If you miss class whether it is excused or unexcused it is your responsibility to contact another student before the next class meeting, find out what we did in class, and make sure you understand the assignment for the next class. You will have to make up any in-class work you miss or your grade will be affected.

If you have a serious problem that prevents you from coming to class or completing an assignment, such as an illness or personal emergency, talk to me before class or the assignment is due and we will work out a way for you to make up the work.

Tardiness: If you are late for class or leave early more than twice, it will affect your grade. "Late" means arriving more than 5 minutes after the scheduled class time. Each lateness or early-leaving will count as ½ an absence; missing more than 20 minutes of class will count as an absence.

Homework, Assignments, & Out-of-class Preparation: I expect you to come to class prepared, which means having read the assigned reading listed on the syllabus for that class meeting, with assigned homework finished, and ready to participate in class discussion and activities. Also, bring the book that we are reading with you to class.

You should plan on doing about 6 hours a week of out-of-class preparation. Reading assignments are due on the days indicated on the schedule. Assignments are due at the beginning of class, or by the deadline indicated on the assignment.

MESSAGE BOARD POSTINGS: Message board postings are paragraph-long comments and questions on readings, films, museum exhibitions, and ideas discussed in class. You will post at least 15 messages, and at least 7 of them will be responses to your classmates' postings. If you post more than the minimum, it will count towards extra credit, as will initiating discussions on the message boards.

LATE ASSIGNMENTS: Your grade will be lowered if you hand in your assignment late. Within 2 days, your grade will be lowered by 1/3 a grade; after a week, you will lose a full letter grade, and if your assignment is more than a week overdue, the highest grade you can get is a C. If you do not hand in an assignment, you will get a 0. It will be difficult to pass the course if you do not hand in ALL your assignments.

Academic Honesty: Berklee College of Music insists on academic honesty. Unless the assignment explicitly is a group project, all of the work in this class must be your own. The source of all information in any written assignment must be cited properly, whether it is a quotation, paraphrase, summary, idea, concept, statistic, picture, or anything else you get from any source other than your own immediate knowledge--including the Internet. Writers give credit through accepted documentation styles, including parenthetical citation, footnotes, or endnotes; a simple listing of books and articles at the end of an essay is not sufficient. Plagiarism--not giving proper credit to a source and thereby passing off someone else's material or idea as your own--is a type of intellectual theft and deceit and cannot be tolerated in an academic setting. Plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course and possibly dismissal from the College. It is your responsibility to be aware of and abide by the rules governing plagiarism, fraud, and cheating found in the College Bulletin. The Department of General Education statement on Honesty in Academic Work and in Scholarly and Professional Practice is available online. If you have any questions about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, please ask me. This course is about developing your ideas, so take pride in them and in your work!

Course Requirements/Grades:

Grades will be based on your written, class, and group work.
Critical responses (4) 40%
Thesis paragraph for Critical Analysis Essay 5%
Critical Analysis Essay (4-6 pages) 20%
Midterm exam 15%
Message board postings 10%
Collaboration/participation/attendance* 10%

Note: Your grade for collaboration, participation, and attendance is based on what you contribute to the class environment. If you come to class prepared, do assigned presentations, help to advance the learning in discussions and small group activities, and work to create a positive collaborative classroom, you will earn a high mark for this component of your grade. Grades will be based on your written work, projects and presentations, participation, and collaboration. All grades are final and non-negotiable. Changes will be made only in the case of computation errors.

Grading Criteria:
A (90-100) Exceptional work; far beyond what is simply "required," including leadership in the classroom environment
B (80-89) Good; competent grasp of material demonstrated in assignments and in consistent participation in class discussions
C (70-79) Average; work that merely meets the basic requirements of the course according to acceptable standards
D (60-69) Below average; poor understanding of material demonstrated in assignments and in class discussions, but meets the minimal requirements for passing the course
F (below 60) Not passing; work is of unacceptable quality, a careless approach to course requirements and deadlines, little or no effort applied to assignments and class discussions, poor attendance, detracts from learning environment