Expectations

Attendance and Participation

• Participation in online discussion is a required part of the course.Missing classes will damage your grade.
• Textbooks are designed to give you the basics; in our class meetings we try to make sense of things, and sift out what’s important. Missing classes means you miss out on a key part of our trying to put things together.
• If you miss quizzes, it will put a big crimp in your grade for the course. Quizzes are not made up, so the quizzes you miss will count against you.
• Religious observances that affect your class attendance should be discussed in advance.
• Online discussion is done textually using Disqus. To test your Disqus login or find out about creating one, go to the course’s Disqus test page.
• Because this is an online course compressed into only three weeks, DAILY PARTICIPATION IS ABSOLUTELY VITAL.
• If you want to pass this course, you must work on this course every day as if it were an entire week during a normal semester. We have 11 meetings, which means every day is equivalent to a weekly double class.
• Block out time every day for this course.
• You need to allot time every day for readings and responses. You must do the readings and respond to them intelligently and interactively every day. Your participation in discussion area must be intensive and thoughtful. One sentence every now and then will not do. I expect you to think about the issues and discuss them in depth. By doing so, you get a better understanding of the role of gender in human society through the places and times we are encountering. Your online commentary and conversations in the discussion area are a major part of your grade.
• You also need to plan additional time for the writing assignments. There are two essays plus a final exam. These writing assignments will come up very quickly and they can’t be done at the last minute, which means you MUST diligently work on them every day throughout the three weeks of the course.
• You need to keep up with the work—reading, discussing, and writing—because if you fall behind there won’t be much time to catch up.
• Don’t assume you’ll be able to finish later, after the course ends! I do not give incompletes unless some emergency has occurred that’s disrupted your normal participation in the course, AND we’ve discussed and agreed on the grounds for giving an incomplete prior to the end of the semester.
• You can work ahead, and you can even comment on future readings in the thread for that day before we actually, officially get to that topic—but you still need to come back on the day and participate in the conversation and react to what others have said.

Guidelines

Don’t waste this opportunity!Make the most out of this class.

• Please use me as a resource.Interact with me in class meetings online or send me emails with any questions you have—whether they relate to the requirements of the course, or to ideas we’re reading about or discussing in class.
• Come to the class meetings prepared.By prepared, I mean you should have done the readings and videos for that day—and thought about them. Come in ready to talk about your reactions to the readings and the videos, and the questions they raised in your mind.
• Check your email.Make sure I have a good email address for you and check it, as I occasionally send information and updates by email. If you have not gotten an email from me within the first week after school begins, check your spam folders. If you can’t find an email from me, send me an email to let me know how best to reach you.
• Talk to me if you’re struggling. Reach out to me via email, and the sooner the better. Don’t wait until it’s too late to turn things around.

Submitting Assignments

• All written assignments must be submitted via BlackBoardusing the upload links there. BlackBoard is accessed through CUNY Login. If you have trouble with BlackBoard, please call the IT helpdesk at (718) 960-1111 or go the Lehman College BlackBoard support page. I won’t accept written assignments by email. If BlackBoard itself is down, I’ll announce alternative arrangements to the class.
• Late assignments will be marked down.I’ll still accept late submissions, but there will be a penalty that will hurt your grade.
• Written assignments will be marked down one letter grade per class meeting after the assignment due date, up to a maximum of 30 points. That means you’re still better off turning in your paper late, and having it be marked down, than not turning it in at all.
• I do not give extra credit opportunities except to the entire class. I do not grade on a curve.
• I do not give incompletes unless we’ve discussed and agreed on the grounds for giving one prior to the final exam.
• Make-up assignments or exams are given only in cases of documented medical emergency or comparable life disruption.
• I do not accept rewritten essays after an assignment has been submitted, graded, and returned; but some deductions are reversible (see the sample grading sheet on the Requirements page).
• Any instances of plagiarism, whether on essays, papers, quizzes, or exams, will have dire consequences. See the policies page for what counts as plagiarism and the penalties involved in presenting the work of others as your own.