Two
5-page papers, due Sept. 28 and Nov. 4 (15% each).
One 10-15 page paper (undergrads) or 15-25
page paper (graduate students), due Dec. 12. Final
paper now due WED. DEC 14 (30%)
Prior to turning in the final paper, you have to submit
a Sneak Preview (I will explain the format in class).
This is due Dec. 5, at 4:00;
it's not itself graded, but failing to turn it in on
time will incur a one-step grade penalty on your final
paper. (That is, an A becomes an A-, an A- becomes a B+ and
so on.)
Papers are to be submitted by 4:00 on the due date
to my mailbox, which is located in the Philosophy Department
Office, on the 4th floor of the Tanner Humanities Building
(CTIHB).
Late paper policy: the later the paper,
the harder it will be graded. No exceptions. The final
paper must be turned in on time; late final papers
will not be graded. Papers are to be submitted in printed,
not electronic, form.
In-class participation. (20%)
Participation is not the same as attendance; come
prepared to talk in class.
You will receive a mid-term participation
grade. (Note that this grade will reflect only your in-class
discussion, and not your overall performance in the class.)
Given the nature of this course, attendance is required, and
adjustments cannot be granted to allow non-attendance. However, if
you need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to
this attendance policy due to a disability, please contact the
Center for Disability and Access (CDA). CDA will work with us to
determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and
appropriate.
Weekly Assignments. (20%)
These consist of
microcommentaries:
typically a paragraph (not more than half a typed page)
in which you either explain a passage in the readings,
or you explain why you don't understand the passage.
(There's no grade penalty for choosing the latter option;
you will be graded on thoughtfulness. I will provide
a sample microcommentary on the first day of class.)
I will suggest passages (they will be posted on the
web page, under "Weekly Assignments", each Friday), but you are
free to explain a (short) passage of your own
choice instead. (However, to keep things fair, you
can't do a suggested
passage from a previous week, or a passage that was covered in class.)
The weekly assignments are
due Wednesdays at noon sharp,
and may be submitted either to my mailbox (located in the Philosophy
Department Office), or by
email (ascii text only in the message buffer, please;
no Word files or other
attachments).
Late weekly assignments will not be accepted.
Due to aggressive spam filters, if you submit your weekly assignments by email, you have to send them to
both of my email addresses, and retain a timestamped copy in your "Sent" box.
You
need to turn in ten of these; which weeks you skip is up to you;
however, you may not turn in more than one per week.
You can turn in 11 if you want, and if you do, I'll drop the
lowest grade.
Classroom etiquette:
Please be on time. This is a courtesy to your fellow students;
allow plenty of time to get to campus or from your previous classes.
No phone, no laptops, no tablets, no e-book
readers, and briefly, no electronic devices. These must
be put away during class. If you take a call or text during class,
you will be asked to leave.
(Since you have to have the week's reading available in class, this
means that you have to own print copies of the required textbooks.
E-books won't work in this class.)
No audio recording.
No food. Beverages are okay.
It should go without saying, but I'm actually
required, by the College of Humanities, to say it
anyway: be civil and courteous to your fellow
students.
(Some of my fellow teachers distribute lengthy
handouts detailing what that entails. In this
class, you're expected to be adults, and so you
know what that entails. But if you have any
questions about it, I can refer you to one of those
documents.)
Presentation.
(Updated:)
Students in 6480 will give a
15-20 minute presentation (topics and dates TBD);
students in 5480 may volunteer to present.
A presentation will
count for 10% of your grade, in which case weekly
assignments and participation will make up 15% each. (Guidelines)