home to my webpage, with office hours, etc...
Special Advice for First Year Students
Link to FLU INFORMATION FOR STUDENTS
My policies: You will NOT be penalized for missing class due to the flu. If you are sick, for Pete's sake, stay home and avoid contact with other people. If you have the flu, email me immediately. I will expect that you will miss a week's worth of classes, and we will make sure that you are excused from exam questions that cover that week.
For each class, I will post the powerpoints that accompany my lectures on the "powerpoints" website. Do NOT assume that the powerpoints themselves are a substitute for attending lecture or taking notes. They are intended as an outline only. In the past, students have found it very useful to print out the powerpoint slides before coming to class, so that they can take notes on what we discuss, and not try to write down the outline as we go through it. Honors Online syllabus with daily powerpoint slides
|
| Course Assignments |
The following is an overview of the assignments for this class. Exams. Your first exam will be on the nuts and bolts of the political system. Questions about current events, questions from the citizenship test, and questions from readings and lecture will all be fair game. The final exam will build on that knowledge, but will ask questions about material covered since the midterm. Readings. You will be expected to come to class every day having done the assigned reading, taken notes on its main points, and reflected upon what you have learned from it. Short Papers. You will write two short papers. The first will be a 3-5 page comparison between public media and commercial media. The second will be a paper analyzing a public policy issue and arguing for a particular solution or set of solutions. Based on your research on this paper, you will stage a debate on that issue for the class. I will be happy to go over a draft of your essay with you in office hours, but I will not give drafts a thorough pre-grading reading. I require that all papers submitted in my classes also be uploaded to turnitin.com. For instructions on how to use turnitin.com, follow this link. How to Guard Against Plagiarism
|
| Grade distribution and grading rubrics |
Your grade will be composed as follows: Final exam (25%)
|
| Other resources |
Writing center. I strongly advise all students to visit the writing center in Founders 190B and meet with a tutor for advice on paper drafts. The Writing center website also has some helpful advice about writing a strong thesis and citing sources. For other resources at USD and on the internet, click here. |