Attendance: Attendance is mandatory.
According to College policy, 4 unexcused absences will result in a failing grade for the course. If your fourth unexcused absence occurs before the "W" deadline, I may withdraw you from the course. If it occurs after the "W" deadline, you may receive a course grade of F. Neither the professor or the student can initiate a withdrawal after the deadline. It is your responsibility to initiate withdrawal proceedings prior to the "W" deadline. If you have questions, ask me or talk to the Counseling Center.

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. If you hand something in late, your grade will be lowered by 1/3 a grade for each day it is late. If you do not hand in all the assignments, you will not pass the course. Over the semester, there will be opportunities for extra credit.

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. 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 40%
Web Essay 30%
Midterm exam 10%
Creative group presentation (& write-up) 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"
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