State Sanctioned
A clearinghouse for information, analysis, and resources related to state sanctioned violence in the United States
Sample Curricula and Lesson Plans
Here you will find sample syllabi and lesson plans on a variety of topics related to violence. If a link doesn’t work, try the “archived” version. To submit your own syllabus, please contact me.
See also: Films and Media for Classroom Use and Teaching About Lynching
A note on ethical practices & syllabus exchange.
Jump down to: General — Gender — Interpersonal — Media — Prison Studies — Political — Race — War & War Crimes — K – 12 — Popular Education
Please note – some links open as a PDF.
Sample Syllabi on Violence (General)
Empirical Studies of Violence – Dr. Scott Straus (archived)
Sociology of Violence – Dr. Jennifer Carlson (archived)
Violence: A Multidisciplinary Inquiry Course Syllabus – Emory University (archived)
Violence and NonViolence – Dr. Robert Garot
Sample Syllabi on Gender and Violence
Consortium on Gender, Security & Human Rights – syllabus collection
Domestic Violence and the Black Community – Ms. Anquinetta Calhoun
Gender and the Culture of War – Dr. Deborah Cohler (archived)
Gender and Violence – Dr. Mahri Irvine (archived)
Gender Violence in Global Perspectives – Dr. Diane Knust (archived)
Gender-Based Violence on Campus – Dr. John Foubert (archived)
The Politics of Gender Violence – Dr. Andrea Krizsan
Sample Syllabus Gender Violence – Dr. Valli Kalei Kanuha
Violence Against Native Women – Dr. Sara Campbell (archived)
Violence Against Women – Dr. Cheryl MacFarland
Women and Violence – Dr. Pat Washington (archived)
Sample Syllabi on Interpersonal Violence
Interpersonal Violence – Dr. Mike Maume
Sample Syllabi on Media and Violence
Beholding Violence in Drama and Film – Dr. Eileen Joy (archived)
How to Read Violence – Dr. Bradley Gorski (archived – 2)
Sociology of Art and Literature (focuses on Prisons) – Dr. Avery Gordon
Sample Syllabi on Prison Studies
Abolition- Slavery Supermax and Social Movements – Liman Public Interest Workshop (Yale)
America’s Death Penalty – Dr. Austin Sarat (PDF: Americas Death Penalty Sarat)
Imprisonment and Justice – Dean Spade
Police Violence and Social Control – Dr. David Correia (archived)
Policing Latinidad: From Border Wars to Mass Incarceration – Dr. Marisol LeBron
Prison Abolition Class – Black and Pink (Rev. Jason Lydon) (archived)
Race and the Criminal Justice System – Dr. Joao Vargas
The War on Crime: Crime, Criminalization, and Urban America – Dr. Pia Moller – for PDF: War on Crime Moller
War on Crime/War on Drugs – Dr. Matthew Lassiter – for PDF: Lassiter War on Crime War on Drugs
Sample Syllabi on Political Violence
Drug Trafficking, Violence and Corruption: Comparative Perspectives in Mexico and Colombia – Dr. Carlos Flores
Ethnography of Political Violence – Dr. Erin Jessee (archived)
Political Violence – Dr. Macartan Humphreys
Political Violence – Dr. Cathy Schneider
Race Violence and the State – Dr. Justin Hosbey
The State & Violence – Dr. Sayres Rudy
Sample Syllabi on Race and Violence (see also Teaching About Lynching)
Charleston Syllabus – African American Intellectual History Society (archived) – will soon be published as paperback reader
The Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial – Teaching and Curriculum Activities from the Federal Judicial Center (archived – 2 – 3)
#ChicagoSyllabus – google doc for educators to find and share resources, esp. re: shooting of Laquan McDonald
Domestic Violence and the Black Community – Ms. Anquinetta Calhoun
Ferguson Syllabus: Teaching about Police Violence – Prison Culture Blog (archived)
Ferguson Syllabus – Crowdsourced, reported in The Atlantic. (archived) Discussed also in Inside Higher Education
The Freddie Gray Course – discusses University of Maryland law school’s course examining Freddie Gray and the Baltimore uprising
Mizzou Syllabus – African American Intellectual History Society (racial justice on campus)
Native American Resilience and Violence in the West – UShistory.org (archived)
Performance, Race, Violence and the Body – Dr. Christen Smith
People-of-Color Campus Activism, “Teach-In” Bibliography, 2013 – present – Austin McCoy
Race, Riots, and Violence in the U.S. – Dr. Luis Alvarez
Racial Violence in Modern America – Dr. Jason Ward (archived) – for PDF: Racial Violence in Modern America
Syllabus Wiki from Racism Review
Violence Against Native Women – Dr. Sara Campbell – for PDF: Violence Against Native Women
What is Racial Difference? – Dr. Cord Whitaker (archived)
Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation (multimedia exhibit, includes ideas for teaching) – Dr. Matthew Delmont
Sample Syllabi on War and War Crimes
U.S. War Crimes Policy and the Holocaust – Dr. Graham Cox
Violence, Human Rights, and Justice – Dr. Erica James (archived – 2 – 3)
War Crimes – Dr. James Meernik
War Crimes and Genocide – Dr. Erica Bruchko (archived – 2)
War Crimes and Prosecution – Dr. Jonathan Drimmer
War Crimes Genocide and Justice – Dr. Allan Ryan
Lesson Plans for K – 12 Education
A Different Approach to School Safety – brief documentary (~15 mins) looking at a school that tries to build safety without employing police or metal detectors
Black and Blue Activity Guide – created by Project NIA for youth workers and educators to talk with young people about policing and violence (PDF: Black and Blue Activity Guide)
The Chicago Seven Conspiracy Trial – Teaching and Curriculum Activities from the Federal Judicial Center (archived – 2 – 3)
Native American Resilience and Violence in the West – UShistory.org (archived)
Police Violence Zine – connecting to the Black and Blue Activity Guide listed above (Project NIA) – archived
Sample Lesson Plan on the Bizbee Deportation of 1917 – Mitch Askew and Molly Goulden
Teaching About the Trayvon Martin Case – thoughts and examples from Hassan Adeeb, high school history teacher
From Teaching Tolerance:
Slavery as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Jim Crow as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Mass Incarceration as a Form of Racialized Social Control
Ferguson Syllabus: Teaching about Police Violence – Prison Culture Blog
Historical Moments in Police Violence Pamphlet Series (broken link? try this: alt link)
- Volume One: The Mississippi Black Papers (PDF: Historical Moments V1 MS Papers) – published in 1965 by the Council of Federated Organizations, a collection of statements and testimony by black Mississippians regarding police violence, gathered in support of a lawsuit against Mississippi officials
- Volume Two: The Memorial Day Massacre – (PDF: Historical Moments of Police Violence Series V2 MDM) – describes 1937 massacre of striking steel workers by Chicago police
- Volume Three: Resisting Police Violence in Harlem – (PDF: Historical Moments of Police Violence Series V3 Resisting PV in Harlem)
- Volume Four: The Danziger Bridge Shootings
- Volume Five: The Police Execution of Oscar Grant
- Volume Six: Chicago’s Red Summer of 1919
- Volume Seven: 1968 Democratic Convention
- Volume Eight: Chicago Police Torture Cases
Interrupt Violence: An Interactive Exploration into the Persistent Problem of Violence in American Cities – from project Interrupt Violence
Introduction to the Prison-Industrial Complex – curriculum guide created by the Chicago Prison-Industrial Complex Teaching Collective (PDF here)
People-of-Color Campus Activism, “Teach-In” Bibliography, 2013 – present – Austin McCoy, Dept. of History, University of Michigan
Something is Wrong: Exploring the Roots of Youth Violence, from Project NIA
Systems of Inequality: Criminal Justice, handout from Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Talking About Policing and Violence with Youth: A Resource and Activity Guide – Project NIA
Timeline of Policing and Resistance in the U.S. – created by the Chicago Prison-Industrial Complex Teaching Collective (archived)
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