A Note on Plagiarism
I take plagiarism very seriously. In this course, plagiarism tends to take the form of cutting and pasting from the web for midterm and final papers. Don't fall into this easy trap! Your job is not to amass and re-organize a body of information and analysis written by others. Your job is to effectively communicate your own thoughts about what you've read.
Any and all written work must reflect your own thinking on the subject, and be crafted by you. Any cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of your major, and may result in failure of the course. You are expected to know the standards set forth in the MU code of academic honesty, as well as the dos and don'ts of plagiarism according to these handy guides from Purdue and Duke.
BE ESPECIALLY WARY OF THE TENDENCY TO CUT AND PASTE MATERIAL FROM THE WEB!! The same rules of plagiarism and referencing apply to electronic sources. When in doubt, speak with the TA or me about the appropriate ways to evaluate, use, and cite online sources. You might also consult the Chicago Manual of Style online.
Discussion Sections meet every week on Friday (more or less – check the schedule!!). Your grade for Discussion Section will be based on attendance, class participation, and short assignments.
Quizzes are designed to reinforce your memory of important historical facts and themes. They will be multiple choice.
Midterm and Final Papers - These formal papers are separate components of an ongoing, semester-long project. You will select a current events topic in Latin America to research (due Sept. 13). The Mid-Term Paper (due Oct. 20) will explain your topic and why you chose it, and compare and contrast your sources. Your research mostly completed, you will spend the second half of the course developing connections between your current event and historical themes we have discussed in class. The Final Paper (due Dec. 6) should represent the culmination of your thinking about your chosen current event in a deeper, historically-minded way. You will receive more information about these assignments in class.
A Note on Class Attendance and Participation
Attendance in lecture is taken, and active participation (for instance, responding to questions by the professor) noted. At the end of the semester I compile these attendance and participation figures while calculating final grades, and use them as ‘extra credit' to bump up borderline cases (for instance, between an AB and an A, a C and a BC, or even an F and a D). In accordance with Marquette policy, I may withdraw anyone who misses more than three weeks worth of lecture and/or discussion section with a grade of WA.
General Policies
The class grading scale is: A = 93 and above, AB = 88-92, B = 83-87, BC = 78-82, C = 73-77, CD = 68-72, D = 60-67
Computer problems will not be accepted as an excuse for late or poorly executed work. Please start early on your Discussion Boards, and keep backups of your written work at all times.
If you have special needs , athletics conflicts, etc., you must submit them to me in writing WITHIN THE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF CLASS. Issues that arise during the semester must be addressed with me as soon as humanly possible.
In general, if you have any concerns or questions about your performance in the class, I encourage you to speak with me or the TA about them, the sooner the better.