Participation: You should come to class having completed the reading for that day and with the relevant materials.  Be prepared to play an active role in class discussion.  Participating means not only making thoughtful contributions concerning the assigned texts, but also actively reading the materials under consideration as well as engaging the ideas of your classmates (10%).

Reading Response: Each week you will respond to a set of readings in a 200 to 300-word (double-spaced) assignment that will be due every Monday.  We will post prompts on the course website to help focus your work, and collect these responses in hard copy at the beginning of class (15%).

Papers: You will have a paper due on July 19th that will address some of the topics of the first unit. This paper will be three pages (double-spaced) and use proper citation (15%).

Presentations: At the beginning of the term we will form presentation groups.  These presentations will have two components: First, you will work with your group to post an entry to the class blog that covers what you see as the key issues of the material for which you are responsible.  Secondly, we will have in-class presentations, 15 minutes in length, which should build on the blog entry and work to relate the material for that session to the overall themes of the course.  You should choose a date on the syllabus based on your interests, though keep in mind that topics will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis (15%).

Quizzes and Exams: There will be regular quizzes (approximately weekly) as well as a midterm and final exam (45%).