I expect you to attend class
promptly and actively, to behave respectfully toward me and your fellow
students, and to complete readings in a timely and conscientious
manner. Failure to meet these basic expectations will directly
influence your participation and effort grade and generally impact your
performance on graded assignments (see below). If you foresee any
absence or lateness for valid reasons (religious holiday, family
emergency, acute illness or injury, school-sponsored event), tell me
now. The unexcused lateness of assignments brings a penalty of
roughly 10% (one letter grade) per day. In the event of absence
or lateness, you are responsible for contacting other students who
attended class to find out what you missed. I uphold the policies
and regulations of Macalester College pertaining to the observance of
religious holidays, assistance to the handicapped, plagiarism, sexual
harassment, and racial or ethnic discrimination. I expect you to
know and uphold these policies and regulations as well. They are
discussed in the section of the Student Handbook entitled
“Community Standards.”
The assignments in this class
will consist of continuous readings and occasional writing tasks.
You will be graded on 1) participation and effort; 2) four quizzes, two
on geography and two on chronology; 3) in-class activities; 4) three
papers of increasing length (2-3 pp.; 3-5 pp.; 4-6 pp.); 5) a final
exam. The quizzes will be 10-15 minutes each and they will cover
pre-set material. Occasional in-class activities will consist of
small group exercises and short writing assignments. The topics
of the three papers will be announced two weeks before their due date;
all will require you to discuss and interpret ancient writings we have
read in class. The final exam will consist of identifications and essays.
These separate graded components will contribute to your overall grade as follows:
Participation
and effort
12%
Quizzes and
in-class activities 12%
First
paper
12%
Second paper
17%
Third
paper
22%
Final exam
25%
Letter grades will be assigned according to the following scale: A = 90-100; B = 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; NC = 0-59.