EXPECTATIONS REGARDING STUDENT CONDUCT

All students are expected to know the rules regarding plagiarism. Plagiarism is a serious violation of the academic code. It is cause for expulsion in many schools. Ignorance is not an excuse. Other teachers may not enforce the rules; that is also NOT an excuse. If you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism, educate yourself! Look closely at all the eye-opening examples here. Students are often surprised to learn that what they consider standard practice is actually plagiarism.

Any direct quote or close paraphrase without proper citation — any use of anybody else’s words without giving proper credit — is plagiarism. In addition to the usual kinds of plagiarism (stealing sentences, paragraphs, papers, etc. from books or journals or web sites), it is also plagiarism to “answer” an essay question by cutting and pasting sentences from the study guide for this class. Remember I wrote the study guide. If you cut and paste from the study guide, you are plagiarizing my own sentences back to me. I will notice.

Any student who violates the academic code (e.g., by cheating or plagiarism) will, at minimum, receive a final course grade of F. This rule is rigidly enforced.

According to the catalog, instructors may drop students “... when accumulated hours of absences exceed ten percent of the total number of hours the class meets during the semester.” I may exercise this option. But the main responsibility lies with you. If you want to drop the class, it is YOUR responsibility to do so.

The last day to drop with a W is usually about one month before the end of the semester. Check the Schedule of Classes for the exact date.

In summary,

• Class requires at least 11 hours a week.
• Log in to Angel at least twice a week to get announcements and follow Discussions.
• Use Angel Discussions to ask questions.
• Have a backup plan in case you have computer problems.
• Be sure you know what plagiarism is.
• Don't plagiarize.

GRADING

• Three exams.

  Exam 1 covers Parts 1-4 and is worth 20% of the final grade.

  Click to see sample exam 1.

  Exam2 covers Part 5 and is worth 12%. Click to see sample exam 2.

  Exam3 covers Part 6 and is worth 12%. Click to see sample exam 3.

• Final exam (20%), comprehensive, but with special emphasis on Parts 7 and 8.

  The final will be objective, with optional extra-credit essay questions. The optional essay questions are available within Angel all semester.

  Click to see sample final exam.

• Term paper (20%) — see below.

• 8 short-essay assignments, worth 2% each, for a total of 16%. There are detailed descriptions of each assignment within Angel.

• Extra credit opportunities may be given, at my discretion. I do not give special extra credit assignments to individual students. If extra credit is offered, it will be offered to all students in the class.

Objective exams must be taken on the appointed days. Angel must receive essay assignments by 11:00 PM on the appointed days. Angel does not allow you to submit assignments after 11:55 PM on the due dates. Be sure to plan your time accordingly. Except in cases of extreme, documented, emergency, no late assignments will be accepted and no makeup tests will be given.

Tests not taken or assignments not handed in receive a grade of 0 (no points — by contrast, even an F can be as much as 55% of assignment points). When averaged into your other grades, a 0 on the final or term paper will lower your grade at least two letters.

Some instructors permit you to hand in an assignment, receive comments, revise the assignment, and hand it in again for a higher grade. I do NOT do that.

Some instructors permit you to drop your lowest grade. I do NOT do that.

This class can be taken for credit/no credit. This means that if you get an A, B, or C, you get a final grade of "CR" and 3 units; otherwise, you get "NCR" and no units. You must declare your intention to take the class with this option during the first six weeks of class. Please let me know in writing by March 15, 2006.

Important deadlines:

TERM PAPER TOPICS

1. Write an essay analyzing a disagreement that turns on definition. For example, analyze “Everyone who uses refined sugar is a drug abuser” or “Commander Data is not a person”. A good source for the latter is Can Animals and Machines Be Persons? by Justin Leiber. The “Measure of a Man” episode of Star Trek: Next Gen is also good, as well as various science fiction novels, including The Positronic Man by Asimov and Silverberg.

2. Critically analyze: “What’s true for one person isn’t necessarily true for another. What’s moral for one person isn’t necessarily moral for another. Everything is just a matter of opinion.” (Sounds familiar? It’s Fred’s view in DR.)

3. Critically analyze: “Science is just like religion, because both serve as mental filters to keep out unwanted data. You can’t convince a religious person that God doesn’t exist and you can’t convince a scientist to accept miracles. So both religion and science are equally prejudiced.” See Feyerabend, SV.

4. Critically analyze: “Misunderstandings between races and sexes can never really be bridged. A white person can never really understand what life is like for a person of color, any more than a man can really understand what it’s like to be a woman.”

5. Write an essay that critically analyzes a particular pseudo-science or field of the paranormal, e.g., scientology, feng shui, graphology, creationism, palm reading, “pyramid power,” the Gurdjieff movement, transcendental meditation, psychics, the Rosicrucian order, dowsing, ESP, Nostradamus, shamanism, homeopathy, the hollow earth theory, etc. Get ideas from SV Ch 8 and 9, Dr. Simanek's home page (many good links), The Skeptic's Dictionary, Carl Sagan’s Demon-Haunted World, and/or check out the Skeptical Inquirer articles online, published by the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.

6. Write an essay on the extent to which critical thinking, especially critical thinking about politics, is hampered by popular culture (e.g., TV) and commercial news media. Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death is an excellent resource.

7. Some people say that if a belief makes you feel good, you should go ahead and believe it, whether or not it’s rational. Others say you should strive to have only true or well-supported beliefs. Is there anything problematic maintaining beliefs you know to be irrational or questionable? Why or why not? The philosophy of William James, especially his essay The Will to Believe is relevant here.

8. Daniel Harris, in his recent book Cute, Quaint, Hungry, and Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumer Culture argues that popular notions of "cuteness," "quaintness," "zaniness," "naturalness," "cleanness," “deliciousness,” "glamorousness" and so on (in the words of Greg Villepique in his online review in Salon.com) “are artificial fabrications of the capitalist machine. What we think of as our unique tastes are rooted in how we are sold what we buy; movies, TV and magazines shape our ideals.” Read Harris’ book (it’s not long and it’s very funny, IMHO) and critically analyze Harris’ argument.

CRITERIA FOR GRADING WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

Please do not ask me “what I want” on written assignments until you have carefully read this section and the section Key to Paper Comments .

All take-home essays (including, of course, the term paper) must be typed double-spaced. Worry if any essay comes out too short. Each essay exam answer should be at least 2-3 typewritten pages long (500 words). That is the minimum required. Page counts here refer to pages of text. Cover sheets, works cited, illustrations, samples of advertisements, pictures, cartoons, or other visual aids do not count as text.

On all essays, I will be looking for the following 3 elements:

1. Clear statement of relevant arguments and counter- arguments

2. Demonstrated familiarity with techniques and vocabulary of argument analysis

3. Competent English skills

Clear statement of relevant arguments and counter-arguments

One primary purpose of essays for this class is to clearly state the main arguments and counter-arguments. Do not merely summarize class notes. Do not vent your unanalyzed personal feelings or relate your autobiography — although you can certainly argue for positions that accord with your personal feelings.

Demonstrating familiarity with assigned readings means, at minimum, naming all the relevant assigned authors and giving them credit for the arguments they gave. The more precisely and accurately you state and analyze someone's argument, the better.

Demonstrated familiarity with techniques and vocabulary of argument analysis.

Essays should also demonstrate familiarity with the techniques and vocabulary of argument analysis. In other words, you must appropriately analyze and critique the arguments and counterarguments in the reading, using, for example, the Critical Thinking Checklist. You must note and explain logical and factual errors and obvious fallacies. The dialog format (like DR) is always acceptable for essays in this class.

I assign essays so you can demonstrate skill and clarity in marshaling, presenting, and criticizing arguments. You are not expected to present original arguments or break any new ground. You are not required to “state your own personal views.” Please do not feel compelled to make one author or position come out “the winner”; the issues we will be discussing are often complicated, and every contributor may say at least some worthwhile things.