For the Inquiry into Citizenship requirement, I took Society and its Monsters with Professor Leeyanne Moore. The class had a really cool concept about analyzing the monsters within society to truly determine what a monster was. Students were given a lot of freedom to express there opinions on what true monsters in society were. While the content was amazing the lack of organization in the class left a lot of students struggling to understand what was due and when, our canvas page was never used and she changed the syllabus weekly. Getting rid of assignments and adding assignments the week they were due. It became really inconvenient when half the class would show up with a completed assignment the was no longer required.
The content of the class was taught in a classroom discussion like manner where students had the freedom to express their opinions to the fullest and we had some really interesting conversations. The class required students to give to presentations on the topic of their choice as long as it related to monsters in society. Both my presentations were on the D.C Sniper, Lee Boyd Malvo. My first presentation heavily focused on whether he deserves parole as his 5th parole hearing had been scheduled a few days after my presentation. I believed that he deserves parole, so I analyzed his past, his mental conditions, life sentences and build an argument using both ethical and legal evidence to support my opinion.
My second presentation focused on teenagers on trial with Malvo as my main example and made an argument stating that it was unethical to give multiple life sentences to a minor without the possibility of parole, using data involving brain development, mental disorders and impulse control as main evidence to validate my point. Students were also broken into panels based on the content of their second presentation and we presented on the Fall research day. The panel I was on was called Monsters or Mercy, where each student argued whether certain people deserved the punishment they received. I was able to cultivate my critical thinking skills and public speaking skills. I loved the content of the class and enjoyed myself thoroughly and recommend other students take it.