Attendance

In a small seminar like this one, regular attendance is crucial.  When you miss class, you can’t be part of the discussion, you won’t understand the relevance of the reading and writing assignments, and you will fall behind. Thus, uneven attendance, including late arrivals to class, will affect every other aspect of this course on which your learning depends.  If you have a legitimate reason for missing class (e.g., religious holiday, family emergency, illness), please contact me ASAP.

More than two unexcused absences will negatively affect your grade.  Three absences of any kind will result in an automatic C for participation.  Five absences of any kind will result in an F for the course.

Late or Missed Assignments

You will be doing a lot of writing this semester, and it’s important that you not fall behind.  Many of the writing assignments are preparing you for the work of a particular day’s class, so missing an assignment will indicate to me that you’re not prepared for class.  In addition, the less writing you’ve produced, the less you’ll have to select from when preparing your portfolios.  For all of these reasons, I will not normally accept late work.  If you anticipate a problem meeting a deadline, tell me about it sooner not later, and if possible, we will work something out.

Intellectual Honesty

Writing and reading are social and socializing activities, and more often than not in this course, you will be responding to and building on the ideas of other texts and readers.  I encourage you to discuss the reading and writing assignments with anyone in or outside the class.  In addition, I will frequently ask you to read and respond to one another’s work.  Should you find yourself drawing on any of these discussions in your written work, I ask that you include an acknowledgement statement.  E.g., I would like to thank my classmate Pheobe Jones for her feedback on an earlier draft of this essay.  Or,My idea for this blog post originated in a discussion I had yesterday with my roommate Mike Miller.

If you have any questions about how to use or cite published sources (we’ll be following  MLA rules), consult your St. Martin’s Handbook or the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) or ask me.

Instances of plagiarism, representing without attribution the ideas of others, will be dealt with according to the procedure outlined in the most recent version of your student handbook.  You are responsible for reading and adhering to the College’s “Principles of  Intellectual Honesty” explained there.

Requests for Academic Accommodation

In compliance with Lafayette College policy and equal access laws, I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that you require as a student with a disability.  Except in unusual circumstances, requests for academic accommodations need to be made during the first two weeks of the semester so that arrangements can be made.  Students must register with the Office of the Dean of the College for verification and for determination of reasonable academic accommodations.

Federal Credit Hour Requirement

The student work in this course is in full compliance with the federal definition of a four credit hour course. This means that I will require you to attend several events outside the class hours.  Please see the Lafayette College Compliance webpage on the Registrar’s site for the full policy and practice statement.

 

No Food or Drink During Class

Screen shot 2013-08-24 at 6.22.44 PMI realize this is a tough one (for me too), but we cannot risk spilling anything on the equipment in P28.