Dr. James W. Stoutenborough

Calling​ ​Baloney​ ​(or​ ​BS)!​ ​Spotting​ ​and​ ​Debunking​ ​the​ ​Improper​ ​Use​ ​of​ ​Big​ ​Data​ ​and Statistics​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Real​ ​World

We are bombarded with baloney (or BS) every day. Our politicians are unconstrained by facts. Science is increasingly conducted through press releases. Advertisers wink conspiratorially and invite us to join them in seeing through all the baloney and take advantage of our lowered guard to assault us with their brand of baloney. Everywhere we look we are exposed to some new and increasingly more sophisticated exercise in re-envisioning reality through the lens of baloney. This course will teach students how to spot baloney and how to effectively call it out. While the world of politics is synonymous with baloney (or BS), this course is not focused solely on political baloney. Instead, we will focus on the trappings of scholarly discourse, where such highbrow nonsense is couched in big words and fancy rhetoric while still using quantitative, statistical, and computational forms of baloney to make an argument, typically political in nature. The aim of this course is to teach students to think critically about the data and models that constitute evidence in the social and natural sciences. The best part is that students don’t actually need to understand statistics or fancy mathematics in order to be successful in this endeavor. We will utilize several case studies to help students understand how to identify and call out baloney (or BS).

*Note:​ ​No​ ​Cursing​ ​will​ ​Occur​ ​in​ ​Class*

Believe​ ​It​ ​or​ ​Not,​ ​but​ ​We​ ​are​ ​All​ ​Environmentalists!

Environmental politics is one of the more controversial issues debated in American politics. One side generally embraces environmental policy, even if they don’t understand it, as a great idea, while the other side generally demonizes environmental policy, even if they don’t understand it, as an evil plot to destroy business and expand governmental power. However, what people on both sides fail to realize is that we are all, or almost all, environmentalists. We may not agree on every issue, but we are all environmentalists. This course will expose students to the many areas of environmental politics and will expose students to the reality that they hold many views that are traditionally characterized as an environmentalist’s perspective, even if they do not recognize this. This course is not intended to be ideological or convince students that they need to embrace environmental policy. It is intended to help students realize that they are not as different as politicians like to make them seem, which is the only way to encourage meaningful discussion between the two sides. It will show that the two sides are not necessarily enemies, and that they have a great deal in common. The problem is getting them to sit down and realize these similarities. Additionally, this course will provide an explanation for why environmental policymaking occurs. From a theoretical perspective, this will require introducing students to the idea of common pool resources and the tragedy of the commons.

Politics​ ​and​ ​Film:​ ​Identifying​ ​Political​ ​Themes​ ​in​ ​Non-Political​ ​Movies

Politics is often thought of as that annoying process that is run by a bunch of hypocrites seeking to benefit their friends, supporters, or (more realistically) the evil henchman that knows all of their dirty secrets. Politics is all around us, even if we don’t recognize this reality. To many, politics can be dry, perhaps even boring, unless you really enjoy the topic. This course explores the basics of politics in a unique manner. This course will discuss these concepts from the perspective of movies. The goal is to make the student understand that these fairly complex concepts are explored every day in movies. Almost all movies have some sort of political commentary, which are based on the concepts that are discussed in this course. Most of the time, you do not even realize that they are discussing inherently political issues or institutions. Take, for example, The Wizard of Oz (1939). While the fanciful world of Oz is an ideal setting for a wonderful adventure of self-discovery, it represents a metaphor for the abandonment of the gold standard, a distinctly political issue. While your mind may be blown, the reality is that the complex world of politics can be easily understood when discussed in the context of movies. Students of this course will come to recognize that they understand politics far better than they realize, but now they will have the theoretical background to place these understandings in their proper context. The themes discussed in this course are fairly universal, and are found in virtually all children’s stories, dramas, comedies, science fiction, and even horror movies from the beginning of Hollywood to today. To simplify this course for a single class period, examples will focus on the movie Star Wars (1977) (the original, and not any of the sequels, prequels, or stand-alone versions) because it is a movie that virtually everyone has seen or knows enough about that they can follow along.