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GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
There are four
essential requirements
for the successful completion of this course in African-American Studies.
First,
all students should attend class lectures and regularly scheduled weekly
discussion section meetings. Attendance will not be taken at lectures,
but failure to attend regularly may result in a lack of preparation for
the final examination. Attendance will be taken at discussion sections,
and the meetings will be led by graduate teaching assistants assigned
to this course. The discussion sections are an extremely important aspect
of the course, because students have the opportunity here to exchange
perspectives and explore issues in greater detail than during the lectures.
Your attendance and participation
in the discussion section, your ability to answer questions and to initiate
dialogue based on the required readings, will comprise one-sixth (16.6
percent) of your total course grade for this course.
Second,
at each discussion section meeting beginning with Week III, one or more
students will be responsible for leading the section in a general discussion
about that week's readings. They will present the key ideas within the
assigned readings, making connections with information from previous readings
and lectures from class. Each student's initial presentation should be
about 10 minutes in length, and accompanied by a one or two page outline
or short paper. If more than one student is assigned to a particular week,
they should meet together prior to class to determine which topics or
readings each individual will present. All grades are based on individual
performances, not by the group as a whole. The section presentation will
comprise one-sixth (16.6 percent) of your total course grade.
Third,
students must submit two papers on topics that are relevant to the subjects
addressed in the course. Students may choose to utilize information cited
from required texts and lecture materials.
Additional research from other
library sources, such as data from academic journals, newspapers, reference
works, and other scholarly information is also encouraged. Footnotes are
suggested, but not required. However, all papers must have a bibliography
indicating all sources used for the preparation of the paper.
The first paper will
be due at the lecture, in class, on Monday, October 16.
The second paper will
be due at the lecture, in class, on Monday, November 27,
just after Thanksgiving break.
Both papers must be typed, double spaced, and about eight to ten pages
(about two thousand words), excluding footnotes and the bibliography.
Students are free to select and develop their own topics for papers; however,
all students must consult with their teaching assistants about their topics
before the papers are submitted. Each paper will be counted as one-sixth
(16.6 percent) of your total course grade.
Any papers submitted after
the due dates listed above will be considered late. All students have
an opportunity to turn in late papers up to two weeks after the original
due dates. The last date for the submission of the first paper with a
late penalty is Monday, October 31. The last date for the submission of
the second paper with a late penalty is Monday, December 11. The penalty
for submitting late papers is one full letter grade (e.g., an A paper
submitted late is graded as a B, a B- would become a C-, etc.) The only
exceptions that would be permitted are students who have health-related
excuses provided from a physician or an academic adviser, or family emergencies
requiring them to leave campus. Such requests for extension must be submitted
prior to the dates that the papers are due, not on the day they are to
be turned in, or afterward. I strongly discourage requests from students
to obtain "incompletes" from any course, and will not grant them except
for health-related and family emergencies. All papers, whether on time
or late, must be submitted by students directly to their respective teaching
assistants, not to me, and not with the staff at the office of the Institute
for Research in African-American Studies. Students are strongly advised
to keep one copy each of all papers submitted in this course.
Fourth,
all students must take the final examination for the course. The final
exam will be comprehensive, covering the totality of information presented
from readings, lectures, discussions, etc., and will consist of short
essays. All students must bring their own pencils or pens to class on
examination day. Students who fail to show up for the final examination,
or students who arrive late and/or have no valid excuse, will not be given
an opportunity to take a make-up test. The final examination will represent
one-third (33.3 percent) of your total course grade.
The grading for the entire
course will be done by graduating teaching assistants. Students who have
questions or concerns regarding individual assignment grades, or the grading
for the course overall, should first talk with their teaching assistants.
During the semester, one or
more of our class lecture or discussion dates may conflict with religious
holidays or observances (e.g., Yom Kippur on October 9). Students who
observe these religious holidays are excused from class or discussion
on those dates. They must, however, plan to turn in all papers on the
dates that they are due, and keep up with regular weekly readings.
OPTIONAL EXTRA CREDIT
Introduction to African-American
Studies has been designed to acquaint students with the diverse aspects
of the black experience. The Institute for Research in African-American
Studies will sponsor several public lectures and events this semester,
which enrich the learning experience of our course. The dates, times and
locations of the presentations will be given well in advance.
Students who attend any of
these events will receive extra credit for their class participation grades.
Students must sign the sign-in sheet at each event, in order to receive
credit.
COURSE GRADING
Discussion section participation
and attendance= 16.6 percent
Oral presentation, including one to two page paper or outline,
covering assigned weekly readings in discussion section=
16.6 percent
Paper I (8 to 10 pages, plus footnotes and bibliography)
Due in class, Monday, October 16= 16.6 percent
Paper II (8 to 10 pages, excluding
footnotes and bibliography)
Due in class, Monday, November 27= 16.6 percent
Final Examination, short essay
format, 2 hours= 33.3 percent
TOTAL COURSE GRADE: 100 percent
REQUIRED TEXTS
All students should purchase
their own individual copies of the required texts.
In addition to the list below, students may be given reading assignments
throughout the course,
including several articles from the Institute's journal, Souls.
The teaching assistants will
distribute any additional readings at class discussions.
W.E.B. Du Bois, The
Souls of Black Folk (New
York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1994).
Paula Giddings, When
and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America,
(New York: Bantam Books, 1984).
Vincent Harding, There
Is A River: The Black Struggle for Freedom in America
(New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1981).
Manning Marable and Leith
Mullings, eds., Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices
of Resistance, Reform and Renewal: An African-American Anthology (Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield, 2000).
Manning Marable, Race,
Reform and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction in Black America, 1945-1990
(Jackson: University Press of
Mississippi, 1991, Revised Second Edition).
Juan Williams, Eyes
on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years, 1954-1965 (New
York: Penguin, 1988).
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