Your Grade

There will be three essay exams given during this course, one for each of the main theoretical sections (Realism, Pluralism, Globalism). Each exam will comprise 23% of the student's total grade. An additional 20% of the student's grade will come from a writing-and-presentation assignment which we will discuss the first week of class.

The idea is to: a) give each student an opportunity to gain entry into the "punditocracy" by mastering a relatively small area of our overall focus thereby propelling each student into the spotlight at a variety of social gatherings (parties, etc.); and b) to explicitly address a major aim of this university--to teach students to write, to speak, and to think critically. Each student should consider this project seriously; as one-fifth of your overall grade, it can make the difference in your grade (between say an A/A- and a B/B+ or between a C [required to count this course toward graduation for Political Science majors] and a D.)

Finally, an eleven percent component comes from participation, including quizzes that will be given to ensure reading compliance. Participation is defined as making comments/observations based on the readings being discussed that day. Please note: musings and opinions based on a student's political views, absent some clear indication of a relationship to the readings or discussions, will NOT be considered participation. This eleven percent is intended as a relatively painless way for each student to improve his-her grade position, particularly in close calls. It requires only that you attend class having read the assigned readings, and attempt to contribute to the class discussion based on said readings.