I am Professor Jason M. Leggett, and I am your instructor 

for this course. Please read on for important details and  

information. 

CRJ6700 is a one-semester required course for Criminal  

Justice Majors. The course is organized by week. Each week’s work should be completed before we meet as a  class. Some assignments will also be completed after the class meeting or during.Announcements  and emails will be sent out weekly to help you keep pace with the course. I welcome any/all  questions/concerns/input you may have. If you receive accommodations and would like to use  them, please let me know so we can work together to implement them. If you have a preferred  pronoun (ex. he, she, they, etc.), please let me know so that I may address you according to your  preference(s). I look forward to hearing from you.

Make sure to explore our site, where you can find helpful resources available to you, what you need to do each week for the class, and our syllabus.

To succeed in this class, you should:

  • Actively participate in our weekly zoom classes.  
  • Check the class calendar here, then do the work listed for each week on the Weekly Work page.
  • Read  our textbook every week (preferably before our zoom class) and check out the Resources in each week’s Resource Collection
  • Do all of your own writing this semester- do not use AI!
    • Write 1 blog post each week.  
    • Read and respond to 2 classmates’ work
  • Choose which assignments you want to do and do them throughout semester– they are all explained on the Adventures Overview.  You don’t have to do all of them, so choose what you like.  Everyone starts at 0 points- earn 73 points for a C, 97 for an A+, etc.  
    • For every assignment (except the exams), write a self-grading assessment– assigning yourself a number of points and explaining how your work fulfilled the requirements of the assignment for that amount of points. 
  • I am happy to accept late work– all due dates (except the midterm, final, simulation, and end of the course) are flexible.  I have included suggested due dates because it is to your benefit to do the work as I have designed the course to flow, but when you need an extra day or two, you can have it (without even asking). 
  • We are learning here together, so if I can be of any assistance, email me!

My work focuses on rights consciousness among marginalized communities. I am most interested in how these individuals think about legality in everyday practice against injustice. I draw upon my experience in political organizing and community activism to co-create educational opportunities that provide alternative visions of the future toward more equitable social relations. This research has addressed climate change inaction, systemic racism, reproductive rights and migration. I apply these themes in courses I teach including Constitutional Law, Environmental Law and Politics, and the Judiciary. My publications describe culturally sustaining teaching practices and community-engaged integration of technology. I am available for consulting, program reviews, workshops and public talks. https://jleggett.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

If you’re not sure what week we’re in or when something is due, check the class calendar.

If you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be doing, check the Weekly Work page.

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If you have other questions about the course, you can:

  • Ask in our commons group
  • Use the google comment function to ask the question in a comment on the syllabus, assignment sheet, or other course document.
  • Come chat with me in Student Hours (Wednesdays after class, or email me to make an appointment at a time that works for you)
  • Send me an email. I struggle with email, so this is not the fastest way to get a reply, even though I try to respond as quickly as I can. If you don’t have an answer within two days, please feel free to email me a follow up.

The Commons group and the google comment function are open to the whole class, so we can all learn from each others’ questions. Chances are, if you have a question, someone else does to, and you asking it in the group or as a comment will help them too. Similarly, if you see a question that you know the answer to, please answer it! My working hours are often different than the hours students do their work, so if you can help someone out faster than I can, it’s a good deed (and a great way to participate in the class!)

We’ll be conducting our class this semester on the CUNY Academic Commons. If you don’t already have a Commons login, you’ll need a CUNY email address to set up your Commons account, (follow these instructions to access KCC email), but once you set up your account, you can change your Commons email to any email you like (just follow these easy steps). These instructions will walk you through how to make a post on our site, which is how you’ll submit all of your work for this class.

We’ll go through this during our first class, but please let me know if you have any problems- I am here to help! If you ever have problems with the commons, first try googling the problem + “CUNY Academic Commons;” if that doesn’t work, you can contact Commons help through the Help button next to your avatar in the top right corner of any Commons page, or email me and I’ll do my best to help.

Your work for this class will be much easier (and less frustrating) if you can do it on a computer, not a phone or tablet. You can reserve a computer and/or study room in which to do your online class work on campus (instructions are here). KCC also has loaner laptops available if you need one (instructions are here). If you are close to another CUNY campus, you can use the Eduroam wifi on your own device to do your work there (instructions are here). If you are having trouble getting access to sufficient technology (internet and/or hardware) to do your work, please let me know and we can work together to find workable solutions.