Literature review (20% of grade) due on Friday, December 8, 2:00pm

Term Paper: You will be required to prepare one written assignment (about fifteen pages) on a topic of your choosing. In this assignment, each student will be expected to explore a relevant issue in depth, and present a well reasoned and carefully formulated conclusion based on that exploration. You also have the option of developing a proposal for a research study. Whatever option you choose, I expect this to be a high quality research paper which makes use of relevant and current information that has been published in professional books and journals. My advice is that you start getting your information early in the semester, the college libraries are somewhat lacking in materials pertinent to this course so chances are that you will be getting much of what you need through interlibrary loan. As you know, this is a time consuming and somewhat awkward process so you should start working with the reference librarians as early in the semester as you possibly can. I would be happy to help at any stage.

Leading discussion (twice): (20% of grade each time)

Twice during the semester, each student will be responsible for leading class discussion on a particular topic. As you can see this assignment is worth the same amount of points as your literature review, I expect you to take it just s seriously and to devote a great amount of time to its preparation. Except for those leading discussion in the second class meeting, each group should make an appointment with approximately two-week before they are to lead a class discussion. By that time, I will expect you to have read the majority of the articles assigned. You will spend the next two weeks carefully thinking about them and devising a detailed course of action. There are a number of things that can be done and you should be as creative as you can. Ultimately the goal is to get the class to talk about the most important aspects of the material presented in the readings.

Weekly reaction papers (20% of grade)

Every week (weeks 2 through 11 only) each student should prepare a 3-4 page reaction paper based on the readings assigned. These papers are very important because they will serve as the basis for the weekly discussions. Reaction papers are due in my office no later than 4:00pm on Mondays.

Participation (20% of grade)

Class attendance is extremely important for your performance. A good portion of the total grade in the class will come from your weekly participation. You must participate in discussion every week. The reaction papers are, in part, designed help you think of the readings in ways that will lead to increased participation. Unless a dean's is furnished, an absence will result in the forfeiture of all class participation points to be allocated in that class meeting. No more than two class absences will be acceptable.

The class is organized as a weekly 2 hour and 30 minute discussion of pre-assigned readings. Each class is organized around a single topic. To quote a colleague from Wellesley: "a seminar consists of a highly-motivated group of people willing to invest a considerable amount of time and energy to think about a particular topic." Couldn't have put it better myself. My expectations are high!