Course Assignments

Your grade in this class is based on your performance on the following forms of evaluation.  Each of you starts with an “A” (500 points) and you move down from there.  The buffer for each full letter grade is 50 points.  Pluses and minuses are earned in the 15 point margins at the top/bottom of the letter grade range (i.e., students with 450-484 points will receive an "A-")in the course.  Once you go below the threshold for any given grade, there is virtually NO way to move back up.  Your continued enrollment means that you understand and accept this grading policy.  All written assignments should be typed, single-spaced, with 1” margins, and no more than a one line header with your name, the date, and the assignment.

A) Paidiea Memos (50 points): Every day, one of you will prepare a memo/abstract on a reading.  The memos should be no less than one page in length.  Pretty much, what I want you to do is summarize the reading and highlight the major issues raised by the reading.  Sum up the reading’s argument, point out central issues and concepts in the text, present 2 key quotes, and offer two questions or critiques that can serve as points of discussion (see model on the webpage).  I would like to post copies of the memo for your classmates, so a copy of your memo is due to me as an email attachment in “.doc” or “.rtf” format by 8am of the day your reading is assigned or you’ll lose 10 points.  If it appears that you may need to miss your day, it is expected that you will notify me no later than 8am by e-mail.  You will still be responsible to send a memo by midnight that day, but can only earn 30 points on it.  Memos will be judged on degree of completeness of the summary and thoughtfulness of the questions asked.  You will be expected to do one memo for a total of 50 points.  An example of a paidiea memo can be found by clicking HERE.

B) Engaging The Blog (100 points): Everyone doesn’t talk in class but everyone’s contribution to the class discussions is still necessary.  In order to make sure that everyone has a voice (and uses it), I am requiring every student to write comments about the course conversations or lectures.  Every student is required to initiate 10 threads on the course web-blog.  These threads will each be worth up to 10 points.  A thread can be a link to an interesting and relevant webpage (with an explanation), a link to a relevant report or article (with a summary), your comments on the class discussion or lecture, or questions that you might have for me or other students in the class.  Every thread will start at 8 points and work up from there based on how much interest it garners.  Yes, that means you should make your contribution worth our while.  In order for you to get credit for all of your contributions, you must ALSO comment on 10 other students’ contributions.  For each comment you’re missing, we will take away 3 of your points for your initiated threads.  The blog can be accessed from either the front-page or HERE.

C) Town Meetings (100 points): On 8 Fridays, we will hold a mock town meeting about an issue.  You will be responsible to serve as a panelist in one of the eight meetings.  I will evaluate you in two ways.  One half of the grade will be based on the persuasiveness of your arguments, your level of preparedness, and how convincing you are as that character.  I also suspect that some that evaluation will be based on your overall performance, so feel free to ham it up.  The other half of the grade will be based on a four-page paper that you will write, in character, explaining your position on your town meeting's issue.  This will help you organize your thoughts and give me some confidence that you aren't just making your argument up extemporaneously. The paper must include a minimum of 5 sources from the course readings or some other academic (non-website) source and should be sent to me as an email attachment by midnight of the day of your town meeting.   Click HERE for a link to a 3 page model town meeting (yours must be FOUR).

Extra Credit (Possible 16 points): Because town meetings are not intended solely as a learning opportunity for the people assigned to them, it is important that presenters remember that they are accountable to you, the other students in the class.  With that in mind, I have created an online response form where you can evaluate each presenters’ presentation.  In order to receive the two extra credit points, you have to complete the checkbox portion of the form, and you must give useful written comments to at least three of the presenters. These forms must be completed by the Saturday after the date of the town meeting being evaluated.  I will consider these comments when I grade the presenters and they will receive an anonymous summary of your rankings and comments with their grade.  Click HERE to access the reviews page.

D) Mini-Project (50 points): On January 14th, we will discuss Helms’ and Cross’ theories of minority and majority racial identity development.  You will then have a graded opportunity to take a self-assessment of your own racial identity development (BRIAS or WRIAS) and then write a 2 page response to the assessment’s findings.  The responses are due in class on January 19th.  Click on one of the clipboards for the BRIAS or WRIAS. 

E) Examinations (2 @ 100 points each): I would like for you to master the theoretical underpinnings of this class at the following levels of understanding: (1) basic knowledge, (2) comprehension and understanding, (3) application, and (4) analysis and comparison.  With that in mind, there will be two take-home examinations.  The first will be on the material from the theory unit of the course.  The second will be semi-cumulative and will require students to combine most of what they've learned in the class to answer the question successfully.  Six questions will appear on the first exam and students will be required to choose a subset of them to answer.  Because this is an open-book exam, appropriate citation will be required and expected.  The exam will be posted on the website on February 23 and will be due in Dr. Pitt's office by noon on February 27.  The second exam will have three possible questions and students are to pick one to answer.  Those exams will be posted on April 20 and are due in Dr. Pitt's office by 5pm on April 27.