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Course Conduct & Policies

Students must abide by policies in the University Student Handbook. See Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities for full details. It also is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the CSU Student Code of Conduct. Violators will be reported and prosecuted.

A few additional ground rules will help us engage with our course topics productively:

1)    Speak respectfully to and about everyone in the class. Racist, sexist, heterosexist, ableist, anti-Semitic, and other prejudiced remarks are absolutely inappropriate for our classroom discussions. This does not mean that we must be “politically correct” or refuse to comment, but remarks that stereotype people are not necessary to make your point as we analyze films in our classroom.

2)   Keeping this policy of respect in mind, I encourage you to express your disagreement with anything said in the readings or in class, including anything I say. (Don't worry about your grade; you will be graded based on your knowledge of and willingness to engage with the course material, not on whether you agree with me. You can disagree with me and still earn an excellent grade in this course.) Feel free to criticize points of view, opinions, statements, behaviors, and institutions—just avoid criticizing people.

3)   Your own experiences are welcome in our discussions, but please be sure that they are relevant to the topic being discussed. We all love movies, and please do volunteer examples of films that you think will contribute to our class discussion—but do stay on topic. This is a classroom, not a coffeehouse or dorm room, so please do not share film experiences or examples that are not related to the specific topics we are discussing.

4)   Everyone in the class has the right to make mistakes, including the professor. In fact, making mistakes is one of the most effective learning strategies. We are all engaged in a learning process here, so be kind to others—and to yourself—when mistakes are made.

Course Policies

·     Students must abide by policies in the University Student Handbook. See Basic Undergraduate Student Responsibilities for full details. It also is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with the CSU Student Code of Conduct. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated; violators will be reported and prosecuted.

·     Unless otherwise indicated by the instructor in connection with group work, all work must be individual. Evidence of collusion (working with another student or tutor) or plagiarism (use of another's ideas, data, and statements without acknowledgment and/or use of another's ideas, data and statements with only minimal acknowledgment) will be prosecuted under the procedures set up by the university for academic dishonesty. A student who commits academic misconduct will, at minimum, receive a zero on the assignment and an F for the course. The student's case will also be filed on record with Student Judicial Affairs for Academic Misconduct, which further risks probation, suspension, and/or expulsion from the university. Remember that you signed our Academic Integrity Contract Statement at the beginning of the semester:

"I promise to earn an honest grade in our CMS 4320 course. I promise that I will not submit others' work as my own or plagiarize; collaborate with others on quizzes, papers, or tests; seek unauthorized answers while completing quizzes and exams (including online or take-home quizzes and exams); give answers to others at any time; or any other infraction listed in the CSU Student Code of Conduct, which it is my responsibility to have already read. I understand that if I violate my promise to uphold my Academic Integrity, I will receive the minimum of a zero on the assignment and an F in the course, and that my infraction will be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs."

· Unless otherwise noted, papers should be word-processed, double-spaced, in a standard 12 point font, and with a one-inch margin. Staple pages together in the upper left corner. 

· Please save paper. I cannot stress this enough. Do not append cover pages, folders/binders, etc. to your papers, and please try to use recycled paper. I will award extra credit to those who print multiple-page assignments double-sided. 

· Proof-read and edit all assignments, and be sure to provide proper bibliographical citations for any sources referenced. Please use MLA style. (Refer to The MLA Handbook in the library for correct formatting.) 

· Don’t waste space rephrasing questions or formulating lengthy introduction and/or conclusion sections in your assignments; you will often have a limited page allowance, so use your space wisely.

· For clarity, please use correct grammar and spelling, and write in active voice (rather than passive voice). Be sure to italicize or underline all titles, and watch your use of gendered language (e.g., do not refer to “he/him” or “man/Man” when you mean “she or he,” “they,” or “human”). I encourage you to use the Center for Academic Assistance; they are quite helpful.

·      Turn off all laptop computers, cell phones, pagers, and any other distractions BEFORE class.