I need 12 pages due 48 jours

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acceptable. Key is to remain consistent with whichever style used. Students who have questions

about style issues should consult a manual or on-line reference.

Finally, I encourage students to stay informed of current issues and events. Some of our in-class

discussions will focus the application of academic concepts and theories to unfolding issues and

events and their coverage in the mass media. Of course, this cannot be learned entirely from any

textbook. Stay up-to-date using news outlets of your choice. I provide a list of links to several

“reliable sources” on the D2L homepage. Bear in mind that media sources tend to be biased to

some degree, which will be reflected in their political coverage.

Course Requirements: The student's final grade is based on performance on the following five

major course requirements, the details of which are expressed below:

1. Research Design Project - 40%

2. Class Participation - 30%

3. Policy Memo - 20%

4. Peer Review - 5%

5. Exit Exam / Survey - 5%

1. Research Design Project (40% of final grade)

Each student is required to produce a 12-15 page research design proposal on a topic relevant to

the discipline of either political science or international affairs. For our purposes, the paper will

serve as a systematic plan for an original academic research project. Data collection and analysis

are not expected but you will be required to devise a study for which data could be plausibly

collected and analyzed.

This assignment requires students submit their progress at five stages over the course of the

semester, culminating in the final paper and presentation.

A. Topic Statement and Research question (10% of project grade) First, the student’s topic will be introduced in a clear and concise topic statement,

including the proposal of a well-defined research question. Briefly discuss the topic and

question in terms of why they are worthy ones for academic research, and provide a

rough sketch for how they will be explored within the context of the research project.

This assignment must be submitted to the dropbox by Wednesday, June 3 and will be

evaluated based on level of academic thoughtfulness, overall quality of presentation, and

relevance to the discipline of political science or international affairs.

B. Literature Review (20% of project grade) Second, each student will discuss and critique existing research relating to his or her topic

area. The literature review serves the dual purposes of positioning your research question

in relation to established reference points while also establishing the originality of its

scholarly contribution. Be sure to include only those primary and secondary sources that

are relevant to your research question. Literature reviews must include at least ten

references, most which come from academic journals and books. Full texts of articles are

available via www.jstor.org and other database archives in Galileo.

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The student’s literature reviews, including a bibliography page, must be submitted to the

dropbox by Friday, June 19 and will be evaluated based on its thoroughness,

appropriateness of sources, degree of synthesis and critical evaluation of the academic

literature, compliance with proper citation and referencing standards, and overall quality

of presentation.

C. Student-Instructor Conference (Mandatory) Third, each student will sit for a student-instructor conference during the fifth week of the

semester (June 22-24). At this point, students should be prepared to summarize the basic

framework and methodological details of their chosen research design projects.

D. Working paper (20% of project grade) Fourth, each student will submit a working paper, which represents his or her best effort

at a completed, well-considered research design. These are due in the dropbox by NOON

on Wednesday, July 8. Working papers should effectively address the following:

specification of an original research question, placement of that research question within

the existing stream of academic literature, presentation of appropriate research

methodology, discussion of expected findings, and reflection on the scholarly

contribution the completed project would provide if carried out.

After your working paper is submitted, it will be forwarded to a student colleague who

will review it, offering constructive criticism and recommendations.

E. Final paper (50% of project grade) Finally, each student will submit a final paper, which is a revised (and improved) version

of the working paper. These are due in the dropbox by Friday, July 17.

2. Class Participation (30% of final grade)

As this is a “seminar” course, constructive participation in class discussion is essential and will

be evaluated accordingly. Thirty percent of the course average will be determined based on

contributions to online discussion forums. Participation credit will be calculated at five points

during the semester – on June 8, June 22, July 6, and July 15 – with each score counting

toward 7.5% of the student's final grade.

A variety of discussion topics will be posted. Some will directly relate to assigned course

materials and some will relate to classic political questions or current events of the day, which

may be found in the “24-hour E-TownHall” forum. Students are encouraged to respond to any

and all posted topics and also introduce their own threads in which they facilitate the discussion

in a constructive direction. Only comments which are substantive and course-relevant will count

toward discussion credit. While these will be open discussion forums, by and large, guidelines

are presented below and must be adhered to.

Discussion Guidelines: