Announcements
Bookmark this page as your main entry point to the course website. That way, you’ll be sure to see any changes and other information I’ve posted here.
Current Announcements (2)
Grades are posted
29 May 2024
Course grades have been posted to CUNYfirst. Have a great summer!
Grading page updated
28 May 2024
The grading page has been updated with all papers I have received and a provisional grade for the course. If there is an assignment or revision you’re sure you submitted but that isn’t reflected on the grading page, please contact me immediately.
Official grades will be posted to CUNYfirst on Wednesday.
I was very impressed by a lot of the written work for this semester—there were some seriously thoughtful papers and papers this time around, and for many of you the effort at insight and scholarship really came through. Thanks for your hard work in your assignments as well as in our class discussions. I hope you have a safe and happy summer break and that you enjoy success in your future endeavors.
Archive
Final Exam grades and markups posted
26 May 2024
The grades and markups for the Final Exam are posted on the My Grades page on the course website.
Remember, the “Grade so far” calculation is provisional. If you have any missing assignments or reversible deductions, please submit them to BlackBoard as soon as possible to bring about the highest possible course grade. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to seek me out by email.
Position Paper grades and markups posted
21 May 2024
The grades and markups for the Position Paper are posted on the My Grades page on the course website.
If you have any questions about the grades, comments, or deductions, please don’t hesitate to seek me out by email.
Reversible deductions. Some of you may find that you received “reversible deductions” for issues relating to formatting and citations. The good news is, those are points that you can get back. Check the cover page of your markup to see if there are any check marks and points taken off next to the reversible deductions. If there are, I made notes on the cover sheet or in the essay about the issue, and included a handout with the requirements.
Please resubmit your essay to BlackBoard with those problems fixed, and I’ll be in a position to reverse those deductions. Only reversible deductions can be reversed, so don’t resubmit for anything other than reversible deductions.
Missing essays. If you have not gotten your paper in, please do so as soon as you can. In terms of your course grade you’re better off with any grade, even with a lateness penalty, than a zero for the assignment. Remember also that the lateness penalty is capped at a maximum of 30 points, so turning your paper in, even very late, is better than not doing so.
The deadline for all late papers and resubmissions is May 27. I will not accept any papers after that date.
Good luck on the exam!
20 May 2024
Email me with any questions about the exam! I’ll also be in my office from 5 p.m. on if there’s anything you need to discuss regarding the exam, late papers, reversible deductions, and the like.
The exam will take place Tuesday, May 21 from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m. in our usual room. See you then!
Quiz #9 grades and markups posted
16 May 2024
The grades and markups for Quiz #9 are posted on the My Grades page on the course website.
I strongly recommend spending a moment to take a look at my commentary on the quiz, as I use the markups and quiz notes to emphasize some of the key take-aways from last week’s topics. The Quiz Notes for this quiz are live on the Quiz Notes page and on the Print/PDF page, and are also included in the quiz markups.
Student Evaluation of Teaching and Learning (SETL)
13 May 2024
I’ve been asked to remind everyone about the student evaluations, as they’re looking for a higher proportion of respondents.
CUNY considers students’ assessments of their instructors to be an important tool, and that's a good thing. The survey plays a key role in allowing the College to respond to student needs and desires. Student evaluations of teaching and learning (SETL) results can be used:
- by faculty as feedback on their instruction and pedagogy;
- by faculty, departments, schools, and the college as one source of evidence of teaching effectiveness for annual reviews as well as for tenure and promotion considerations;
- by students as part of selecting courses and instructors;
- by the college as evidence of the student experience in Lehman College courses and for a variety of accreditation and other accountability processes.
You can find the SETL page for all your courses in your Lehman emails or by logging into Lehman 360.
Welcome to Week 13!
11 May 2024
This week we’re discussing the ways in which women were involved the Roman religion. The religious practices and superstitions of the Romans themselves are interestingly peculiar, and the special cult of priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins, who were entrusted with the guardianship of the eternal flame, is distinctive. What do you think the existence and importance of the Vestals tells us about how the Romans thought about gender and the gods? The Chief Vestal is an unusual figure, too, representing the pure separateness of the Vestals and the status and responsibilities of a Roman noble matron. What else strikes you as telling about the prominence of women in Roman religion?
Personal letters are a great resource for historians because they offer a subjective, unguarded, and first-hand view of cultural norms and idiosyncratic relations to them. What stands out to you from Pliny’s letters about how he talks about women he admires?
Finally, Cato’s speech on the Oppian Law is in defense of conservative values, but it has an impact on wealthy women in Rome, who had been agitating politically to wear ornamentations again, even appearing in mass demonstrations in the Forum. What’s Cato afraid of?
Looking forward to an interesting discussion. See you Tuesday!