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Aretha’s Rule—R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Respect is the key towards generating a fruitful discussion. Every person in the room is to be listened to and treated respectfully as one of the requirements of the class. You must give this respect to others, and expect to receive it in return. We should be able to have lively disagreements while remaining respectful to each other as individuals and members of the class. In class, we promise to do everything we can to create an environment in which all of you can express your views. The goal here is to create a safe space in which students can work out their thoughts, learn to back up these thoughts with evidence, and even disagree with one another in respectful and productive ways.

If you feel a lack of respect is going on in class, please let one of your professors know about it and we will do all we can to address the issue. You can phone, drop by our office hours, or even slip anonymous notes under our doors if necessary.

Attendance/“Personal Days”

Because this course centers primarily on discussion and in-class participation, the whole class needs your input if we are to join the great liberal arts conversation. In addition, students who lose too many class days will fall behind and miss crucial material. The attendance policy is therefore formulated to prevent excessive absences.

You may take up to four “personal days” or absences from class (2 for Dr. Skok and 2 for Dr. Goadrich); for these absences, you don’t need permission from me to be absent, or explain why you missed class. If you expect to be out of class due to school-sanctioned activities, like athletics or model UN, use your personal days for these absences. This absence policy is based on the rules of many employers, who give personal days but then may dock your pay if you exceed them. If you have absences above the four, you are responsible for contacting me as soon as possible and providing documentation to prove why you were absent. We reserve the right to decide whether an absence is acceptable or not. If it is not, grade penalties will apply.

Missing more than four sessions will bring down your final grade in the class 1/3 of a full grade point per session missed (eg. If you started with an A, you would go down to an A- on absence 5, to a B+ on absence 6, to a B on absence 7, etc.). If you start this class a few days late into the semester, you do not get more personal days.

You are responsible for making sure that your initials are on the sign-in sheet. Attendance is judged by the sheet, which we will pass around every day at the beginning of class. If you forget to sign in, we cannot go back later and add your name.

Participation

Participation is vital to this course. You must do the assigned reading before class, and come prepared to discuss it. In class, we promise to do everything we can to create an environment in which all of you can express your views. The goal here is to create a safe space in which students can work out their thoughts, learn to back up these thoughts with evidence, and even disagree with one another in a respectful and productive way.

As a minimum standard for adequate class preparation, all students must be conversant with the argument and contents of the reading or tutorials. You must also choose one short quotation and one longer passage from every assigned reading and be prepared to present them in class discussion. You should be able to explain why you chose the quotation & passage you did. Why did they catch your eye? What did you learn from them about the author, the argument, or the time period? How does the passage help you to understand the document as a whole?

Late Papers

Similar to the absence policy, late papers will decline in value by 1/3 of a full grade point for every day that they are late, (i.e. from an A to an A-, from an A- to a B+, etc). If you think you will be late with a paper, please contact us as soon as you can before the paper is due.

Disabilities

It is the policy of Hendrix College to accommodate students with disabilities, pursuant to federal and state law. Students should contact Julie Brown in the Office of Academic Success (505.2954; brownj@hendrix.edu) to begin the accommodation process. Any student seeking accommodation in relation to a recognized disability should inform the instructor at the beginning of the course.

Academic Honor

As stated in the Hendrix Academic Integrity Policy, all students have agreed to adhere to the following principles:

• All students have an equal right to their opinions and to receive constructive criticism.
• Students should positively engage the course material and encourage their classmates to do the same.
• No students should gain an unfair advantage or violate their peers' commitment to honest work and genuine effort. It follows that any work that a student submits for class will be that student's own work. The amount of cooperation undertaken with other students, the consistency and accuracy of work, and the test-taking procedure should adhere to those guidelines that the instructor provides.
• Members of the Hendrix community value and uphold academic integrity because we recognize that scholarly pursuits are aimed at increasing the shared body of knowledge and that the full disclosure of sources is the most effective way to ensure accountability to both ourselves and our colleagues.

Grading