SOCECOL 106W - Digital Media Archive

Overall description

 The SOCECOL 106W: Digital Media Archive courses represent a unique “3-in-1” model by simultaneously fulfilling the following three requirements:

1) Field Study course

2) Field placement 

3) Upper Division Writing

All in one!

PLEASE NOTE:

• Same prerequisites required as the traditional field study courses, more information below. For a comparison of the field study courses click here. 
• Students will be required to successfully complete the course in conjunction with 80 hours of fieldwork with the corresponding placement. 

2024-2025 Academic Year Offerings 

• Fall 2024
  • SOCECOL 106W - Project Living Archive of Poetic Justice 
• Spring 2025 
  • SOCECOL 106W - Project: National Registry of Exonerations 

Spring 2025 Course Description - 

SOCECOL 106W Digital Media Archive (TBA) Project:  NATIONAL REGISTRY OF EXONERATIONS 

Instructor/Supervisor: Dr. Simon Cole 

Description:  In this service-learning course, students will complete their field study and writing requirements while contributing to the National Registry of Exonerations, an internationally known archive of all known exonerations in the United States. Students will work with real exoneration cases. During the course of the quarter, cases will progress from the research phase to the coding phase to the writing phase, culminating in the writeup of a summary of each case for publication on the Registry’s public website. Students will learn research skills, including reading and interpreting legal documents and criminal court dockets and interviewing court clerks and attorneys. Students will learn social science coding. And, students will learn skills for newspaper-style team writing. Teams whose work meet the Registry’s standards, will be published and preserved as the permanent records of these cases, and students will be playing an important role in the innocence movement, identifying, helping care for, counting, and telling the stories of persons wrongly convicted by the US criminal legal system. 

Please consider before applying for the course: 

1. Please be advised that your work with the National Registry of Exonerations will involve deep engagement with the details of crimes and punishments. Some students may find these details disturbing.
2. This “course” is actually both a college course AND a field placement in a working organization. Consequently, the environment will be more like a workplace than a college classroom. Behavior that the instructor tolerates in college courses (e.g., missing meetings, showing up late, missing deadlines, etc.) will be less tolerated in this course.

Class Time: TBA 
Capacity: 40 students 

APPLICATION OPENS WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 

Our office is currently processing applications received and Dr. Cole will be reviewing eligible applications and making his final selection of student participants within the next 2 weeks. Thank you in advance for your patience. If you have questions or concerns, contact sefieldstudy@uci.edu

Application and Enrollment Procedures: 

Eligibility prerequisites: 

• Declared major in the School of Social Ecology (NOT currently approved for ENSP majors) 
• SOCECOL 10 (or an equivalent course) OR in progress to complete during SSI OR SSII
• 2.0 GPA
• Junior or Senior Standing (90+ units)
• Lower Division Writing 

Preferred qualifications for this project include: 

• Capacity for independent work
• Ability to complete tasks on time and with diligence
• Strong work ethic
• Attention to detail and pride in careful and accurate work
• Ability to meet deadlines and get work done promptly
• Responsiveness in communications (i.e., respond promptly to emails)

TO CONFIRM AND SUBMIT: 

• Once you've applied, allow our application committee 5-7 business days to review your application. You will have to go through a screening process and await approval.
• If accepted OR denied the committee will send a follow-up email to provide the update.
• Those accepted will need to submit a Spring 2025 Course Enrollment Form  (Due February 14) to submit the following:  
  • Course Selection: SOCECOL 106W
  • Placement Information 
    • Site Number: 1006
    • Placement Name:
      • SOCECOL 106W - National Registry of Exonerations 
    • Supervisor Info: 
      • Name: Simon Cole 
      • Title:  Assistant Professor, Criminology, Law & Society
      • Email: scole@uci.edu

TO ENROLL:

• ALL CEFs will be processed after the CEF deadline (February 14) 
• Once your CEF is processed you will be notified and provided instructions to enroll.  
• Students will be able to enroll in SE106W through WebReg, upon receiving the authorization email. All students must enroll by March 17
  • SOCECOL 106W (Digital Media Archive)
    • Course Code: TBA 
• Fieldwork Hour Requirement: 80 hours  

PERTINENT DEADLINES & DATES:  

Questions: 

Email us: sefieldstudy@uci.edu 

Chat or meet with us: https://fieldstudy.soceco.uci.edu/pages/advising