Read the Attachment and Prompt (Kim Woods)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The International Studies Public Forum (ISPF) is a lecture series hosting speakers from UCI, from across the county, and from around the world working on international and global issues of public importance. Students, faculty, the UCI community, and the general public are welcome to attend.

Students enrolled in the ISPF course are required to attend the lectures, ask questions of the speakers and write papers analyzing the lectures and associated readings. The course is designed to expose students to issues of international importance, to enhance their practical understanding of global issues, and to develop their ability to analyze and write about these topics. The course is required for the International Studies Major and the Conflict Resolution Minor.

REQUIRMENTS

· Follow international issues in a major newspaper (i.e., Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post);

· Read the material posted on the course web site ahead of each forum;

· Attend and participate in the introduction and wrap-up sessions, and five of the course’s six guest speakers (50 points);

· Write five (5) papers of 500-600 words each (50 points).

PAPERS

For five of the six public lectures, you must write a 500-600 word essay (word count includes the title as well as the in-text citations, but excludes the header and the end-of-the-paper bibliography [if included]). Please double-space your essays. You will only be graded on five papers; if you write six, the last paper will not be graded. There is no extra credit for writing additional papers and no replacing the lowest grade with a sixth paper.

Each week, before the week’s talk (around Tuesday), the TAs will post and/or send out a pre-talk comment to help prepare students for the upcoming talk (these comments are NOT the essay prompts). Shortly after the Thursday talk, the TAs will post and/or send out one essay prompt based on the pre-talk comment, which will ask students to present an original argument on the topic. Essays should effectively synthesize (and demonstrate understanding of) the content from both the talk and required reading(s).

The objective of these papers is for you to critically engage with the substance of the course readings and the speaker's talk and make an argument. You will lose points if your paper does not make one clear, coherent argument.

Each paper should draw on the presentation given that week and the associated readings; you will lose points if you do not draw on both. You do not need to draw on outside sources for your papers. However, you may want to consider the implications of what the speaker has said for issues that you have studied in other classes or that you are reading about in the news. If you do draw on outside sources, make sure you cite them properly. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and carries serious penalties.

Concerning citation and references:

· Please use in-text citation, following these formats

· For lectures: (Lafayette presentation, October 11, 2012)

· For all articles and books: (Lafayette 2011: 3)

· You do not have to include a bibliography if you only cite course readings and lectures. If you cite other sources, please include a bibliography with the full reference to the additional books or articles that you cited. You may use any standard format – MLA, APA, Chicago etc.. Please be consistent and use page numbers.

You must upload your paper to the assignment dropbox on EEE by 5pm on the Monday following each presentation. Please send your assignments as Microsoft Word files. Other file formats will not be accepted. We will use Microsoft Word’s “Comments” feature to offer feedback and indicate the grade for each assignment. An electronic copy of your papers will be returned to you via the EEE dropbox. If you do not know how to use Word’s “Comments” feature or are having trouble viewing your comments and grades, please contact the TA.

GRADING

Students have the option of taking the class either for a grade or as “pass/no pass.” You make this choice on WebReg when you register for the course.

You are required to attend and participate in seven of the eight class meetings.

Each paper is worth 10 points. You will lose one-half (½) of a letter grade (½ point out of 10) if you hand in your paper after 5 PM on Monday, and will lose an additional one-half (½) of a letter grade (½ point out of 10) for every additional day your paper is late.  The latest we will accept papers is 5 PM the Friday of the week the paper was originally due.

All papers will be graded on the basis of your advancement of one clear argument; how persuasive your argument is; how well you use evidence; whether you consider alternative viewpoints; how much knowledge of lectures and readings you demonstrate; and your attention to detail. Please consult the grading guidelines email (to be sent out separately) for more details on how papers will be graded.

Common mistakes include: telling the reader what you “feel” or “believe” rather than what can be demonstrated empirically or logically, failing to anticipate obvious counter arguments, your argument lacking a clear and logical progression, and sloppy writing and grammar. (You can evaluate the readings and arguments to which you are exposed in class on these same parameters.)

Developing an argument in a 500-600 word paper is challenging. Therefore, get to the point quickly. Don't spend a lot of the paper summarizing the readings or presentation – only recap what is relevant to your argument. And don't try to say too much – focus on developing a single argument well, as opposed to making various different points.

Readings: The readings associated with each talk will be posted on the course website each week. Reading and thinking about these materials ahead of time will give you an introduction to the topic to be covered, help you develop good questions to ask the speaker, and help you perform better on your writing assignments. Readings are REQUIRED.

The Fine Print

Please check the EEE assignment return drop box to view comments on your returned/graded essays.

To maintain fairness, in cases of tardiness, absences, missed assignments, etc. due to extenuating circumstances, we require prior notice or notice immediately after the fact. In certain cases, we may ask for supporting documentation.

Send general email questions or concerns to BOTH TAs and reader(s).

Send specific grading questions and concerns to the GRADER listed on the returned/graded essay.

It is your responsibility to periodically check your gradebook to ensure that there are no discrepancies in your grade, and bring any discrepancies to our attention as soon as possible; please note that although attendance and speaker question grades may not be compiled and posted until the end of the quarter, essay grades will be posted as soon as they are graded.

Please utilize our office hours (to be announced) – no appointments are necessary during these hours, so just drop by. Due to the size of the class, we cannot accept and return rough drafts through email, but drafts and ideas can be discussed during office hours.

Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will not be tolerated, and carelessness is not a justification; so if in doubt about whether to cite a paraphrased idea, cite it. Carelessness/forgetfulness is not an excuse for the improper usage of other peoples' ideas. Please properly cite all sources you reference, and for details on how to do this, please see the syllabus and consult the grading guidelines.