Amy Kaler, Ph D

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This page contains syllabi for two courses which I will teach in Fall 2000. The first is SOC 301, Sociology of Gender; the second is SOC 271, Introduction to the Family

Syllabus 1 - SOC 301, Sociology of Gender

The Sociology of Gender

Tuesday and Thursday 9.30-10.50

V 110

 ***Note Change of Classroom***

Instructor: Prof. Amy Kaler

Office: 6-14 Tory

492-7579

amy.kaler@ualberta.ca

Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday 14.00 to 15.00 or by appointment

Teaching Assistant: Joshua Brandon

This course will introduce students to key concepts in studying gender and gender relations; and will provide empirical illustrations of these concepts from diverse sources. We will take an approach in which gender is treated as something which is constructed and enacted in everyday life, not merely a system of classification in which each person is “assigned” male or female as their status. In this approach, intangible forces like ideology, perception, and dominant myths will receive much attention for their role in shaping the experience of being masculine or being feminine, as will the historical conditions under which men and women live, which in turn shape stereotypes and ideas about gender. We will also consider the construction of both genders, of women and of men.

 All students must have and know how to use a University of Alberta email account. As this is a large class, much class participation and discussion (which is part of the evaluation) will take place over email and on the course WebCT site.

 Although the class is large, I would like to see as much student discussion as possible, and have built in participation as a large component of your grade. To the extent that students are keen and engaged, the class will work well and will be something to look forward to rather than struggle through. I encourage you not to be shy – ask questions or bring up your ideas during lecture, contribute to the email listserv, get into class discussions, come and see us during office hours. However, bear in mind that many of the topics that will come up in this course are controversial or have strong emotional connotations, and try to keep your comments respectful and constructive. Along the same line, no beepers or cellphones in class, please, and if you must eat or drink in class, please do so quietly. 

 Students who require accommodations in this class due to a disability affecting mobility, vision, hearing, learning or mental or physical health must contact Specialized Support and Disability Services, 2-8000 Students’ Union Building, 492-3381 or 492-7269 (TTY) to discuss their needs.

 Prerequisites:

 SOC 100 or instructor’s permission

 Texts:

 The required texts for the course are a book, Nelson and Robinson’s Gender in Canada (1999), available in the Student Union bookstore, and a packet of readings which supplement and flesh out the main topics of the text, also available in the bookstore. You are required to do quite a lot of reading for this course, so be prepared! Your grade will depend on your knowledge of both assigned readings and material covered in lectures. I will discuss things in lectures which are not found in your readings, and similarly your readings will contain material which will not be found in lectures, so in order to do well in this class you need to be conscientious about doing the readings and attending lectures. I do not make my lecture notes available for students to copy unless you give me a bona fide doctor’s note explaining why you missed the lecture. Similarly, you will not be allowed to reschedule exams or set up times to see films you missed without a medical excuse for your absence.  

Grades:

Marking and grading follow the guidelines of the General Faculties Council of the University of Alberta

 Evaluation

20%: Discussion participation  (see attached sheet)

20%: Reaction papers and discussion questions (see attached sheet)

30%: Midterm exam (multiple choice)

30%: Final exam (multiple choice) 

Conversion of percentages to grades:

 When a student’s percentage mark falls within one point of the dividing line between one grade and another, I may consider adjusting the grade based on attendance and participation, at my discretion.

 Make-up exams:

Only students with bona fide medical excuses or dire family emergencies will be allowed to take make-up exams. For the mid-term, the make-up exam will be held at 16.00 on Friday October 27. It will cover all the material covered in the mid-term in addition to material covered between the mid-term and October 27. It will consist of short-answer questions rather than multiple-choice questions and will be marked as rigorously as the mid-term. Make-up exams for the final exam will be scheduled in early 2001 and will also consist of short answers. No other make-up exams will be scheduled. 

Course Packet Contents 

Angier, Natalie (1998) Woman: An Intimate Geography. New York: Random House. Chapter 2

 Hansen, Karen V (1991) “Helped Put In A Quilt”: Men’s Work and Male Intimacy in 19^th Century New England. Chapter 4 in Judith Lorber and Susan Farrell (eds.) The Social Construction of Gender Newbury Park: Sage

 Coontz, Stephanie (1992) The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap New York: Basic Books. Chapter 1 and 2

 Thorne, Barrie (1993) Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Chapters 5 and 6

 Canada, Geoffrey (1998) Learning to Fight. Chapter 11 in Michael Kimmel and Michael Meissner (eds.) Men’s Lives, Toronto: Allyn and Bacon.

 Jordan, Ellen and Angela Cowan (1998) Warrior Narratives in the Kindergarten Classroom: Renegotiating the Social Contract. Chapter 12 in Michael Kimmel and Michael Meissner (eds.) Men’s Lives, Toronto: Allyn and Bacon.

 Tannen Deborah (1990)  You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation New York: Ballantine Books. Michael Kimmel and Michael Meissner (eds.) Men’s Lives, Toronto: Allyn and Bacon. Chapters 3 and 5.

 Pierce, Jennifer L (1995) Gender Trials: Emotional Lives in Contemporary Law Firms Berkeley: University of California Press. Chapter 4 and 5

 Cancian, Francesca (1986) The Feminization of Love. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 11:4

 Selected articles from Canadian Woman Studies 12:2, special issue on women and aging.

Outline of Lectures 

September 7 – Introduction to Course; What is Gender?Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch.1

 

 September 12 – Where Does Gender Come From? Biological, Psychological and Sociological Answers

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch.2, Angier from course packet

 

September 14 – Are You a Man or a Woman? Contradictions Between Sex and Gender

Film: Paris is Burning

 

September 19 – Masculinity and Femininity in Historical Context I: The Canadian and American Experiences: Pre-1940s

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch. 3, pp.80-87, Hansen from course packet

 

September 21 – Masculinity and Femininity in Historical Context II: The Canadian and American Experiences 1940s-1980s

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch.3 pp.87-95, Coontz from course packet

 

September 26: Masculinity and Femininity in Historical Context: An African Example

Film: Gold Widows: Women in Lesotho

 

September 28 – How Does Sociology Explain the Pervasiveness of Gender?

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch.3, pp.95-120

 

October 3 – Engendering Children I

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch 4, Thorne from course packet

 

October 5 Engendering Children III

Film: 7 Up

 

October 10 – Gender in Communication I

Readings: Nelson and Robinson ch 5, pp.180-203

 

October 12 – Gender in Communication II

Film: Beyond the Mat

 

October 17 – Discussion of Film

Reading: Canada and Jordan&Cowan from course packet

Guest lecturer: Dr Doug Aoki

 

 October 19 Gender in Communication III

Reading: Tannen from course packet

 

October 24 – Mid-Term Exam

 

October 26 – Gender at Work: The Paid Labour Force I

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 6, pp. 236-281

 

October 31 – Gender at Work: The Paid Labour Force II

Reading: Pierce from course packet

 

November 2 – Gender at Work: Work in the Home

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 6, 281-307

 

November 7 - Intimate Relationships I

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 7, 307-333

 

November 19 – Intimate Relationships II

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch.7, 333-369, Cancian from course packet

 

November 14 – No Class

 

November 16 – Marriage and Parenting

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 8, Coontz from course packet

 

November 21 – Older Women and Men I

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 9, Canadian Woman Studies from course packet

 

November 23 – Older Women and Men II

Film: Time on Earth

 

November 28 – The Future of Gender

Reading: Nelson and Robinson ch. 10

 

November 30 – Wrap-up and review

 

December 5 - Exam

 

Electronic Discussion Participation (20% of final grade)

An email discussion list for this course has been created using WebCT. When you register, you are automatically signed up for this discussion list and will receive messages from it on your U of A email account. Since this class is large and does not permit much in-class group discussion, we will use the electronic list for that purpose: to discuss topics that come up in class, pose questions or comments to me as the instructor or to your classmates, and generally chat about what is going on in class. I will also use the discussion list for class announcements.

In order to take part in the discussion list, you must go to http://www.ualberta.ca/WEBCT/arts/index.html on the Web. Scroll down the alphabetical list of courses until you see this course. Then click on the course number and enter your username and password when prompted.[1]. This will get you into the main page for this course. Click on the “discussion” icon, and you’re in. Most of the action for this class will take place in the forum marked “Main”. If you click on “show unread”, you can see all the new messages which have been posted since you last checked in, or you can click “show all” and see all the messages from the beginning of the term. You can reply to messages in the “Main” forum or post your own new messages, just like in an email system. We will also go over use of the discussion list in class.

20% of your grade for this course will be determined by your participation in the listserv. Every student is expected to contribute at least four times to the class listserv, so that each contribution will count for 5% of your final grade. Your contribution to the listserv can take several forms:

• You can comment on something you found provocative or interesting in either class lectures, the readings, or class discussions

• You can bring up something interesting related to gender that you read or heard outside of class, in the news or in another class

• You can pose a question to me or to your classmates in general

• You can respond to something that I or someone else in the class has posted on the listserv

• Etc, etc.

Whatever you do, your comments must be substantial and thoughtful. Asking what’s going to be on the exam doesn’t count, neither does saying “I agree” or “I disagree” to something someone else has posted, unless you go further and explain why you agree or disagree. You’ll only receive the 20% if your comments are well-thought-out and relevant. (You should also keep your comments reasonably concise – the WebCT system often doesn’t display messages longer than two screens’ worth, about one written page). If you wish to contribute something but not have it count towards your 20%, note that at the very top of the message by writing “not for evaluation”. Thus, you can save your most profound and brilliant thoughts for the messages which will count towards your 20%.

You are expected to be civil and reasonable in what you post to the list. Personal attacks are not welcome, neither are unwarranted negative comments. You are welcome (and encouraged) to argue and disagree in the discussion, but you should be sure that your comments are about ideas and statements, rather than personalities or individuals. In addition, be careful about making sweeping judgments about whole groups (“All As do B …”, “Xs will never achieve Y” and so on). Anyone who can’t be civil on the list, or who in my opinion creates a threatening or unpleasant environment for other students, will be removed from the list and will lose this portion of his or her grade.

 Finally, please don’t be shy! Post often, and feel free to respond to what others have posted or to contribute any ideas you might have. 

Computer Labs on Campus:

Biological Sciences CW213

Biological Sciences CW403

Business B-18                                  

Business B-24

Business B-28

Cameron 1-20G

Central Academic 331

Central Academic 335

Central Academic 341

Central Academic 345

Chemical-Mineral Engineering 244

Civil-Electrical Engineering 104

Civil-Electrical Engineering 110

Clinical Sciences 1-139

Corbett Hall 2-11

Coutts L-110

Dentistry-Pharmacy 4064

Dentistry-Pharmacy 4066

Education North 3-110

Extension 3-06

Faculte Saint-Jean 131

Faculte Saint-Jean 133

General Services 221

General Services 866

Industrial Design Studio 1-02

Law W-104                                 

Mechanical Engineering 3-3

Physical Education E-121B

Rutherford Library 2-03

Rutherford Library 2-05A

Tory B-39

WC Mackenzie Health Sciences Center (2F1.02)

                                    

 

Reaction Papers and Discussion Questions (20% of final grade)

 

You are required to write two short reaction papers based on the readings assigned for two given classes (10% of your grade for each paper). These papers are your responses to readings assigned for the course. Each paper must end with two provocative and interesting questions, arising from the readings, which you think would be likely to spark off good discussion in class.

Reaction papers are your reactions to the material you have been assigned to read. They are not just summaries. I don’t want to know a shortened version of what you read; I want to know what you thought about what you read. In a good reaction paper, you might:

• Disagree with the author, if you think that the evidence doesn’t support the points being made, or if you think the author is missing something important

• Connect the material you read with things you’ve read or talked about in other courses, whether in sociology or not

• Connect the material you read to experiences in your own life

• Say what you found most interesting or unexpected about the reading, and say why

• Point out something contentious or debatable the author has said and argue it from the other side

• Etc, etc.

 

As you see, the possibilities for a reaction paper are limitless. If you’ve never done a reaction paper before, please feel free to talk to me or the TA. Reaction papers should be 250-500 words long (i.e. one to two double-spaced pages) and should be typed double-spaced with your name, student number and the names of the readings at the top.

Discussion questions are questions that you think will provoke other people to talk about what they’ve read and what they think about what they’ve read. These are not just factual content questions, although they are based on the assumption that everyone has read the materials and is familiar with them. They could be open-ended, speculative, or provocative. You should end each reaction paper with two such questions.

 Signing up:

On the first and second days of class, sign-up sheets for each set of readings will be posted. You will have several minutes at the end of class to sign your name up for two sets of readings. After the sign-up sheets are taken down, no substitutions or changes in readings will be accepted. If you do not turn in your paper on or before the date of your assigned readings, you will get a zero for that paper (unless you have a doctor’s note).

On the day:

On the day for which your readings have been assigned, you are expected to come to class with your reaction paper and discussion questions. The people who have been assigned for that day will take seats in the front two rows of the classroom. After I finish the lecture, I’ll turn to the people in the front two rows, and ask someone at random to read one of his or her discussion questions. I will turn this discussion open first to the people in the first two rows, whom I presume will have read and thought about the material particularly deeply, and then open it up to everybody in the class. I’ll go through a number of questions this way, until we run out of time (or energy).

Marking:

 Your reaction papers will be worth 20% of your grade (2 x 10%). The papers will be marked on how well you know the material; how well you criticize or respond to it instead of just summarizing it, and how original or thought-provoking your questions are.

 Syllabus 2 - SOC 271, Introduction to the Family

Sociology 271 - Fall 2000

 

Introduction to the Family

  

Tuesday and Thursday 12.30 to 13.50

Tory 95

 

 

Instructor: Prof. Amy Kaler

Office: 6-14 Tory

492-7579

amy.kaler@ualberta.ca

Office hours: Tuesday and Thursday 14.00-15.00 or by appointment

 

Teaching Assistant: Michelle Robinson

 

 

This course will introduce students to key concepts in studying families, and to information about how family patterns are changing, both in Canada and in other parts of the world. Students will learn about both sociological theory (how do sociologists and other social scientists go about studying families, and what ideas and concepts do they employ?) and empirical information (what is actually going on out there in families?). In particular, we will pay attention to gender, to how we act out our identities as male or female in families.

 

All students must have and know how to use a University of Alberta email account. As this is a large class, much class participation and discussion (which is part of the evaluation) will take place over email and on the course WebCT site.

 

Although the class is large, I would like to see as much student discussion as possible, and have built in participation as a large component of your grade. To the extent that students are keen and engaged, the class will work well and will be something to look forward to rather than struggle through. I encourage you not to be shy – ask questions or bring up your ideas during lecture, contribute to the email discussions, get into class discussions, come and see us during office hours. However, bear in mind that many of the topics that will come up in this course are controversial or have strong emotional connotations, and keep your comments respectful and constructive. Along those lines, no beepers or cellphones in class, please and if you must eat or drink in class, please do so quietly.

 

Students who require accommodations in this class due to a disability affecting mobility, vision, hearing, learning or mental or physical health must contact Specialized Support and Disability Services, 2-8000 Students’ Union Building, 492-3381 or 492-7269 (TTY) to discuss their needs.

 

Prerequisite:

 

Soc 100 or instructor’s consent

 

Texts:

 

The required texts for the course are two books:

Close Relations: An Introduction to the Sociology of Families (2000) Susan A McDaniel and Lorne Tepperman

 

Three Generations, Two Genders, One World: Women and Men in a Changing Century (1998), compiled by Sylvia Chant and Cathy McIlwaine.

 

Both of these are available in the Student Union bookstore.

 

Grades:

 

Marking and grading follow the guidelines of the General Faculties Council of the University of Alberta.

 

Your grade will depend on your knowledge of both assigned readings and material covered in lectures. I will discuss things in lectures which are not found in your readings, and similarly your readings will contain material which will not be found in lectures, so in order to do well in this class you need to be conscientious about doing the readings and attending lectures. I do not make my lecture notes available for students to copy unless you give me a bona fide doctor’s note explaining why you missed the lecture. Similarly, you will not be allowed to reschedule exams or set up times to see films you missed without a medical excuse for your absence.

 

Evaluation

 

20%: Listserv participation  (see attached sheet)

20%: Reaction papers and discussion question (see attached sheet)

30%: Midterm exam (multiple choice)

30%: Final exam (multiple choice)

 

Conversion of percentages to grades

 

 

 

When a student’s percentage mark falls within one point of the dividing line between one grade and another, I may consider adjusting the grade based on attendance and participation, at my discretion.

 

Make-up exams

 

 Only students with bona fide medical excuses or dire family emergencies will be allowed to take make-up exams. For the mid-term, the make-up exam will be held at 16.00 on Friday October 27. It will cover all the material covered in the mid-term in addition to material covered between the mid-term and October 27. It will consist of short-answer questions rather than multiple-choice questions and will be marked as rigorously as the mid-term. Make-up exams for the final exam will be scheduled in early 2001 and will also consist of short-answer questions. There will be no make-up exams beyond these.

 

Outline of Lectures

September 7 – Introduction to Course

 

September 12 – What is a Family? Sociological and Anthropological Definitions

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 1 pp.1-18

 

September 14 – Historical Development of Euro-Canadian Family

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 1 pp. 19-42

 

 September 19 – Love and Romance

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 2

 

September 21 – His Marriage, Her Marriage, Their Marriage

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 3

 

September 26 – Childbearing and Childrearing I

Film and Discussion: Motherland

 

September 28 – Childbearing and Childrearing II

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 4

 

October 3 – Parenting

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 5, pp.161-184

 

October 5 – Variations on a Theme

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 5 pp.185-207

Film and Discussion: What Makes a Family?

 

October 10 – The Dirty Stuff: Division of Labour in the Family I

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 6

 

October 12 - The Dirty Stuff: Division of Labour in the Family II

Film and Discussion: Chore Wars

 

October 17 – Violence in the Family

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 8

 

October 19 – Mid-term Exam

 

October 24 – How Marriages End

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 9

 

October 26 – It’s Not Over Til It’s Over: Re-making Family Life Across the Life Span

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 10

 

October 31 – The Future of the Canadian Family I

Guest Lecturer and Discussion: Dr Susan McDaniel

 

November 2 – The Future of the Canadian Family II

Reading: McDaniel and Tepperman, Chapter 11

 

November 7 – Families Around the World; St Vincent and Grenadines

Reading: Chant and McIlwaine, Chapter 1 and 2

 

November 9 – Malaysia

Reading: Chant and McIlwaine, Chapter 4

 

November 14 – No Class

 

November 16 – Solomon Islands

Reading: Chant and McIlwaine, Chapter 5

 

November 21 – Pakistan

Reading: Chant and McIlwaine, Chapter 6

 

November 23 – Zimbabwe

Reading: Chant and McIlwaine Chapter 10

 

November 30 – Wrap-up and review

 

December 5 – Final Exam

 

Electronic Discussion Participation (20% of final grade)

 

An email discussion list for this course has been created using WebCT. When you register, you are automatically signed up for this discussion list and will receive messages from it on your U of A email account. Since this class is large and does not permit much in-class group discussion, we will use the electronic list for that purpose: to discuss topics that come up in class, pose questions or comments to me as the instructor or to your classmates, and generally chat about what is going on in class. I will also use the discussion list for class announcements.

 

In order to take part in the discussion list, you must go to http://www.ualberta.ca/WEBCT/arts/index.html on the Web. Scroll down the alphabetical list of courses until you see this course. Then click on the course number and enter your username and password when prompted.[1]. This will get you into the main page for this course. Click on the “discussion” icon, and you’re in. Most of the action for this class will take place in the forum marked “Main”. If you click on “show unread”, you can see all the new messages which have been posted since you last checked in, or you can click “show all” and see all the messages from the beginning of the term. You can reply to messages in the “Main” forum or post your own new messages, just like in an email system.

 

20% of your grade for this course will be determined by your participation in the listserv. Every student is expected to contribute at least four times to the class listserv, so that each contribution will count for 5% of your final grade. Your contribution to the listserv can take several forms:

•  

  You can comment on something you found provocative or interesting in either class lectures, the readings, or class discussions

•  

  You can bring up something interesting related to gender that you read or heard outside of class, in the news or in another class

•  

  You can pose a question to me or to your classmates in general

•  

  You can respond to something that I or someone else in the class has posted on the listserv

•  

  Etc, etc.

 

Whatever you do, your comments must be substantial and thoughtful. Asking what’s going to be on the exam doesn’t count, neither does saying “I agree” or “I disagree” to something someone else has posted, unless you go further and explain why you agree or disagree. You’ll only receive the 20% if your comments are well-thought-out and relevant. (You should also keep your comments reasonably concise – the WebCT system often doesn’t display messages longer than two screens’ worth, about one written page). If you wish to contribute something but not have it count towards your 20%, note that at the very top of the message by writing “not for evaluation”. Thus, you can save your most profound and brilliant thoughts for the messages which will count towards your 20%.

 

You are expected to be civil and reasonable in what you post to the list. Personal attacks are not welcome, neither are unwarranted negative comments. You are welcome (and encouraged) to argue and disagree in the discussion, but you should be sure that your comments are about ideas and statements, rather than personalities or individuals. In addition, be careful about making sweeping judgments about whole groups (“All As do B …”, “Xs will never achieve Y” and so on). Anyone who can’t be civil on the list, or who in my opinion creates a threatening or unpleasant environment for other students, will be removed from the list and will lose this portion of his or her grade.

 

 Finally, please don’t be shy! Post often, and feel free to respond to what others have posted or to contribute any ideas you might have. 

 

 

Computer Labs on Campus:

 

Biological Sciences CW213

Biological Sciences CW403

Business B-18                                  

Business B-24

Business B-28

Cameron 1-20G

Central Academic 331

Central Academic 335

Central Academic 341

Central Academic 345

Chemical-Mineral Engineering 244

Civil-Electrical Engineering 104

Civil-Electrical Engineering 110

Clinical Sciences 1-139

Corbett Hall 2-11

Coutts L-110

Dentistry-Pharmacy 4064

Dentistry-Pharmacy 4066

Education North 3-110

Extension 3-06

Faculte Saint-Jean 131

Faculte Saint-Jean 133

General Services 221

General Services 866

Industrial Design Studio 1-02

Law W-104

Mechanical Engineering 3-3

Physical Education E-121B

Rutherford Library 2-03

Rutherford Library 2-05A

Tory B-39

WC Mackenzie Health Sciences Center (2F1.02)

 

 

Reaction Papers and Discussion Questions (20% of final grade)

 

  

You are required to write two short reaction papers based on the readings assigned for two lectures(10% of your grade for each paper). These papers are your responses to readings assigned for the course. Each paper must end with two provocative and interesting questions, arising from the readings, which you think would be likely to spark off good discussion in class.

 

Reaction papers are your reactions to the material you have been assigned to read. They are not just summaries. I don’t want to know a shortened version of what you read; I want to know what you thought about what you read. In a good reaction paper, you might:

• Disagree with the author, if you think that the evidence doesn’t support the points being made, or if you think the author is missing something important

• Connect the material you read with things you’ve read or talked about in other courses, whether in sociology or not

• Connect the material you read to experiences in your own life

• Say what you found most interesting or unexpected about the reading, and say why

• Point out something contentious or debatable the author has said and argue it from the other side

• Etc, etc.

 

As you see, the possibilities for a reaction paper are limitless. If you’ve never done a reaction paper before, please feel free to talk to me or the TA. Reaction papers should be 250-500 words long (i.e. one to two double-spaced pages) and should be typed double-spaced with your name, student number and the names of the readings at the top.

 

Discussion questions are questions that you think will provoke other people to talk about what they’ve read and what they think about what they’ve read. These are not just factual content questions, although they are based on the assumption that everyone has read the materials and is familiar with them. They could be open-ended, speculative, or provocative. You should end each reaction paper with two such questions.

 

Signing up:

 

On the first/second day of class, sign-up sheets for each set of readings will be posted. You will have several minutes at the end of class to sign your name up for two sets of readings. After the sign-up sheets are taken down, no substitutions or changes in readings will be accepted. If you do not turn in your paper on or before the date of your assigned readings, you will get a zero for that paper (unless you have a doctor’s note).

 

On the day:

 

On the day for which your readings have been assigned, you are expected to come to class with your reaction paper and discussion questions. The people who have been assigned for that day will take seats in the front two rows of the classroom. After I finish the lecture, I’ll turn to the people in the front two rows, and ask someone at random to read one of his or her discussion questions. I will turn this discussion open first to the people in the first two rows, whom I presume will have read and thought about the material particularly deeply, and then open it up to everybody in the class. I’ll go through a number of questions this way, until we run out of time (or energy).

 

Marking:

 

Your reaction papers will be worth 20% of your grade (2 x 10%). The papers will be marked on how well you know the material; how well you criticize or respond to it instead of just summarizing it, and how original or thought-provoking your questions are. 

 

                                   

© 2000, Amy Kaler, University of Alberta