About the Course
Note: The course is hosted through this wordpress site. For assignments, you should use this site to link to them on Moodle.
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This is a new course, which I am really excited to be teaching for the first time this semester. Because bicycling covers such a wide range of topics, many of which I am not an expert it, I value and need your ideas and your active participation. If you have ideas, please feel free to share them with me and/or the class!
Also this is a course in engaged learning. We will not just be reading books and articles. We will be doing things and trying to in a small way change the bicycling culture of NCSU and Raleigh. Think and Do!
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Course Description:
Residents of European cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam use bicycles for roughly half of their trips, while the corresponding numbers for American cities are lower by more than an order of magnitude. In China and India, bicycling has dropped significantly in the last 40 years. Why such dramatic differences? This question becomes increasingly urgent as nations and people throughout the world seek to reduce their carbon footprint to fight climate change. Many American cities, including Raleigh, have made significant efforts to increase bicycle usage. Have they succeeded? This course uses the methods of STS to examine the bicycle holistically, looking at its history, its relation to the automobile as well as the policies and practices that have either supported or discouraged bicycling among various communities. Special attention will be given to policies and practices in Raleigh and North Carolina State University.
Prerequisites: None
About Your Professor
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
–Describe differences in policy and practice between various European countries and cities and the United States and its cities.
–Identify policies and practices that have been conducive to cycling transportation.
–Analyze automobiles and bicycles as parts of systems of transportation.
–Analyze the role that language plays when we talk about automobiles and bicycles.
–Perform a bike audit and analyze the effectiveness of bicycle infrastructure
This course fulfills the Interdisciplinary Perspectives GEP requirement through the following learning outcomes. At the end of this course students will be able to:
–Identify the key and distinct elements of approaches to the bicycle based on STS, urban design, or traffic engineering
–Identify the common data that approaches in traffic engineering, urban design, or STS in analyzing bicycle usage.
–Explain how approaches to the bicycle using traffic engineering, urban design, and STS differ, and synthesize arguments drawing on each.
This course fulfills the Global Knowledge GEP requirements through the following learning outcomes. At the end of the course students will be able to:
–identify factors in the history, geography, politics, and culture of the Netherlands and Denmark that have shaped their approach to urban transportation choices.
–identify factors in the history, geography, politics and culture of the United States which are plausible explanations for differences in urban biking culture.
Safety & Risk Assumptions
The cycling exercise and the bike audit associated with this course may expose you to many risks. Some of the risks which may be present or occur include but are not limited to:
- riding a bicycle on and crossing unpaved and paved roadways where motor vehicles are operating;
- the hazards of riding a bicycle in urban environments
- exposure to collision of bicycles and automobiles operated by others;exposure to man-made and natural hazards present in the environment
- the force of nature included but not limited to lightning, wind, waves, weather changes, hyperthermia, hypothermia, and sunburn; .
- the physical exertion associated with the outdoor activity;
- Note: You are not required to ride a bike for this course and if you are not comfortable riding a bike, there are other ways to complete the bicycling assignment.
- When you are bicycling, you should always wear a helmet and have rear light on your bicycle.Here are the NCSU transportation office’s safety guidelines on riding a bike in and around campus.
While greenways keep you away from cars, they have their own risks.
–Wooden planking can be slippery after the rain
–watch out for other bikes and pedestrians. Pass on the left and give an audible signal.
–on greenways be careful when you are going through tunnels. Call out “biker coming through” (Sometimes there might be a biker coming in the other direction)
–if you go west of Dorthea Dix park, I would advise you to go with another person
Expenses/Materials
A bicycle is required for those who opt to do the “experience of cycling” exercise with a bicycle. If you don’t have a bike, you can rent one through Outdoor Adventures for $5/day, through Cardinal Cycle from $2, or through the Bike Library.
Books and Readings:
You are not required to purchase any books for this course. Some of the readings for the course are in this book, but all are available electronically.
Ralph Buehler and John Pucher, Cycling for Sustainable Cities (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2021). $30.00
Library Electronic Copy
All readings are available online.
Grading
Your Final Grade will be based on the following components (see assignments tab for full details):
2% Introduction (due by Aug 28 at class time)
30% Bike Labs
25%. Bike Audit
13% Reading Responses
5%. Guest Reflection Papers
10% Participation
15% Final-Due Dec 11 at 8:30am
1% (possible extra credit for pushing survey)
Course/University Policies
Grading Scale
Your final grade will be based on the following scale
| 98 and up** | A+ |
| 93-98 | A |
| 90-93 | A- |
| 88-90 | B+ |
| 83-88 | B |
| 80-83 | B- |
| 78-80 | C+ |
| 73-78 | C |
| 70-73 | C- |
| 68-70 | D+ |
| 63-68 | D |
| 60-63 | D- |
| <60 | F |
**Note 1: An A+ grade is a rare grade, a, mark of extraordinary achievement and is not given solely on the basis of average. To receive an A+ the student’s work will be expected to have been exceptional throughout the course and the student will be expected to have made an active contribution to the class.
Attendance
You can’t do your best if you don’t come to classes. I expect everyone to come to class if you are not sick. (And please don’t come to class if you are sick.). This is an extraordinary time, and we will be very understanding of circumstance that may force you to miss class, but if you need to miss class, you need to fill out this absence from class form within one week of the date of your absence from class. Anyone who has more than three absences from class without documenting them through this form will receive 0 for their class participation grade.
Writing
For all formal papers for this class, your paper should use 12 point font, have 1 inch margins and be double spaced.
Writing is hard work and it is one of the foundations of this course. For many of you, it will be a central aspect of your careers. One of the goals of this course is to help you improve your writing.
— Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services
If writing is difficult for you, please visit the Writing and Speaking Tutorial Services to review drafts of assignments before they are due. The Service offers free one-on-one consultation with experienced tutors who can help with all levels and stages of writing. There are six locations around campus that offer drop-in services. For more information go to: https://tutorial.dasa.ncsu.edu/wsts-overview-programs/
Academic Integrity
When you hand in an assignment you are implicitly certifying that you have followed the honor pledge. (“I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this test or assignment.”) All papers are expected to be your own work. Passing off someone else’s work as your own is plagiarism, a very serious offense. If you quote other material directly you should make that clear by quotation marks and a proper citation (footnote). The Code of Student Conduct provides for very harsh penalties for plagiarism or giving or receiving unauthorized aid. I have and I will submit violations to the Board of Student Conduct. Please don’t go there!! It is not worth it.
Use of AI Tools: This course requires you to complete various assignments that assess your understanding and application of the course content. You are expected to do your own work and cite any sources you use properly. You are not allowed to use any artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as chatbots, text generators, paraphrasers, summarizers, or solvers, to complete any part of your assignments. Any attempt to use these tools will be considered academic misconduct and will be dealt with according to the university’s academic integrity policy. Students are expected to complete all work independently and without the assistance of AI-generated content. If you have any questions about what constitutes acceptable use of AI tools, please consult with the instructor before submitting your work.
Disability Policy
Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with verifiable disabilities. In order to take advantage of available accommodations, students must register with Disability Services for Students at 1900 Student Health Center, Campus Box 7509, 515-7653. For more information on NC State’s policy on working with students with disabilities, please see the Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Regulation (REG02.20.01).
Supporting Fellow Students in Distress
As members of the NCSU community, we share a responsibility to express concern for one another and to ensure that this classroom and the campus as a whole remains a safe learning environment. Occasionally, you may come across a fellow classmate whose personal behavior concerns or worries you. When this is the case, please report this behavior to the NC State Students of Concern website: http://studentsofconcern.ncsu.edu/. Although you can report anonymously, it is preferred that you share your contact information so they can follow up with you.
On Time Assignments
We will be discussing several of the Labs in Class, , so it is important to complete the labs before the class in which we discuss them. If these History labs are submitted late without a valid excuse (illness, death in the family…) they will be penalized one letter grade per day late. For the reading responses each student has three grace days, that they can use during the course of the semester. That is you can hand in one assignment three days late, three assignments one day late, etc. After your grace days are used up, I will not accept late assignments. After you have used up your grace days, late papers will be penalized one third of a letter grade per day late. (An A paper will become an A-, etc.). The only exception is if your late reading response or homework is due to an illness or some other reason that would constitute an excused absence. The bike audit must be completed by the deadline given. No late final papers will be accepted.
NC State University Policies, Regulations and Rules
Students are responsible for reviewing the PRRs which pertain to their course rights and responsibilities. These include: http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-04-25-05 (Equal Opportunity and Non-discrimination Policy Statement),
https://oied.ncsu.edu/divweb/policies/ (Office for Institutional Equity and Diversity),
http://policies.ncsu.edu/policy/pol-11-35-01 (Code of Student Conduct),
http://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-03 (Grades and Grade Point Average),
https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-20-04 (Audits), and
https://policies.ncsu.edu/regulation/reg-02-50-03 (Incompletes).
Bias Impact Response Team Syllabus Short Description
The OIED Bias Impact Response team offers a system and processes that invites NC State students, faculty and staff to document and proactively address the impacts of bias-related incidents, behaviors, and actions. To learn more or to submit a report, please visit https://diversity.ncsu.edu/bias-impact or email bias_impact@ncsu.edu.
Mental Health at NCSU
As a student, you may experience a range of personal issues that can impede learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug concerns, feeling down, difficulty concentrating, and/or lack of motivation. The Counseling Center at NC State offers confidential mental health services for full-time NC State students, including same-day emergency services. CHASS also has an embedded clinician named Dr. Jenn Archer, who will host a drop-in counseling space every Wednesday from 12-2 PM in room 115 of the 1911 Building and provide individual therapy to clients. Individual appointments with Jenn or questions about other mental health services can be made by visiting the Counseling Center’s Get Started page and following the instructions under Make an Appointment. A full overview of campus wellness resources can be found on the WolfPack Wellness website. Please do not hesitate to get connected early to get the support you need to be successful.