice Hall, 2000.

Joe Conason, Big Lies: The Right Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth .   Thomas Dunne Books, 2003.

David Corn, The Lies of George W. Bush:   Mastering the Politics of Deception.   Crown Publishers, 2003.  

Al Franken, Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them .   E. P. Dutton, 2003.

Nafeez Mosadeeq Ahmed & John Leonard, The War on Freedom:   How and Why America was Attacked, September 11, 2001.   Tree of Life,   2002.

Gerald M. Nosich, Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum .   Prentice Hall, 2000

Richard Paul & Linda Elder, Critical Thinking:   Tool for Taking Charge of Your Learning and Life.   Prentice Hall, 2000.

Richard Paul & Linda Elder, Critical Thinking:   Tool for Taking Charge of Your Professional and Personal Life.   Prentice Hall, 2002.

These books may be purchased from the SFSU Bookstore, Amazon.com online or Modern Times Bookstore (on Valencia - near 20 th ) in the Mission District of San Francisco.

Extra Credit Options.  

You may submit one comparative book review for (10 possible points) extra credit.   The five-page review critically compares one of our required texts with one of the recommended texts (above). Your comparative book review should have the following five section headings: I. My Introduction; II. My Methods; III. My Findings; IV.   My Analysis; and V. My Conclusions.   This is due no later than May 12

FINAL COURSE GRADE .  

The final grade is based on the total number of points accumulated by the end of the semester as follows:

 

100 (or more) = A+	89-92 = B+	77-80 = C+	65-68 = D+	56 (or fewer) = F
97-99 = A	85-88 = B	73-76 = C	61-64 = D
93-96 = A-	81-84 = B-	69-72 = C-	57-60 = D-

 

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