This course will probably be offered during the summer 2002 intersession (depending on interest), leaving for Chicago on the morning of Monday, May 20, and returning on Saturday, May 25. We will travel from Minneapolis, maybe by air, maybe by van (in which case people could also leave from Duluth). Cost will be $350-400 for travel and hotel or hostel, and you also need to pay tuition for the course. The course will be worth 2 semester credits (graded Pass/Fail) with registration through Continuing Education as part of summer session.

Sociology 4598: Urban Justice Tour

2 credits, May 20-25, 2002

Instructors: Bruce Mork Office Phone: 726-6305

Office: 220B. Cina E-mail: bmork@d.umn.edu

Text: Kotlowitz, There Are No Children Here.

Course Description: This is a guided tour of large metropolitan courts, correctional facilities, neighborhood centers, and social services agencies in Chicago.

Course Requirements: Participate in two one-hour orientation sessions, not yet scheduled. . Participate in all course-related activities during week in Chicago. In small groups, visit at least two neighborhoods from a list that will be provided; maintain journal of Chicago observations, feelings, thoughts; submit 5-10 page paper by June 7, 2001.

Logistics: .Travel arrangements are yet to be determined. . We'll be staying in the Essex Inn Hotel or the J. Ira & Nicki Harris Family Hostel. Both are in the heart of the downtown, not far from museums, theatres, stores, and restaurants. .

Police Ride-alongs. Police ride-alongs are a possibility, although it's been getting more difficult to get police cooperation (is community policing going by the wayside?) If we are able to get some ridealongs, priority will go to those interested in policing careers, and beyond that, we will choose participants by lot.

Registration: Registration is for Sociology 4598: Urban Justice Tour (2 credits) and you need to register as part of summer registration through Continuing Education. .

Safety: For safety's sake in Chicago, do not go anywhere alone. I also recommend carrying a small billfold rather than a purse, and minimizing the amount of valuable and hard-to-replace items you carry in your billfold. We did have an attempted mugging of one of our students in 1994, but I believe the risks to people in groups are minimal. .

Costs: Besides tuition, which will be billed with your other tuition, cost for travel plus hotel(up to 4 to a room) will be up to $400; that fee also covers the instructor's expenses for travel, hotel, and food. In addition, you will need to pay for your own food, transportation , and entertainment while you are in Chicago. A $150 deposit is due by Friday, December 7, and will be refundable only if we cancel the course; otherwise, if you are unable to take the trip, your deposit will help defray expenses for the other students. The remaining cost of the trip is due in April.

Dress. Bring a warm jacket and good walking shoes. Chicago is not called the windy city for nothing, and we will sometimes be walking some distance outside between bus or el stops and our destination. Plan to dress conservatively during our field trips, especially to jail and the courts--no baseball caps, no raggedy clothes, etc. You need to have photo i.d. the day we visit the jail and courts; also, that day, do not bring cameras, radios, or pocket knives.

Orientation and discussion sessions. . Round-robin discussion sessions will be held at the hotel or hostel daily from 5-6 p.m.; you need to attend at least three of these sessions.

Paper guidelines. All of your observations, thoughts, and feelings in Chicago (not just those on the official field trips) are appropriate for inclusion in your journal and paper. Show me that you've read the text; relate the text to your experiences in Chicago where appropriate.

Probable visit sites: Association House (Settlement House in a mostly Puerto Rican area of Northwest Chicago, where we've often had the opportunity to talk with teachers and sometimes students in their Cuarto Ano program for high school dropouts), Cook County Jail, Cook County Criminal Courts; Hull House museum and the surrounding neighborhood; Hyde Park and the University of Chicago. .

Neighborhood Visits. Linked to this heading are descriptions of some of the Chicago neighborhoods that will meet the requirement of two neighborhood visits.

Apart from the field trips and neighborhood visits, you are on your own, but do plan your other activities in groups. Among the activities people have enjoyed on past trips are the following: the Chicago Art Instititute, Fields Natural History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Aquarium and Oceanarium, various theatres, the Hard Rock Cafe, jazz clubs, the Sears tower, the shopping on upper Michigan street. Every year people try to get tickets for Oprah, but so far with no success. Some of us have also attended sports events and theatre performances.