Course Name: Humanities on the Internet (HU1115)

Course Website: http://faculty.weber.edu/chansen/humanweb/

Time: Tuesday's and Thursday's 10:00  to 11:15 AM

Place: Stewart Library Classroom 138 (lower level)

Faculty : 

Carol Hansen, Professor, Stewart Library. Office 139B, work phone: 626-8709, cell phone: 801-486-9796. Carol is the lead faculty member, she attends almost every class period and assigns all grades. 

Three Humanities faculty members also plan and teach the course. For Spring 2007, these faculty are:

• Catherine Zublin, Professor, Performing Arts and Associate Dean of College of Arts and Humanities. Office: Browning Center 312C, work phone 626-6661.

• Eva Szalay, Professor, Foreign Languages.  Office: Building 1 room 141, work phone 801-626-7908, Web site: http://faculty.weber.edu/eszalay/,

• Suzanne Simpson, Adjunct Instructor, Visual Arts. Office: off campus in SLC, phone 801-595-8321 (in SLC).

Office Hours: Before and after class, or by appointment. Please feel free to call us, or send E-mail any time you need to speak to us, or to make an appointment.  We are not always in our offices, but we are willing to meet with you anytime, just let Carol know. 

Students with Disabilities: Any student requiring accommodations or services due to a disability must contact Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) in room 181 of the Student Service Center. SSD can also arrange to provide course materials (including this syllabus) in alternative formats if necessary. 

Turnitin.com: Enrollment in this course will require you to enroll in and submit some of your assignments to Turnitin.com. Turnitin.com is a Web based service enabling online assignment submission and grading. Turnitin.com  is also used by students and faculty to verify the originality of written work. Work submitted to Turnitin.com is retained, anonymously, in their databases. Continued enrollment in this course constitutes an understanding of and agreement with the use of Turnitin.com in this course.

Course Objectives:

Students will be able to:

• Gain significant knowledge of content within the Humanities including identifying unifying themes and diverse perspectives.

• Understand important trends and issues within the Humanities.

• Find, access, use and cite library and internet information.

• Critically evaluate library and Internet information using appropriate criteria for major types of information and media in the Humanities.

• Successfully use Web resources, including library catalogs, directories, article and other databases, to find relevant information in the Humanities.

• Successfully complete a Humanities final research project and publish it on the World Wide Web.

• Understand and practice academic integrity.

• Work well within this community of learners. Students will speak and write clearly and completely, at a level appropriate for university work. Written and oral communication are important elements of this course and students will continuously improve their communication skills.

Grading: 

Grades for all assignments will be assigned by the lead instructor (Carol Hansen). She will receive input from other instructors as needed and requested, but she assigns the grade. If you have any questions or concerns regarding grading, please contact  Carol.

Grades are usually posted one week after assignment is due in the gradebook for the Web CT component of this course. To see your grades you will  need to login to http://Vista.weber.edu  with your student ID# and your PIN. Click on PIN link above if you need a PIN.

All assignments must be turned in on time.  Late assignments will be accepted only within 5 days of due date, but 20% of the total points for the assignment will be deducted for each day it is late. This policy is designed to promote fairness and help students manage their time and stay on track. 

Students are expected to be the true record keepers for their grade. Students must keep copies of all assignments that have been graded and handed back, and all email messages sent, until after final grades have been posted and received. This is usually around two weeks after the end of the semester. It is up to the student to provide hard/print copies in case there are any questions about a recorded grade.

Students may accrue 1,000 points. The number of points accrued will determine their final grade.

Points

500 points for assignments. Many of the above assignments will be written. Please be aware of the guidelines for writing in HU1115.

• Internet and Library Skills (200 points)

  • Video Assignment (50 points)

  • Research  Assignment (50 points)

  • Web Assignment (50 points)

  • Peer review (50 points)

• Literature (100 points)

• Visual Arts (100 points)

• Performing Arts (100 points)

• Final Project (400 points)

• Overall oral participation in the class (100 points)  

  • These points may be given for contributing to daily class discussions and for  involvement in small group activities. Students are expected to attend every class and to be committed to participating actively in the class. It is assumed that students learn much from each other. Improving communication skills through sharing of ideas, thoughts, experiences and concepts is an important part of the class and regular participation is expected. 

Some opportunities for extra credit points will usually be available.

1000 points total

Points are accrued for assignments completed throughout the course. Each student has the opportunity to accrue up to 1,000 points. Plus and minus grades may be given at the discretion of the instructor. The final grade is based on the total accumulation of points:

900+ = A, 800+ = B,  700+ = C,   600+ = D,  599- = E

Attendance Policy:

Participation and attendance is very important in this class. Active learning is emphasized and much of the learning takes place in class through student involvement and participation in classroom activities. Also, because this class is team taught in 2 week segments. If a student misses a week, they miss 50% of one of the segments. Much of the work done in class is group work, where all are expected to participate. This is why many points will be deducted for missing class at the discretion of the instructor.

IF Carol is notified IN ADVANCE, via email or voicemail, AND IF YOU HAVE A VERY GOOD EXCUSE, each student is allowed ONE absence without being penalized. If other serious problems occur that may cause you to miss class please discuss with Carol IN ADVANCE (626-6071).

Students arriving late and leaving class early will be marked absent. Students that become seriously ill for an extended period may wish to withdraw from the class or may request an incomplete with medical documentation. 

Teaching and Learning Methods:

Many class periods will begin with a short lecture by the instructor, followed by active learning activities, often using PCs. This class will incorporate a variety of teaching/learning methods including; small group discussions and presentations, short lectures, and writing-to-learn (sometimes via E-mail and/or Web discussion). Students are expected to be able to work in small groups in, and outside of, the class. Education and skill development is achieved through active participation in all aspects of the course. Students learn by making connections between their own interests, past experiences and new information. The students have opportunities to practice the skills they learn in and outside of class. The instructor is a facilitator and provides structure and opportunities for learning. Students are expected to be responsible for their own learning and for the overall success of the class. Oral participation and critical thinking are expected and encouraged

Class Courtesy

This is a relatively small class and any disruptions can be distractive. Please try to come to class on time and stay until you have been dismissed. See attendance policy above. Also, please refrain from talking while others are presenting. If you do have questions, please raise your hand and ask. PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONE AND BEEPERS DURING CLASS!!

Equipment and Environment

Flash drives - Please bring a flash drive to class if you have one. Nothing can be saved on the hard drives of the classroom PC's, it automatically erases each day. If you don't have a flash drive be sure to email any content needed to your self.

Computer Labs - Lampros Hall computer lab has Internet access with WORD and FrontPage available.

LIbrary Classroom  138 - The Library Classroom is NOT usually available before or after class. There may be times it will be difficult to get on a computer. Please plan ahead. Let me know in advance, if you are having trouble finding a computer to use.

The Internet - is a vast network of networks. We are fortunate to have access to these dynamic remote resources, but unfortunately we do not have control over them. Networks and servers regularly go down. A part of this course will be learning to accept those things that we cannot control, and to have patience with problems that are a part of all computer systems and networks. The arts and humanities contain extremely diverse content, media and images. It has been said that "everything is offensive to someone." Be respectful of your peers if you are viewing something that may be offensive to another student. Be supportive of each individual's rights to freely access information, even if it is something you choose not to view.

Ethical Conduct:

It is assumed that all students will engage in ethical conduct. Students engaging in unethical conduct will be subject to academic discipline including the imposition of university sanctions, as described in the WSU Student Code of Conduct.

Examples of unethical conduct may include:

• Gaining unauthorized access to any computer or computer account.

• Changing, manipulating or deleting computer files or Web pages that are not your own

• Intentionally spreading computer viruses, etc. 

• Plagiarism (copying other work and passing it off as your own) or cheating. See note above on Turnitin.com.

What do you think about this syllabus, this course, the teachers, curriculum or aspect of this class? Please feel free to send anonymous feedback. Thanks!