METHOD OF EVALUATION
Your final grade will be determined as follows:
Attendance and Informed Participation
Attendance and Pop Quizzes 5% of final grade Blog Responses 5% of final grade
Attendance will be taken for each class and is mandatory. Students who are unable to attend class must notify me in advance and in writing. More than two absences will negatively impact your grade in the course. The only exceptions to the two-absence limit are religious holidays, serious family emergencies, and documented illnesses.
Students are required to complete all assigned readings and come to class actively prepared to critically and analytically engage the material. Informed participation includes making connections between our readings, discussions, and relevant current events; taking an active part in in-class exercises (when applicable), and asking thoughtful questions about readings and lectures. Successful participation in this course depends on both the frequency and quality of a student’s contribution to in-class discussions. This does not necessarily mean always providing the right answers, but rather demonstrating an active engagement with the course material and the in-class discussion.
Pop Quizzes: I reserve the right to administer random “pop quizzes” throughout the semester to ensure that you are keeping up with the reading. Pop quizzes are contingent on overall performance in class discussions. These “pop quizzes” will figure into your participation grade.
Blog Responses: Throughout the semester, you are responsible for responding to at least three of the blogs posted by your colleagues on the course’s Blackboard site. A minimum of one response should be completed by the end of the first half of the semester.
Course Expert (20% of your final grade)
Discussion Facilitation 10% of your final grade 2 Critical Response Blogs 10% of your final grade
To facilitate our discussions, each student will sign up for two classes during the semester in which s/he/they will be “the expert.” For the classes you select as “the expert,” you are responsible for the following:
Twice during the semester, you will co-facilitate the class discussion with another student. Consulting with the professor, you will draft discussion questions to frame our conversation based on the readings/topic and engaging the class in what is compelling, interesting, or controversial about the assigned texts.
Within a week of your assigned “Expert” Day, you are to post a blog (between 500 – 750 words) on the course’s website (https://courses.bowdoin.edu/sociology-1010-fall-2019/)that connects the course readings with key themes introduced in lecture or during class discussion. The goal of these blogs is not to summarize the readings (although a brief summary might be necessary), but rather to think about any lingering questions that the material raises for you, or to consider ideas presented in class or in the readings that merit further consideration. You are also welcome to situate the readings for your day in conversation with other theories or empirical studies we have explored in the class.
Midterm Essays 20% of your final grade
Midterm Essay 1 (due by 5 pm on Friday, October 4) 10% of your final grade Midterm Essay 2 (due by 5 pm on Friday, November 8) 10% of your final grade
You will write one 4 to 6-page midterm paper, answering a question provided one week in advance of your paper’s due date (no later than Friday, October 13 and Friday, November 11). Papers are designed to demonstrate your comprehension of the course material and will likely require you to engage multiple theories simultaneously.
“Racism at Bowdoin” Project 50% of your final grade
Prospectus(due by 5 pm on Friday, October 18) 5% of your final grade Annotated Bibliography (due by 5 pm on Friday, November 1) 5% of your final grade “Racism at Bowdoin” Essay (Final due by 5 pm on Friday, November 28) 15% of your final grade
Final Research Paper (due by 4:30 pm on Tuesday, December 17) 25 % of your final grade
2019 is a landmark year at Bowdoin College, commemorating the 50thAnniversary of Africana Studies, the African American Society, and the John Brown Russwurm African American Center. This commemoration reflects a complicated history of race and race relations at the College, which long predates John Brown Russwurm’s arrival to campus. For this project, you will draw on the themes of the course to consider the legacy of race and racism at Bowdoin College.
Under consultation with the professor and research librarian Beth Hoppe, you will design a research project that will use the data you have collected to write two different papers. The first paper will be a reflection essay geared toward a general audience that will become part of a class website that we will put together in honor of the 50thAnniversary Celebrations. The second paper will be an extensive 8 to 10-page research paper geared toward an academic audience.
NB: All papers must be submitted via One Drive in a Word Processing Format (e.g. Word, Pages, or Google Docs). PDFs are not acceptable (and submitting a PDF will be penalized as a late paper).