CALVIN COLLEGE
IDIS-290: Justice, Equality, and the Law
Facilitator: Dr. Joel H. Westra
Email: jwestra@calvin.edu
Telephone: 616/526–6727
Spring Semester, 2016
[B] Tuesday, 12:05 p.m. to 1:20 p.m.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to various perspectives on justice, equality, and US law through a series of
activities, discussions, and conversations. Students will interact with persons representing a range of racial and
ethnic identities and experiences through their participation in prescribed course activities.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course is designed to satisfy the college’s requirement for Cross-Cultural Engagement (CCE).
Throughout the semester, students will participate in a minimum of 20 hours of cross-cultural engagement,
including: 1) peer-to-peer conversations, 2) participation in a series of lunch conversations featuring invited
speakers from the legal community, and 3) participation in a college-sponsored workshop on micro-aggressions.
These exercises are intended to help students to gain skills in cross-cultural communication, to understand how
the world might look from the standpoint of another community of interpretation and experience, and to learn
how to discern and, where appropriate, adapt to the cultural expectations of the other.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Students will be expected (1) to complete all assigned readings and exercises before each session, (2) to
contribute to discussion during each session (either as discussants or participants), (3) to participate in a collegesponsored workshop on micro-aggressions, and (4) to prepare two brief reflection papers, with each paper
reflecting upon issues of race, justice, and equality in a specific area of law and policy examined in the course.
Unexcused absences will not be tolerated; excused absences will require submission of an additional
reflection paper. Students will serve as class discussants for each of the two areas of law and policy they have
chosen to reflect upon in their papers, with no more than six students allowed to submit papers in each area.
This will be a pass/fail course. Students will receive a course grade of CR (denoting that the course was
Completed as Required) or NC (denoting that the course requirements were Not Completed).
COURSE SCHEDULE:
February 2 – Introductory Discussion [classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Exercises:
American Anthropological Association. 2015. “Game of Life Experience” and “Who Is White?” A
New Look at RACE through Lived Experience. Available online from
www.understandingrace.org/lived/index.html.
Project Implicit Research Group. 2011. “Weapons – Harmless Objects,” “Light Skin – Dark Skin,”
and “Black – White.” Implicit Association Tests. Available online from
implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/education.html.
Self-Assessment Questionnaire (available online from Moodle)
PART I
February 9 – Justice, Equality, and the Death Penalty
[classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Eisenberg, Theodore, Stephen P. Garvey, and Martin T. Wells. 2001. “Forecasting Life and Death:
Juror Race, Religion, and Attitude toward the Death Penalty.” The Journal of Legal Studies 30 (2):
277–311. Available online from JSTOR.
Stevenson, Bryan. 2014. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau. Read
chapters 4 and 10.
Discussants: TBD (students working on Response Paper #1)
February 16 – The Role of Lawyers in Death Penalty Litigation
[lunch session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Stevenson, Bryan. 2014. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau. Read
chapters 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11.
Speaker: Prof. Tracey Brame (WMU Cooley Law School)
[Response Paper #1 (optional) due at the beginning of class on February 23]
PART II
February 23 – Justice, Equality, and Everyday Interaction [classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Sue, Derald Weng et al. 2007. “Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life.” American Psychologist 62(4).
Read pages 271–280. Available online from world-trust.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/7-RacialMicroagressions-in-Everyday-Life.pdf.
Davis, Peggy C. 1989. “Law as Microaggression.” Yale Law Journal 98(8). Read pages 1559–1562 and
1565–1571. Available online from JSTOR.
Etzioni, Amitai. 2014. “Don’t Sweat the Microaggressions: The Old Pitfalls of New Sensitivities in
Political Speech.” The Atlantic, 8 April. Available online from
www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/dont-sweat-the-microaggressions/360278/.
Discussants: TBD (students working on Response Paper #2)
(cont’d) – Unmasking Micro-Aggressions
[optional workshop 3:30–5:00 p.m., Commons Annex Alumni Board Room]
Register online at www.eventbrite.com/e/unmasking-micro-aggressions-and-their-impact-tickets-18746652743.
[Response Paper #2 (optional) due at the beginning of class on March 1]
PART III
March 1 – Justice, Equality, and Place [classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO). 2008. “Place Matters.”
Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?” (California Newsreel) Episode 5. Transcript
available online from www.unnaturalcauses.org/assets/uploads/file/UC_Transcript_5.pdf.
Butts, Rachel and Stephen Gasteyer. 2011. “More Cost per Drop: Water Rates, Structural Inequality,
and Race in the United States – The Case of Michigan.” Environmental Practice 13(4): 386–395.
Available online from journals.cambridge.org.
Bosman, Julie, Monica Davey, and Mitch Smith. 2016. “As Water Problems Grew, Officials Belittled
Complaints from Flint.” New York Times, 20 January. Available online from Moodle.
Pérez-Peña, Richard. 2016. “Michigan Governor Says Race Had No Role in Flint Water Response.”
New York Times, 22 January. Available online from Moodle.
Bosman, Julie. 2016. “Many Flint Residents Are Desperate To Leave, but See no Escape.” New York
Times, 4 February. Available online from Moodle.
Discussants: TBD (students working on Response Paper #3A or #3B)
March 8 – The Role of Lawyers in Environmental Litigation
[lunch session, Commons Annex Lecture Hall]
Reading: Henning, Peter J. 2016. “Assessment of Flint Water Crisis May Hinge on Stupidity vs. Criminality.”
New York Times, 1 February. Available online from Moodle.
Speaker: Prof. John Nagle (University of Notre Dame Law School)
[Response Paper #3A (optional) due at the beginning of class on March 22]
March 22 – The Role of Lawyers in Urban Bankruptcy Cases
[lunch session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Farley, Reynolds. 2015. “The Bankruptcy of Detroit: What Role did Race Play?” City & Community
14(2): 118–137. Available online from onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
Speaker: Charles Ash, Esq. (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)
March 29 – The Role of Lawyers in Urban Development
[lunch session, Commons Annex Lecture Hall]
Reading: Hyra, Derek S. 2006. “Racial Uplift? Intra-Racial Class Conflict and the Economic Revitalization of
Harlem and Bronzeville.” City & Community 5(1): 71–92. Available online from
onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
Bullard, Robert D. 2007. “Smart Growth Meets Environmental Justice.” Growing Smarter: Achieving
Livable Communities, Environmental Justice, and Regional Equity, Robert D. Bullard (ed.), 23–49.
Available online from Moodle.
Speaker: John Byl, Esq. (Warner Norcross & Judd LLP)
[Response Paper #3B (optional) due at the beginning of class on April 5]
PART IV
April 5 – Justice, Equality, and Criminal Law
[classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Alexander, Michelle. 2012. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in an Age of Colorblindness. New York:
The New Press. Read chapters 2, 3, 5.
Davis, Angela J. 2007. “Racial Fairness in the Criminal Justice System: The Role of the Prosecutor.”
Columbia Human Rights Law Review 39: 202–232. Available online from
www3.law.columbia.edu/hrlr/hrlr_journal/39.1/i.%20Davis-F.pdf.
Discussants: TBD (students working on Response Paper #4)
April 12 – The Role of Lawyers in Providing Justice for the Poor
[lunch session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Stevenson, Bryan. 2014. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. New York: Spiegel & Grau. Read
chapters 6, 8, 12.
Speaker: James Schaafsma, Esq. (Michigan Law Poverty Program)
[Response Paper #4 (optional) due on April 19 (no class)]
PART V
April 28 – Justice, Equality, and the Workplace
[Thursday classroom session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Legal Information Institute. nd. “Employment Discrimination.” Cornell University Law School.
Available online from Moodle.
Americans for a Fair Chance. 2003. “Fact Sheet.” Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education.
Available online from Moodle.
Office of Equal Opportunity Programs. 2016. “Top Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions (re
AAPs).” University of Virginia. Available online from Moodle.
Discussants: TBD (students working on Response Paper #5)
May 3 – The Role of Lawyers in Diversity and Inclusion
[lunch session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: Asija, Vivek, Jennifer Bentz, and Kiya Batmanglidj. 1997. Diversity: Key Driver of Competitive
Advantage? Corporate Leadership Council. Read chapters 1, 2, 4, 6. Available online from
Moodle.
Thomas, David A. and Stephanie J. Creary. 2011. “Shifting the Diversity Climate: The Sodexo
Solution. Harvard Business School Case 412-020. Available online from Moodle.
Speaker: Julie Westra, Esq. (Spectrum Health System)
May 10 – The Role of Lawyers in Employment Discrimination
[lunch session, DeVos Center 273A]
Reading: White, Gillian B. 2015. “Black Workers Really Do Need To Be Twice as Good.” The Atlantic, 7
October. Available online from www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/why-black-workersreally-do-need-to-be-twice-as-good/409276/.
Speaker: Prof. Brant T. Lee (University of Akron School of Law)
[Response Paper #5 (optional) due on May 12 (no class)]