Course Syllabus

 

 Course

Instructor

 

 Course Description

Official Course Descriptions

• SPEA-J 470 Seminar in Criminal Justice: Emphasizes current developments in legal, administrative, and operational aspects of the criminal justice system.
• SPEA-J 550 Topics in Criminal Justice: Selected research and special topics in criminal justice and public safety.
• SPEA-V 450 Contemporary Issues in Public Affairs: Extensive analysis of selected contemporary issues in public affairs. Topics vary from semester to semester.
• SPEA-V 550 Topics in Public Affairs: Selected research and discussion topics organized on a semester-by-semester basis, usually with significant student input in the course design.

Instructor Description

This course teaches you how to conduct a human rights investigation by having you conduct one. You will learn to build systematic, reproducible searches, to collect and preserve evidence with an intact chain of custody, to corroborate a claim across independent sources, and to state a finding with calibrated confidence and an honest account of its limitations. These are the core practices of investigative and analytic work, and they are portable — to journalism, to intelligence and law enforcement, to litigation support, to policy research, to any field that values high-quality, evidence-based claims with reputable sources.

The law enters as the standard your evidence must meet. You will work from the text of the instruments that prohibit torture and extrajudicial killing, genocide, female genital mutilation, enforced disappearance, and the recruitment of children into armed forces, along with the domestic statutes and mechanisms the United States uses to enforce them — because you cannot document a violation without knowing precisely what its elements are. The doctrine is here to discipline the investigation, not to be studied for its own sake.

This is a service-learning course. You will choose your own case and pursue it for a semester, reporting your findings to a public sector agency active in this space, along with your colleagues, every two weeks and briefing them on campus during their site visits. Your Investigation Dossier is yours, supported by your research, your evidence, and your analytic judgment, with your name on it. There is no simulation here and no hypothetical case. The standard is not whether your work is good enough for a grade — it is whether it is good enough for someone outside this university to rely on.

 

 Required Course Materials

• There is no textbook to buy. All readings are provided free on Canvas. Each week pairs accessible practitioner readings or legal statutes with scholarly articles or excerpts.
• Access to a computer with a modern web browser and Microsoft Teams for synchronous online weeks. The University Library also features PC and Mac computers located on the 3rd and 4th floors for student use. You can check real-time open workstation counts and seat availability before walking over by visiting: https://library.indianapolis.iu.edu/computers.
• Microsoft Teams (IU-provisioned). All client-facing sessions and all Unit file storage run through Teams. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app
• Nexis Uni®, accessed through IU Libraries at no cost. https://advance-lexis-com.proxy.ulib.uits.iu.edu/ and a free https://elearning.easygenerator.com/ account required to complete Nexis Uni certification courses.
• ArcGIS Survey123 (IU-provisioned), accessed through IU at no cost. All client-facing investigative materials are documented in ArcGIS Survey123. 
• The investigative and reporting infrastructure provided by the instructor, which you are required to use for all collection, documentation, and reporting.

 

 Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, a student should be able to:

1. Recognize and explain different open-source investigation techniques.
2. Apply open-source digital investigation techniques to a regional or topical investigation.
3. Effectively collaborate in groups to achieve a shared goal, demonstrating an understanding of the roles, responsibilities, and communication skills necessary for successful teamwork.
4. Present the results of a complex human rights investigation to diverse audiences, adapting their communication style, content, and delivery methods to meet the needs and interests of each specific audience.
5. Illustrate awareness of diverse perspectives.
6. Develop the ability to listen and empathize.

 

 Profiles of Learning for Undergraduate Success

IU Indianapolis prepares all students to communicate, innovate, and engage local and global communities to solve the problems of the 21st century. The skills needed to do this work are grouped into the four learning profiles set out below. IU Indianapolis students have multiple opportunities to learn and enhance their abilities in each profile.

• Communicator: An IU Indianapolis communicator can convey their ideas effectively and ethically in oral, written, and visual forms across multiple settings, using face-to-face and mediated channels. Communicators are mindful of themselves and others, observe, read thoughtfully, listen actively, ask questions, create messages with an awareness of diverse audiences, and collaborate with others and across cultures to build relationships. Learn more here: https://profiles.indianapolis.iu.edu/profiles/communicator/index.html.
• Problem Solver: An IU Indianapolis problem solver works individually and with others to collect, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to implement innovative solutions to challenging local and global problems. Learn more here: https://profiles.indianapolis.iu.edu/profiles/problem-solver/index.html.
• Innovator: An IU Indianapolis innovator builds on experiences and disciplinary expertise to approach new situations and circumstances in original ways, is willing to take risks with ideas, and poses solutions. Innovators are original in their thoughts and ask others to view a situation or practice in a new way. Innovators are good decision makers, can create a plan to achieve their goals, and can carry out that plan to its completion. Innovators use their knowledge and skills to address complex problems to make a difference in the civic life of communities and to address the world’s most pressing and enduring issues. Learn more here: https://profiles.indianapolis.iu.edu/profiles/innovator/index.html.
• Community Contributor: An IU Indianapolis community contributor is an active and valued member on the campus and in communities locally and globally. They are personally responsible, self-aware, civically engaged, and look outward to understand the needs of society and their environment. They are socially responsible, ethically oriented, and actively engaged in the work of building strong and inclusive communities, both local and global. Learn more here: https://profiles.indianapolis.iu.edu/profiles/community-contributor/index.html.

 

 IU Indianapolis Policies and Codes

Students are expected to adhere to all campus-wide policies governing the conduct of courses at IU Indianapolis, including maintaining academic and professional honesty and integrity, being responsible for their behavior, respecting the rights and dignity of others both within and outside of the university community, and others. These policies can be found at http://studentcode.iu.edu/about/index.html.

 

 Instructor’s Classroom Policies

Class Attendance & Participation

This course meets once weekly, and a substantial portion of the graded work — Readiness Checks, In-Class Activities, Working Sessions, the Convergence Session, the Prep Session, and the Case Briefing — happens only in the room. A single absence therefore costs more here than in a course that meets more often. Attendance is expected at every session, in person or on Teams as the course schedule specifies. Notify me in advance if you must miss a session. Advance notice is the professional standard, and it is what I ask of you. Graded work missed during an in-class session cannot generally be made up, because the work is collaborative and time-bound. Where a make-up is possible, I will offer it. Missing a client-facing session (9/16, 9/30, 10/21, 11/4, 11/18) or a site visit (9/2, 10/14, 12/16) requires advance notice. If circumstances arise that will keep you out for an extended period, contact me early. There is almost always a path forward if we start it soon enough.

Late Work

Client-facing deadlines are firm. The five Intelligence Reports reviewed by the research client (#1, #3, #6, #8, #10) must arrive on time; the client's review is scheduled around them and cannot be rescheduled. A client-facing report submitted after the deadline may be accepted for partial credit at the instructor's discretion but will not go to the client. All other assignments may be submitted up to three days late with a deduction of 10% of the possible points per day. In-class deliverables (Convergence Record & Briefing Plan; Case Briefing Role Assignment, Slides and Talking Points) are due at the end of the session in which they are produced and are not accepted late, because they document work performed in that session. If something prevents you from meeting a deadline, please inform me before the deadline rather than after. I am far more able to help in advance.

Communication

Email is the best way to reach me and I reply within one business day, Monday through Friday. Questions of general interest are best raised in class or on the Canvas discussion board so that everyone benefits from the answer. For anything sensitive — a case that has become difficult, a wellbeing concern, an accommodation — email me directly or stop by during my office hours.

Excused Absences

Excused absences may include participation in university-approved activities; absences due to pregnancy or childbirth; religious and civic events; military service; threats to personal safety; and documented illness. Communicate all excused absences to your instructor in writing via email. You are responsible for providing all necessary documentation for the excuse. See the IU Indianapolis Missed Class Time Policy for more information.

Technology in the Classroom

During lecture and guest speaker sessions, keep devices on the task at hand. During Working Sessions, devices are the workspace. On Teams sessions with the research client, cameras are on unless you have arranged otherwise with me in advance.

Recording

Class sessions and client sessions may not be recorded.

Workload Expectations (IU Policy ACA-86, Credit Hour Standards)

According to IU’s ACA-86 policy, at a minimum, 3-credit hour courses must meet the following requirements: 150 minutes of instruction each week and 300 minutes of student effort outside of class each week. This class has been intentionally designed to meet that expectation.

Weather and Emergency Pivots

If the university closes — or severe weather, a building or lab outage, or another emergency makes it unsafe or impossible to meet — a scheduled in-person session converts to online synchronous delivery rather than being lost. Watch Canvas and your IU email for an announcement with instructions. Unless the announcement says otherwise, all due dates stand.

Academic Misconduct

I believe in, and I am required to uphold and enforce rules against cheating, dishonest conduct, plagiarism, and collusion. Any form of academic misconduct will result in an automatic “0” on the course assessment in question. For assignments designated to be completed outside of class, you are expected to work independently unless the task is explicitly assigned as a team project. Cite everything you draw on in your written work, including any permitted AI assistance per the course AI policy on Canvas.

Course Modification

The instructor reserves the right to change the syllabus throughout the semester. Any changes will be announced in class and/or electronically via email or Canvas.

 

 Grading

Your final grade is the total points you earn divided by the total points available — 630 points for undergraduate students and 670 points for graduate students — expressed as a percentage and converted using the scale below. Grades are not curved.

Grading Scale

Grades are calculated based on the following scale: A+ 97–100; A 93–96.9; A− 90–92.9; B+ 87–89.9; B 83–86.9; B− 80–82.9; C+ 77–79.9; C 73–76.9; C− 70–72.9; D+ 67–69.9; D 63–66.9; D− 60–62.9; F 0–59.9.

Per university graduate school policy for students enrolled in V 550 and J 550, any grade below C is considered a failing grade.

 

 

 Assessments

Attendance and Participation (100 points)

This course treats the classroom as an active workspace and, deliberately, as a safe-to-fail space. A safe-to-fail space is an environment where you are expected to try, test your thinking, and sometimes get things wrong without penalty. Investigative work is difficult and uncertain, and the skills it demands are built through practice, not performance. What is evaluated in this assessment is your engagement with the materials and contributions to the learning environment: showing up, preparing, participating, and demonstrating your learning in real time. You are rewarded for the effort of engaging, not punished for arriving at an imperfect answer while you are still actively learning.

Rather than relying on quizzes and extensive group work completed outside of class, this course places a premium on what you contribute in the room: your preparation, your judgment, and your collaboration with fellow investigators. Attendance is therefore expected at every session, and participation is assessed through the following:

• Readiness Checks. Brief, low-stakes checks at the start of select sessions confirm that you have completed the assigned reading and are prepared to engage. These are not high-pressure examinations; they reward consistent preparation and help you build the doctrinal foundation you will need for the final exam. The full range of Readiness Checks is available on Canvas.
• In-Class Activities. Learning in this course happens by directly applying the course material. In-Class Activities are hands-on tasks completed during our sessions, and they vary in length and intensity. Some are brief, quick-turn problems that take a few minutes, while others are extended exercises that anchor an entire class. What they share is that they ask you to apply what you learned in the materials assigned for that specific class session.
• Working Sessions. Much of your investigative work happens individually, but will conduct this research as part of an investigative unit. Working sessions are structured periods of active exchange with your Unit: talking through findings, testing one another's conclusions, using your Unit's whiteboard and other materials to build a shared knowledge base for your investigation, and, most importantly, contributing to your Unit's Digital Intelligence Board. Your engagement in working sessions includes actively listening, contributing results, and advancing your unit's collective understanding and findings.

From time to time, you may receive written feedback from the instructor on your attendance or participation. This feedback is offered to help you grow as a student, scholar, and professional, not to penalize you. You are expected to take feedback seriously and course-correct accordingly, so that you can make the most of your learning experience in this class.

 

Personal Resilience & Wellbeing Protocol (25 points)

Drawing on assigned readings and materials, you will design a Personal Resilience & Wellbeing Protocol: a practical, individualized resource that identifies the risk factors for vicarious trauma experienced by human rights practitioners, the evidence-based protective actions you will practice, and the resources you will seek out should you experience any of those risk factors. You cannot proceed with the investigative work in this course until this assignment is complete. See Canvas for full instructions. Submit your Personal Resilience & Wellbeing Protocol by 8/30/2026.

Case Selection (20 points)

In this short assignment, you will formally assign yourself to the case you wish to investigate over the semester. This is not an extensive research task; rather, it establishes your case affiliation and demonstrates a basic understanding of the source(s) of human rights violations occurring within your case. This foundational understanding can be drawn from established and reputable media outlets, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International. See Canvas for full instructions. Submit your Case Selection by 9/6/2026.

Nexis Uni certification courses (3 @ 30 points)

These three Nexis Uni® certification courses build progressively toward the research skills and fluency professional-grade atrocity documentation demands. Each Nexis Uni® certification course concludes with a certificate that can be added to LinkedIn as verifiable evidence of a professional research skill valued across sectors. Submit each certificate to Canvas by the due dates below. 

Graduate Students Only: The Reproducibility Standard (40 points)

Drawing on the course materials, explain in 3–4 pages how a human rights investigator can develop systematic searches to identify credible evidence of human rights violations. What inputs, tools, strategies, resources, and outputs are appropriate? While no two investigations are identical, how can a researcher achieve a level of reproducibility in their investigation that would withstand scrutiny from a client, a court, or a peer reviewer? See Canvas for full instructions. This assignment is due to Canvas on 10/14/2026.

 

Intelligence Reports (10 @ 15 points each)

Over the course of the semester, you will submit 10 Intelligence Reports to document your research findings, progress, and challenges. Students are required to use the technical and reporting infrastructure provided by the instructor to document and report findings, progress, and challenges. Intelligence Reports should reflect new findings developed since your previous submission. Reports alternate between review by the research client and structured in-class peer review. Client-reviewed reports are due Sunday before the Wednesday class session; peer-reviewed reports are due Tuesday before the Wednesday class session. See Canvas for full instructions. Intelligence Reports should be submitted to Canvas based on the table of due dates below.

Investigation Dossier (60 points)

Students will submit a final Investigation Dossier compiling the evidence developed over the course of their investigation. The Dossier must be constructed using the technical and reporting infrastructure provided by the instructor, and must open with a one-page, single-spaced BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) synthesizing all findings. The body of the Dossier presents the evidentiary record: what you established, the sourcing and archiving for each item, how items were corroborated, and limitations of your findings. The Dossier closes with a one-to-two-page Engaged Reflection. Submit to Canvas by 12/01/2026.

Analytic Line Memo (25 points)

In advance of your Unit's Case Briefing, you will independently draft an Analytic Line Memo that states, in your own judgment, what your Unit's central findings are. Written before your Unit convenes to reconcile its work in-class, this memo captures your individual assessment of the investigation while it is still your own, uninfluenced by group discussion. Memos in each Unit will be reconciled during the in-class Convergence Session, and the analytic findings that emerge from your Unit's in-class Working Session on 12/2/2026 will anchor your Case Briefing on 12/16/2026. See Canvas for full instructions. Submit your Analytic Line Memo to Canvas by 11/22/2026.

Convergence Record & Briefing Plan (30 points)

Following submission of your individual Analytic Line Memos, your Unit will spend the entire session on 12/2/2026 in a structured Convergence Session to reconcile your independent assessments and organize your strongest work into a set of thematic analytic streams. In the same session, you will build your plan for your Case Briefing. This deliverable is deliberately designed so that reconciling your findings and preparing your briefing are one continuous act. By the end of the session, your Unit should be able to deliver its briefing directly from this record. Submit your Convergence Record & Briefing Plan by the end of class on 12/02/2026.

The Briefing Book (30 points)

Building on the Convergence Record & Briefing Plan submitted on 12/2/2026, your Unit will devote the entire session on 12/9/2026 to a structured Prep Session for your Unit's live Case Briefing to the research client on 12/16/2026. During the Prep Session, your Unit will (1) assign presentation roles for the live briefing, (2) structure, populate, and polish the briefing slide deck, and (3) develop evidence-based talking points keyed to your Unit's analytic streams. By the end of the session, your Unit must have a fully formed Briefing Book uploaded to your Unit's Teams folder provided by the instructor. Individually, each student will submit a Word document containing: (1) links to each of the Unit's shared documents, (2) a record of your assigned role, (3) your talking points, and (4) the specific slides for which you are responsible. Submit your individual documentation to Canvas by the end of class on 12/09/2026.

Case Briefing (30 points)

The Case Briefing is your Unit's deliverable: a formal, oral presentation of your investigation's findings, delivered and defended under questioning before the research client. It is the point at which the semester's work — your Intelligence Reports, your Digital Intelligence Board, your individual Analytic Line Memos, your Unit's Convergence Session, and your Unit's Case Briefing Role Assignment, Slides and Talking Points — comes together into a single, coordinated analytic product. Case Briefings take place during the scheduled final exam period, Wednesday, December 16, 2026, 6:00–8:00 pm, in Lecture Hall 104, with the research client present.