This website features many of the OER conversion projects completed at John Jay College over the past few years. Class conversions using the Blackboard platform are not represented because of the BB firewall. These are not the actual LibGuides, but content from the LibGuides, using the LibGuide platform for access. The entire website is public.

The left navigation panel displays the academic departments with the overview and objective of the department. Also, navigation to the specific departmental classes, with corresponding OER content, are found at the bottom of the academic department pages. You can also directly navigate to the specific converted class, by clicking on the course title under the department tab. When clicking on a specific class (e.g. Science 110), the link takes you to the course description, learning outcomes of the course and a link to the OER content for the specific course. The OER content features creative commons OER Textbooks, vetted open Internet sites, academic journal articles and library owned streaming video, requiring a login to the John Jay Library. Each academic department features a link to "Discussion and Comments". In addition all pages have navigation arrows to previous pages and next pages. On many of the OER content pages, the class calendar by week is featured with links to the reading assignments. In addition to the specific OER content by class, there is a link at the top of the main page to access generic OER by subject and/or topic.

Survey and theoretical foundations in Puerto Rican and Latin@ Studies. Case study on Puerto Rico. Pertinent themes in Puerto Rican and Latin@ history, culture, literature, contemporary society, and politics. Impact of the United States? economic policies on Puerto Rico and the causes of Puerto Rican and LatinX migration to New York City and urban centers. Satisfies Pathways Flexible Core US Experience in Its Diversity requirement.
This is an inter— and trans-disciplinary course which has two main objectives. The first is to critically introduce students to the theoretical foundations in Puerto Rican and Latinx Studies, both broadly defined. While the course places Puerto Rico as the central focus and as a case study of the class, corresponding spaces within the Spanish Caribbean will also be placed into analysis in order to examine the pertinent and current themes in Puerto Rican and Latinx history, culture, literature, and politics. Specific focus will be placed on the impact of the complex relationship of Puerto Rico with the United States since 1898 related but not limited to the economic, cultural, psychological, and political impacts on the Puerto Rican people both on the island and within the Union. In addition, the investigation will explore the multi-faceted causes of Puerto Rican and Latinx migration to New York City and urban spaces in the U.S.

3 hours; 3 credits. Latina feminist tradition of testimonios, autobiographical narratives, short-stories, poems, and oral histories to reveal the complexity of Chicana/Latina identity. The connection between life experience and new knowledge creation. Theorize Latinidades at the intersection of racism, sexism and heterosexism. Re-think feminism, women and gender studies; Latin@, American and cultural studies. Students will create their own digital life stories. This course is the same as Women’s and Gender Studies 3152 and American Studies 3310.

This is an inter and trans-disciplinary course, which has two main objectives. The first is to serve as an introduction into the current realities and challenges of the LatinX community within the criminal justice complex in the United States. The course seeks to critically examine the misconceptions and realities of the LatinX community within the larger discussion of mass incarceration and prison reform in the United States. Close attention will also be paid to the use of criminalization as a form of social control and the proliferation of regulations, ordinances, and legislative acts that give legal form to such methods of discipline and punishment. The course will address dynamics and phenomena of racial profiling; juvenile justice; drug criminalization; and the intersection of immigration law with criminal law. In concluding, the course will shift to understanding and connecting the prison-industrial complex to what the future holds for marginalized communities within the current movement and crisis of global capital.

The course also seeks to improve your skills in critical reading, writing, and thinking. Paper assignments and essay exams will provide opportunities to develop your own interpretations systematically and polish your writing skills.

While there undoubtedly exists an infinite research agenda when it comes to the study mass incarceration and the ongoing challenges of the LatinX community within the criminal justice system of the United States, it is only possible [in 15 weeks] to cover a limited surface/amount of such complicated history and realities of these topics. However, I have provided a list of suggested/recommended readings for additional literature to be consulted.

This is an inter and trans-disciplinary course, which has two main objectives. The first is to serve as an introduction into the current realities and challenges of the LatinX community within the criminal justice complex in the United States. The course seeks to critically examine the misconceptions and realities of the LatinX community within the larger discussion of mass incarceration and prison reform in the United States. Close attention will also be paid to the use of criminalization as a form of social control and the proliferation of regulations, ordinances, and legislative acts that give legal form to such methods of discipline and punishment. The course will address dynamics and phenomena of racial profiling; juvenile justice; drug criminalization; and the intersection of immigration law with criminal law. In concluding, the course will shift to understanding and connecting the prison-industrial complex to what the future holds for marginalized communities within the current movement and crisis of global capital.

The course also seeks to improve your skills in critical reading, writing, and thinking. Paper assignments will provide opportunities to develop your own interpretations systematically and polish your writing skills.

While there undoubtedly exists an infinite research agenda when it comes to the study mass incarceration and the ongoing challenges of the LatinX community within the criminal justice system of the United States, it is only possible [in 15 weeks] to cover a limited surface/amount of such complicated history and realities of these topics. However, provided is a list of suggested/recommended readings for additional literature to be consulted.

This is an introductory course exploring intersecting histories, ideas, and social, political and cultural structures in Latin America. We will focus on the workings of Latin American cultures as shaped by race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, place, and religion. Throughout this course we will ask: Where is Latin America and what is Latin America? Over the semester, we will ask critical questions of a wide variety of materials: essays, television, poems, photographs, films, music, visual art, historical documents and legal texts. Students will be exposed to and experiment with a wide range of current interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches with particular attention to research approaches to the study of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and other categories of difference.

This is an inter and trans-disciplinary course which has two main objectives. The first is to critically examine the multi-faceted evolution of the Latinx population as an urbanized segment of United States society. Specifically, the course seeks to provide a cross-cultural understanding of the diversity among Spanish-speaking people within the urban context. Different processes and roles over space and time will be problematized included but not limited to the role of urban institutions in the conflicts between assimilation and cultural preservation; the dynamics of migration, immigration, and settlement; and institutionalized participation in the social processes of United States urban life.

U.S. society today is in the middle of facing heightened social transformation in the early 21st Century. Since the inception of well over 150 years of Spanish presence in the United States, structures of inequality, oppression, and fusion remain in place. However, these structures—and challenges against them—are indeed changing along with the identity of what is “Urban” life and what roles Latinxs play in such formation.

Furthermore, as diverse social forces struggle over the terms of development and direction of change, the current state of affairs of Latinxs in the U.S. is full of rising social conflict, political mobilization, renewed revolutionary movements, further economic restructuring, transnational migration, and cultural redefinition. These are some of the aspects/dynamics that will be investigated throughout the course.

However, it is only possible [in 15 weeks] to cover a limited surface/amount of the complicated and rich history and multiple research agendas on the complex relationship between the making of urban life in the U.S. and the role of Latinxs within such historical formation.

The second goal is to improve your skills in critical reading and writing. You will work on understanding and interpreting the materials throughout the course. Paper assignments and essay exams will provide opportunities to develop your OWN interpretations systematically and polish your writing skills.

Examine critical research issues in Puerto Rican and Latinx studies. Introduce students to a variety of ways of thinking about “knowledge" and to specific ways of knowing and making arguments in Puerto Rican and Latinx studies using key humanistic, social science, and "interdisciplinary methodologies."

How do we study U.S. Latino and Caribbean populations and cultures? Some read literature, watch a film, read a history book… and others conduct interviews, do field work to identify and describe social and cultural practices, or collect oral histories and traditions. Are you interested in learning how to use different sources and methods to learn more about ethnic communities in the United States? What is the contribution of ethnic studies to our knowledge about migrant and underrepresented populations and their cultural manifestations? This class is a basic introduction to cultural and social science research methods with a focus on Caribbean and Latino Studies. Course includes library workshops, and class visits by professors and students who will discuss how they use different methods in their research and teaching.

Furthermore, the course will introduce you to the research process, including how researchers select topics, formulate research questions, design research, and analyze and interpret data. It will explore differences in how these issues present themselves and are addressed in designs that are quantitative, qualitative or both.

Impact of Latin@ demographic, political, and cultural trends. Education, economic disparities, political empowerment, and on-going challenges to Latin@s. Identity, citizenship, cultural production, Latinidad, and Latinization.

This is an advanced inter and trans-disciplinary course which has two main objectives. The first is to demonstrate applied research and methodology, through social-historical analysis, to pressing and relevant phenomena of inquiry in Puerto Rican and LatinX Studies. The course is heavily focused on examining pertinent issues as it exists within Puerto Rican and LatinX communities in the United States and in Puerto Rico. Students will engage critical and contextualized analyses within the multi-faceted realities of LatinX population in the United States. The course also seeks to demonstrate the cross-analytical understanding of the various frameworks that can be employed to conduct social analysis (i.e.,, literary, social-historical, and cultural) although the central lens of the course is its social-historical variant.

This course is primarily a literature seminar. We will use American literature as a lens through which to examine different passing tropes. It will provide an introduction to queer, gender, and critical race theories for science and math majors. We will read such works as Running A Thousand Miles for Freedom, Incognegro, and Focault's A History of Sexuality, to name just a few.

A People’s History of New York City traces the history of NYC through the experiences of Immigrant and Migrant communities. By tracing common threads between these groups the City’s modern relevance, as well as its present tensions is unveiled. Highlighted are economic and social struggles for equity, justice and liberation from the marginalized groups who allowed for the creation of arguably the most significant metropolis of the present era.

Examines the history of the United States as a "nation of immigrants" within a broader global context. Considers migration from the mid-19th century to the present through case studies of such places as New York's Lower East Side, South Texas, Florida, and San Francisco's Chinatown. Examines the role of memory, media, and popular culture in shaping ideas about migration. Includes optional field trip to New York City.

Puerto Rican, Latin@, and Caribbean children in New York City. Historical examination of bilingual policies and programming. Development of identity; knowledge and appreciation of heritage. Culturally relevant pedagogy. Multicultural education. Examination and evaluation of instructional materials and school policies. Prerequisite: English 1010 or permission of the chairperson.

This course provides an introduction to the issues of immigrants, planning, and race. It identifies the complexities and identities of immigrant populations emerging in the United States context and how different community groups negotiate that complexity. It explores the critical differences and commonalities between immigrant and non-immigrant communities, as well as how the planning profession does and should respond to those differences. Finally, the course explores the intersection of immigrant communities' formation and their interactions with African Americans and the idea of race in the United States.

This course equips students with the clinical skills necessary for pupil personnel service providers to work effectively with multilingual and culturally diverse populations. This experience-based course will develop an awareness of cultural, linguistic, and ethnic factors that influence and shape behavior and development. Personal history, literature, and films will be analyzed in the contexts of acculturation and identity. Current research and theoretical and applied knowledge in this field will be reviewed. Students will integrate theoretical and applied knowledge in written assignments and presentations.

This assignment is inspired by the learnings that arose from the workshop, “Fostering Play in the Classroom - Pedagogies to Build Creativity, Connection and Light to Oppressive Spaces”. Based on group dialogue, feedback, and the desire to build on pedagogies of play in the workshop, this science fiction short story assignment has been created as an additional layer of liberatory, contemplative learning for students that can be used/tweaked to work in a variety of courses. Powerful conversations arose in the workshop surrounding power/oppression, positionality and how this impacts our ability to engage in play, and the importance of holding both/and (i.e. - joy/sadness, pain/pleasure, restriction/liberation). This assignment attempts to deepen these reflections through creativity, storytelling, and removal of limits for dreaming in a world with obstacles. 

This assignment was created by Professor Bertrade Ngo-Ngijol Banoum, Ph.D., who is Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Lehman College. The blog that follows is by Mariama Khan, and also can be found here.

The course relies on various theories and methods in the social sciences to analyze the challenges of the Black community. Attempts are also made to explore solutions to the problems. The focus and emphasis of the course, however, is to identify issues in the community that facilitate socioeconomic empowerment of Black people. Furthermore, institutions such as the family, marriage, and the church are analyzed throughout the semester.

Intensive study of a range of texts by a single author or by a limited group of authors whose achievements are mutually illuminating. Some attention to narrative theory, and biographical and cultural backgrounds. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication. Topic: Joyce's Ulysses and Its Legacy.