| ASA | Library | J-Stor | GSS | Schedule |
|---|
SOCI 337 Sociology of Gender
Bethany Bryson, Fall 2009
Office Hours: Tu & Th 1:30-4:00pm in 210 Sheldon Hall
Books, Materials and Other Essentials
Requirements
This class demands a sustained engagement with the readings and coursework throughout the term. No course work can be made up, and I do not accept any late work. Equitable leniencies are built into the timing and grading mechanisms described below. As you know, one unexpected snag can sometimes eat up lots of time. Budget accordingly!
| Grading Summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment: | Grading | Details | ||
| Reading Notes | 10% - one point per reading | See schedule for deadlines. | ||
| Application Essays | 40% - graded on a 8 pt scale | Due Wednesdays. Two grades dropped. | ||
| Two Exams | 25% - graded on a 100pt scale | SCHEDULE! Exams are only available for a 12 hour window | ||
| Forum Work | 25% - graded on a 12pt scale | SCHEDULE! 3 entries each time. 4pts each. | ||
10% Reading Notes - Four Deadlines Listed in the Schedule.
40% Application Essays - Two Grades Dropped. Due Every Wed. at 9:00pm, EST.
This is a writing-intensive course, and I have allocated half of your grade to these incremental writing assignments. Focus your energies here, and do not take them lightly. I grade the quality of your writing and the depth of your engagement with the material. Application Essays must be 250-400 words of text (NOT an attachment) and Reading Notes must be two sentences per reading submitted electronically via blackboard. (A "set" of reading notes is two sentences per reading for each of the readings due at a given point. This normally involves three weeks of notes or approximately nine readings.) You may work ahead on these assignments and turn them in early, but the deadlines are firm. See the "Important Stuff" section on Blackboard for specific instructions on these assignments.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING SURE THAT YOUR ENTRY HAS SUCCEEDED. Schedule extra time for this, and DOUBLE check to make sure that your homework really went where you think it did. Compose your entries in a text editor and keep backup copies so that Blackboard problems won't cause you to lose your work. I DO NOT ACCEPT EMAIL ATTACHMENTS in lieu of blackboard posts.
I drop two application essay grades, and reading notes are collected in batches to accommodate problems such as illness. Be warned, however, that those dropped assignments and timing leniencies are your forgivenesses. I will not consider further extensions or forgivenesses beyond these. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE DEADLINE TO DO YOUR READING NOTES. Missing and late assignments show up as zeros in the grade calculation. There are no individual exceptions to this rule!
25% Forum Work - Four Sessions in Schedule
On designated Wednesdays, you will choose one of your application essays for public posting, then you have from noon Thursday through the weekend to respond to three other posts. Be sure to schedule time for this activity; it constitutes a large portion of your grade. Your comment must make a new connection to one of our readings from the semester or a scholarly source from outside the class. (You cannot earn credit for connecting to a reading that has already been used). It will be useful to think of this activity as an essay exam. You will be graded for depth of engagement with the essay and the connected reading, and for the clarity and creativity of your entry. Comments must be 100-125 words in length. Your initial post (your application essay) is not graded, but you must post an application essay on time in order to earn credit for your comments in this exercise. I may also give extra credit to the entry that generates the best responses.
25% Exams - Two in Schedule
There will be two online exams, one at midterm and one on exam day. Both exams require Respondus Lockdown Browser. Be sure to schedule time for these in your calendar. I do not make individual exceptions for the timing of the exam. Exams may use essay, short answer, multiple choice, matching and true/false formats. The final exam will not be cumulative.
Important Note
There are further instructions for all these assignments on Blackboard. Please read them carefully. In particular, please note that in order to receive credit for making a connection to a reading, you must include the author's name in (parentheses).
Important Policies
Time: All deadlines refer to Eastern Standard Time.Grading Policies: I will not average your grade for you before I turn them in on ecampus. But here's what you need to know to calculate it yourself. Semester grades are calculated by converting point-based scores into percentages (9/12 = 75), weighting them according to the chart above, averaging them and converting the result to letter grades by the following conventions: Performance that exactly fits the requirements of an assignment is worthy of a C, not a score of 100%.
97-100 is an A+,
93-96 is an A,
90-92 is an A-,
87-89 is a B+,
and so on.
First-Week Attendance Policy At the instructor's discretion, any student registered for a class in the College of Arts and Letters who does not attend the first two (2) scheduled meetings of the class (or does not attend the first scheduled meeting of a class that meets once a week) may be administratively dropped from the class. For the purposes of online classes, it will be necessary to complete all assignments due during the first week in order to maintain enrolled status.
Enrollment Procedures: Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class schedules on e-campus.
Enrollment Deadlines: The deadline for adding a fall semester class without instructor and program coordinator signatures is Tuesday, September 1, 2009. After Tuesday, September 1, 2009, instructor and program coordinator signatures are required to add a class for Fall Semester 2009. NO STUDENT WILL BE ALLOWED TO REGISTER FOR A FALL SEMESTER CLASS AFTER Thursday, September 10, 2009.
Withdrawl: Please pay careful attention to the university's withdrawal policies, as well. Failing to withdraw from a course that you are not attending can be even more serious than taking a course in which you have not enrolled.
Blackboard and Computing Technology: It is your responsibility to save your work as you go, backup your files, submit your work on time, and confirm that all work submitted via Blackboard has been successfully uploaded in a virus-free readable format. (Word documents must be in Microsoft Word, not WordPerfect format.) All these conditions require EXTRA effort to save files, back them up, budget time for technical difficulties, and to click-through to and confirm your uploads. I do not accept corrupt files as evidence of completed assignments.
Honor: I take the JMU Honor Code very seriously and I expect you to follow it. We may also collaborate in this class and use the discussion boards to help each other complete assigned tasks. If you are unsure about the distinction between collaboration and plagiarism, please ask questions before you submit someone else's work as your own! All quizzes, texts and exams should represent your own unaided work. Plagiarism and cheating are grounds for immediate course failure in addition to the university proceedings and are not subject to informal reconsideration.
No Make-up Exams: Tests, exams and quizzes cannot be made up. I may, at my discretion, enter a grade other than zero for the missed exam based on your pervious work. You cannot pass the class if you miss more than one test.
Access and Learning Needs: If you have a letter from JMU's Office of Disability Services, please bring it to me during the first week of class. If you are not familiar with the center, but you have a concern about access, the Americans with Disabilities Act, or problems with recurrent depression or other illnesses that affect your schoolwork, I urge you to see your doctor and the ODS at the start of the semester to discuss your needs and options. (Of course, I'll be happy to talk to you before you go, if you like.) IF YOU FEEL YOU PERFORM WORSE WHEN YOU TAKE TESTS ONLINE THAN ON PAPER, PLEASE TELL ME THIS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SEMESTER!
Special Circumstances: I am generally opposed to changing any of the rules described above for the special circumstances of individual students. The reason is only that there are so many other deserving candidates who haven't asked. As a result, you can expect me to reject most of your requests for individual exemptions, but you can also expect me to give serious consideration to broader changes that might improve conditions for the whole class. Try to think sociologically (perhaps even collectively?) about your problem before you bring it to me, and you'll get better results. Read this ("The Promise") for help framing your argument.
Note: The conditions of this syllabus are subject to change as discussed online.