Welcome to the class blog! The John Jay - Vera Fellows Program is a collaborative effort between John Jay College and the spin-off agencies of the Vera Institute of Justice, combining an internship and participation in a seminar taught by faculty from John Jay's Interdisciplinary Studies Program. (To see a video about the John Jay - Vera Fellows Program, click here.) Part of the seminar experience is weekly participation in the class blog, which keeps the conversation going from week to week and will be a place for you to share your thoughts and concerns about the materials discussed in seminar as well as the internship experience. The opinions expressed on this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of the Vera Institute of Justice or its spin-off organizations. While the blog is open to the public and anyone, theoretically, can comment, only class members and invited guests will be able to post. You can also look for us on our student and alumni page on Facebook.
Each student has been assigned one week to write the "post." Please post within 24 hours after class. Every week, each student must comment on the post (feel free to comment more than once). Please comment by Monday afternoon to allow time for further questions and responses and so that we can read all the entries before class.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Assignment for Spencer's class (Th Apr 10!)

Sorry to use blog space for e-mail matters, but some of your email is bouncing (and please see Leena's post and great comments below).  Here is what Spencer's e-mail to you says:

I would like to change my readings to the two readings and video below:




Below are the questions I want to pose from these readings:
1) To Be Answered Leading up to class: Think of the most incriminating picture, video or post you or a friend put on social media.  How would you explain yourself (or your friend) in a court of law?

2) Should Rap Lyrics be used in court? If yes, should other forms of art and entertainment be admitted to judge a defendant's character? If no, why not?

3) The "Rap Lyrics on Trial" article mentions that other white artists from other genres were never prosecuted for their lyrics. Is this prosecution of hip-hop in particular unfairly targeting urban males or are these rappers incriminating themselves?


4) After listening to "Dance with the Devil", should Immortal Technique go to jail? Explain.

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