Material Detail

These open textbooks are being utilized in a Criminology and Justice Studies course for undergraduate or graduate students by Dr. Stefanie Israel de Souza at Cal Poly Humboldt. The open textbooks provide an introduction to the topic of civil disobedience (Thoreau), a theoretical framework for examining dissent as a deliberate violation of unjust law that aims to challenge and lay bare the violence of the state (Lovell), a brief history of resistance movements employing different tactics in the US and a discussion of political prisoners (Berger), an analysis of the militarization of protest policing and evolution of tactics used by the state to suppress dissent (Wood), and finally an analysis of hidden transcripts, infrapolitics, and everyday forms of resistance as pre-political phenomena (Scott). The main motivation to adopt open textbooks was knowing that many of our students struggle financially and simply cannot afford to purchase books. Most students access the open textbooks as unlimited access e-books via the Cal Poly Humboldt library portal. 

The California State University and MERLOT have partnered to showcase how and why faculty have adopted Open Educational Resources (OER) to facilitate equitable access to their students’ course materials. This Faculty Showcase represent Open Educational Practices where faculty are sharing their "know-how" for adopting OER in their courses.