Introduction to Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

WGSS 200:01 & 02/PHIL 280:01 & 02
Dr. McWhorter
Spring, 2008

Calendar of Assignments

For clarification on the policies governing all assignments--including missed exams--see the Policies Page.

Class Participation - 5%. Students are expected to be in class and prepared for class discussion every day. Exception: Students with contagious or catastrophic diseases should not report to class, nor should they drop by the professor's office; a vague email message is sufficient. Grades for attendance and participation are calculated in the following way: Students begin with 80 points. Noticeable and repeated absences drop students 10-20 points, depending on how noticeable and how often repeated. Efforts to contribute to class discussion may raise students 10 points. Helpful and considered contributions that clearly reflect a knowledge of the reading assignments may raise students another 10 points. Therefore, it is possible for students who attend regularly, read, and contribute in helpful and intelligent ways to get 100 points. It is also possible for students who contribute brilliantly but attend sporadically to get less than 80 points and for students who attend religiously but never speak to get no more than 80 points. The moral of this story is: Read the texts, come to class often, speak at least occasionally, and be smart.

Pop Quizzes - 5%. To make sure students keep up with the readings, there will be periodic pop quizzes. One quiz grade will be dropped and the rest will count together as five percent of the final grade. If a student is absent for one pop quiz, that quiz will be the one dropped. If a student is absent for two or more of the quizzes, only one will be dropped and the rest will count as zero. Don't get sick much and read your assignments - carefully!

January 30 and February 25 Exams - 20% each.

February 29 - March 5 Archival Exercises - 10%. On Friday, February 29, and Wednesday, March 5, class will meet in Boatwright Library. That Friday students will receive instruction in the use of the Oxford English Dictionary online and the Readers' Guide to Periodic Literature and will be given two assignments to complete and hand in the following Wednesday. One assignment will involve completing a worksheet using the OED to trace the origins of key words. The other will require students to locate and read two articles on "homosexuality" in two different historical periods and write 2-3-page summaries of each one according to written directions to be given out in class.

April 9 Exam - 20%. On April 2 students will be given a set of essay questions that will constitute a "take-home" exam due by midnight on Wednesday, April 9.

Comprehensive Final Exam - 20%.

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