Requirements:  One of the central objectives of this course is to develop skills for self-evaluation and critique.  The discriminating student reads closely, raises important questions, responds actively, and reflects on her/his own learning goals and progress.  To this end, your course grade will break down as follows:

Grading Scale:
465-500      A                         Outstanding, rich, and provocative work
450-464      A-
435-449      B+
415-434      B                         Very good work
400-414      B-
385-399      C+
365-384      C                         Satisfactory work, but lacking insight and/or grace
350-364      C-
335-349      D+
315-334      D                         Meets basic requirements, but falls short of expectations
300-314      D-
    0-299      F                         Fails to meet minimum standards on a significant portion
                                               of course work

Notebook (150 points maximum):  You will be expected to prepare diligently for each class session of this course and participate actively.  A four-part Notebook will help you organize your preparation and challenge you to improve on your participation.  Organize your notebook with tabs indicating the four sections and keep each of your entries in order within each section.  Each page of each section should be dated and the Notebook section (underlined words below) included in the corner heading along with your name.  You will frequently be asked to share something from your notebook in class.  Notebooks together with your self-evaluation will be presented for evaluation at three individual conferences.   The four sections will include the following:
    1)  The first section must contain Reading notes and questions tabulating your thoughts, responses, and questions as you read.  The purpose of this section is to provide a useful record of your engagement with the text as you seek to comprehend it on its own terms.  The more active your engagement, the more useful this section will be for you in discussion and review.  Since people read differently, however, you will want to figure out what works best for you.  Try keeping this section open and pen in hand while you read the assignments or--especially if you find the former method cumbersome--leave 10 minutes at the end of each reading session to record your responses.   It is often less advantageous to record facts and quotations than it is to engage the text by formulating questions inspired by the reading.  If your note-taking is copious, be sure to indicate pagination so that this section can be a useful resource for you in discussion and review.  Experiment to find the methods that work best for you.
     2)  The second and most important section must include take-home Study questions which you will respond to before each class after you have read the assignment in preparation for class discussion.  The purpose of this section is to challenge you to develop responses to questions posed in response to assignments so that you come more prepared for class discussions and so that you practice the transferable skill of sustained response (which is also useful for essay examinations, lively dinner conversations, and job interviews, etc.).  Practice using specific evidence and support from the course material to develop and demonstrate the points you make.  Because these study questions will provide the point of departure for class discussions, these questions will be collected and evaluated daily with a few exceptions.  Coming to class unprepared with your response will, therefore, significantly impact your Notebook grade.  Although you will often have several questions from which to choose, your response should focus on one question of your choice.  At a minimum, your response must fill one side of a notebook page (200 words approximately).  Electronic Option:  You may send your study question responses for each class via email if you choose.  However, your responses must be sent before class starts and you should collect printouts in your notebook.
     3)  The third section of the notebook is the place for In-class notes and writings including discussion notes (not just what the instructor says, but worthwhile comments made by classmates as well) and periodic free writes.  The purpose of this section is to provide a place for you to organize ideas generated in class discussion without interfering with your own participation in class.  Some students prefer to separate out their own thinking from what others in the class contribute by drawing a line down the center of the page or blocking out a corner for emerging thoughts or points that you want to raise if you can get into the discussion.  Note-taking is useful, but try to avoid getting so caught up in documenting what everyone says that you allow yourself no chance to participate in the discussion yourself.
    4)  In the Thinking section, you will be free to write whatever you want that you think is relevant to our study.  The purpose of this section is to allow you to reflect on your own process of examining life.  You may explore tangential issues, make contemporary or personal connections, and experiment with alternative styles of response (such as poetry, drawing, prayer, etc.).  Students who find the previous sections restrictive often excel in this section.  The depth and development of this section will demonstrate the responsibility you are taking for your own education but should not duplicate previous sections.  For example, you might use this section for comments on how "the examined life" theme or course readings relates to readings in your other classes or a film you saw on the weekend or the homily you heard in chapel or your job or volunteer site experiences.  Many students use this section to reflect on what they want to take away from each text once we have studied it together.

Each time Notebooks are presented at the conference, you will be expected to reflect on and evaluate your own performance on each section by explaining your goals and process and by reflecting on how each section contributes to your learning.  Finally, propose a grade for each section which we will discuss in conference.  Use the following scale for each notebook section, but double the study question section for a possible total of 50 points:
10         outstanding! Takes original approach to engaging in all of  the course; substantial in content, rich in making connections
  8         excellent engagement of all course materials and themes; substantial in content, rich in making connections
  6         satisfactory and substantial engagement of nearly all course materials and themes but not particularly creative or compelling.
  2-4      shows effort, but lacks engagement, consistency, creativity, and/or organization
  0         inadequate effort

Fishbowl Discussions (2 out of 3 @ 10 points each):  Each student will sign up for three class sessions designated as Fishbowl days for which a little extra preparation will be expected.  On one of the class periods before your assigned day, you are responsible for providing a study question option for the next class session.  You must post your Study Question on the WWWBoard at least 36 hours before the coresponding class session.  Then, on your assigned day, you will be involved in a 45-minute group fishbowl discussion which will focus our inquiry into the subject.  In a fishbowl discussion, the outer circle class will listen and learn (and, of course, take notes) as the four or five inner circle fishbowl participants discuss questions and issues in response to the texts.  Three extra chairs will be available for students and the instructor to get involved in the discussion temporarily.  When you leave the last of the three chairs and no one rises to take your place, you must tap someone on the shoulder to replace you.  Similarly, if all of the chairs are full and someone from the class has been occupying one of these chairs for some time, you may tap him or her and take his or her place.  Your grade for the fishbowl will be based on five types of discussion participation:  1) developing a thoughtful array of topics, questions, a supported points in one page of questions and notes that you prepare in advance and use to aid your participation (to be submitted at the end of the discussion period), 2) offering significant contributions in response to questions, 3) providing leadership in moving from topic to topic and offering original questions, 4) making worthwhile connections among points made and picking up on/taking issue with others’ responses, 5) citing specific evidence—such as a passage from the text—to support assertions.

Discussion Participation (30 points):  Because this course will be run in a seminar format, there will be a minimum of lecturing and an emphasis on discussion participation.  Early on we will set class and individual goals for participation.  At the three conferences, you will submit a self-evaluation of your participation in this course in accordance with the guidelines and goals established early in the course.  You will also be asked to set goals for the remainder of the semester and beyond.

Quizzes (50 points): Unannounced quizzes will frequently be used to check for preparation and reading comprehension.

Four out of Five 750-word Essays (5@50 points each =200 points):  Five out of the six assigned essays will be we required in response to the class readings and discussions.  You may skip one essay or drop the lowest score of the five.  Essay I

Team Project (50 points possible): Teams will lead the class in learning about the historical and cultural contexts of Augustine, Malcolm X, Toni Morrison, and Winona LaDuke, respectively. Projects will be evaluated for how well they deepen (with knowledge gathered from additional sources) and enliven (with creative approach and activity to engage class participants) our understanding of the material. Projects should be focused on a topic relevant to the reading for the day and connected to larger issues.

Attendance:  Attendance is expected and required.  For absences due to college-sponsored activities, see the College Catalog (35).  Because all of the graded work for the course incorporates material from our class sessions, you will be expected to attend class whenever you are physically able and to figure out what you missed when you are not able to attend.  To receive credit for study question responses on days you are absent, they must be submitted in advance (remember the electronic option!).

Late Policy:  Sometimes deadlines cannot be met for various reasons.  Late essays will be accepted with a late penalty of a 10% reduction per class period.  Study questions will not be accepted late after daily collection, but missing assignments should be made up in your Notebook.  Although it may be necessary in highly unusual circumstances to make up an individual's fishbowl participation at a later date, fishbowl make-up will require fresh preparation and a late penalty.

The Reading and Writing Center (Academy 303) offers trained tutors to assist you in your development as a writer.  It is usually best to schedule an appointment at least 24 hours in advance.  The Center's hours this semester will be Mon-Thurs 12-4:30 and 6-9 p.m. and Friday 12-2:30 p.m.  The phone number is 4334.

Academic Enhancement Center (Ivers 228):  See the seminar schedule or the AEC website for more information.

Required Lectures and Events:  Participation in the academic community includes the pleasure of hearing lectures and performances by distinguished experts, scholars, artists, and peers.  Therefore, attendance at a few lectures and events outside of class will be required and will provide material for class discussion and notebook response.  Some dates are not yet set, but those that have are included in the class schedule. In addition to these required events, students are expected to attend other related events and reflect on them in the Thinking section of the Notebook (see above).

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Discussion Forum including Study Questions
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