Course Requirements
Two short papers (2–3 pages), due Wednesday, February 3 and Wednesday,
February 17 (each worth 25% of the final grade).
One longer paper (6–8 pages) (worth 50% of the final grade), due Wednesday,
March 17.
The paper assignments are already available on-line, and are links to them
from this syllabus (see above, also in the Readings section on the appropriate
date) as well as from my main course page and on the Canvas site. I will discuss
the assignments in class when the due date draws near. You can find answers to
some commonly asked questions about my assignments and grading in my
FAQ.
Papers are to be handed in, as attachments, via the “Assignments” tool on
Canvas. Please submit in MSWord format or in a format easily convertible to
MSWord (e.g., Open Office, plain text, or RTF). The system will accept late
submissions, but late papers may not receive full credit. The system is
not set
up to allow resubmissions: once you press the “submit” button, it will
not let you change your response. If, however, you mistakenly submit
something and want to change it, please contact me and I can make an
exception.
All assignments are due by 11:55pm on the due date.
Please do not plagiarize. If you do and I catch you, you will receive no credit
for the assignment and may fail the course, and you will also be subject to
“disciplinary sanctions” from the University. (In contrast: if you hand in a paper
consisting mostly of quotes from or paraphrases of other sources you have
consulted, properly cited, you will not get a good grade — a good paper will
contain your own interpretations and thoughts — but you will not fail, either.)
If you have any questions about what plagiarism is or how to avoid it,
you can ask me, or consult the resources listed on the Library website.
For possible consequences of plagiarism, see the Academic Misconduct
Policy.
I understand that conditions may be difficult, thanks to the continuing
pandemic, and will be flexible about due dates, etc., if necessary. But please try to
hand in work on time if you possibly can.
There will be live Zoom lectures at the scheduled course time. Live attendance
at these is not required (in general, I never require attendance at my
lectures), but I highly advise you to attend if possible. It will be difficult
for me to teach if there is no live audience at all. However, all lectures
will also be recorded and made available for viewing later (on YouTube).
Links to the recorded lectures will appear on this syllabus as they are put
up.