Syllabus, PSC404, Spring 2001
“The Assassination of John F. Kennedy”
http://karws.gso.uri.edu/PSC404/Spring2001/Intro_to_404_Spr2001.html

Instructor: Kenneth A. Rahn krahn@uri.edu, http://karws.gso.uri.edu 874-6713
Center for Atmospheric Chemistry Studies Room 212, Graduate School of Oceanography (Bay Campus)

Goals
      The main goal of this course is to allow you to come to understand the JFK assassination in an intellectually rigorous way—something that, believe it or not, is rarely done. A secondary goal is to show you the kinds of knowledge you need to reach the first goal. (You may be surprised at the areas you need to know something about.) Another secondary goal is to show you the kinds of skills in critical thinking you need to reach the first goal. (Here you may also be surprised.) Note that the goals do not include finding out with certainty who killed JFK or whether it was a conspiracy, for neither of these are yet known, and probably never will be. But you can narrow down the answers surprisingly far if—and only if—you acquire skills in critical thinking that are probably well beyond the present capabilities of most of you. That is why we begin this course with a section on critical thinking and use the principles developed there throughout the rest of the course. Thinking skills are unusually important in this case because enough evidence has been generated over the years to superficially support just about any interpretation you want. In order get you to distinguish the reliable 1% of the evidence from the 99% that is unreliable, I will lead you through something that often resembles a boot camp, where you unlearn much of what you think you know and replace it with the classical principles of rigorous thinking that have been refined and tested for centuries. In understanding the JFK assassination, what you (think you) know is much less important than how you know it. Thus this course might be called “Epistemology of the JFK Assassination.” But don’t worry—I would not put you through this if the results weren’t worth the effort. The skills and knowledge you acquire here will serve you for the rest of your life.

Materials
      This spring’s course goes beyond previous versions. Like last spring’s, it retains The Warren Commission Report (Longmeadow Press, Stamford, 1992), or WCR, as the sole formal textbook, because it is the granddaddy of JFK books and still the most important. Also like last spring, it uses the Web to supplement the WCR with abundant materials on history of investigating the assassination, issues and evidence (the single-bullet theory, the Zapruder film, etc.), scientific topics (the basic chemistry and physics you need to know to understand the assassination), principles of critical thinking, conspiracy theories, conspiracy theory (the intellectual side of conspiracy theories), the WCR critics (their profiles and publications), higher criticism (intellectually broader aspects of the assassination with a distinct postmodern flavor), and people, organizations, and web sites. Unlike last spring, the basic materials are centralized in a different location, “The Academic JFK Assassination Web Site” (http://karws.gso.uri.edu/JFK/JFK.html), from which materials can be drawn for various purposes. This site now contains far more materials than last year, many of which are original documents that have been hard to find for decades. I encourage you to roam through them at your leisure. The URI library also has the full Warren Commission and HSCA Reports, plus a selection of old and new books on the assassination.
      The central JFK site contains much more material than we can treat in one semester. We deal with this overabundance by restricting the formal course to the most important subset of material, one that illustrates the major principles and evidence and goes to the heart of the JFK maze. You then become responsible for exploring the rest of the web, and external sources of information, as time permits. As part of this exploration, you will choose a book on the assassination to read in detail, to analyze with the tools that we learn in class, and to report on to the class at the end of the semester or whenever you are ready. At that point, I and the rest of the class will question you on your critique.

Format, homework, exams, grading
      We meet MWF at 11 a.m. in Washburn 208. Typically, we will first discuss the reading and the homework for that day and then introduce the material to be read for the next class. Discussion will often be lively, as different points of view are advocated and defended. Class participation is very important, and differences of opinion will be respected provided that you can defend them with solid evidence. Our rule is simple: you propose it, you defend it.
      Readings will be assigned for each class. Written assignments will be due roughly weekly, and will be graded and returned the following week. Most assignments will be analytical and interpretive questions about the readings. The quality of writing is important—sentences and paragraphs are to be constructed to the highest standards of written English. Typewritten answers are greatly preferred, but handwritten answers will be accepted as long as they are neat and easy to read. Late assignments will be penalized by 50%.
      Be prepared to work hard for this class because the evidence and writings on the assassination are broad, deep, and mostly unreliable. Plan to spend three hours outside class for each hour in. Anything significantly less than this will shortchange you and jeopardize your final grade.
      There will be a final exam on Monday 7 May from 3—6 p.m. [NOTE CHANGE IN SCHEDULING.] If you really want a midterm exam, I can provide one. With a midterm, the final grade will be 20% each for homework, midterm exam, class participation, book review, and final exam. Without a midterm, the final grade will be 25% each on homework, class participation, book review, and final.

Provisional Schedule
      Because of the new web material and the dynamic nature of this class, our schedule cannot be predicted precisely. Here is my best guess at this time. We will probably adjust it as the semester progresses.

Note: The many conspiracy theories will be discussed during weeks 8–11.

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