PHI 4938: Senior Research Seminar, Preliminary Syllabus

Spring 2010

 

Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Mundale
Office: Psychology Building (new building), 230
Ph: 407-823-5076

E-mail:  jmundale@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu
Website: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmundale
Office hours:  Tu 4-6, F 1-3, and by appt.

 

Course Description and Prerequisites

This is a course for senior Philosophy majors only.  If you do not qualify, please drop the course.  This course is a “capstone” experience for Philosophy Seniors.  It is an advanced seminar, and will be run accordingly.  Emphasis will be placed on quality argumentative discourse (written and spoken), analysis of texts, and synthesis of overall philosophical contributions of philosophical works examined.

 

Required Texts

- Online readings: Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics (see links in schedule, below)

- Supplemental handouts, online and in hardcopy,  will also be distributed.

You are not required to purchase any texts for this course.

 

Recommended Text

- Strunk, Wm. and White, E.B., 2000.  The Elements of Style.  Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

 

Basis for Course Grade

Class participation (preparation and attendance) - 20%

Exam 1 –  25%

Exam 2 – 25%

Option: Substitute one of the two exams, above, for an individual project – 25%

One Large Research Paper – 30%  OR  Two Smaller Research Papers (2 x 15%)

There is no final exam, but we will meet at the scheduled time of the final, on Tuesday, April 27th, 7-9:50 p.m.

 

Participation, Attendance, and Preparation

Regular attendance, thoughtful preparation and proper class decorum (see below) will be essential to your successful completion of this course.  Your class participation grade is based on your performance in 2 components: Preparation (as evidenced by level of contribution to class discussion, judged both qualitatively and quantitatively), and  attendance (see below).  If you miss class, you are responsible for the material covered in the missed class, as well as for any missed announcements or handouts.  The table below shows you the relationship between the number of classes missed and the best attainable score for overall class participation that you can hope to achieve with a given number of missed classes.  Please note that “best attainable” score means just that: if you do not regularly and actively participate while you are present, you can expect a much lower score than what is listed as the “best attainable” score.  It is your responsibility to make sure you have signed the attendance sheet.  If you come in late, see me after class, and I will add you to the sheet with a note that you were late.  Two late attendances will count as 1 absence.  Generally, I will not distinguish between excused and unexcused absences since you can miss a few without much harm to your grade, and absence from the class, for whatever reason, detracts from your personal representation in the class.  Contact me ahead of time if you believe you will have justified reason for missing more than 1-2 class(es), such as for participation in a sport or other recognized University activity, and we will discuss your particular situation.   (In other words, don’t wait until the end of the semester to try to argue that several of your absences were supposed to have been excused – it won’t work).  Similarly, make sure you have signed the attendance sheet every day that you attend; it won’t count if you tell me afterwards that you were there on a given day but simply forgot to sign the attendance sheet.

 

Number of classes missed

Best attainable class participation score

0-2

100%

3

95%

4

90%

5

85%

6

75%

7-8

60%

9 or more

0%

 

Email and Class Website

After the first week of classes, a website will be activated for the course that will be linked from my homepage at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmundale (not WebCT).  In class and/or by e-mail, I will call your attention to relevant postings at this website.  I will communicate other official course notices  to you through your eCommunity e-mail.  The e-mail address that you have provided to eCommunity at the beginning  of the semester is considered an official means of contacting you; if that address changes after the first day of classes,  you should notify me of the change in order to avoid missing any important announcements, as you are responsible for anything I send via e-mail.  Please make sure it is current, and please check it regularly.  If you should have to miss a class, it will be helpful for you to obtain copies of the notes for the missed class from a reliable student.  You are responsible for any missed material, including announcements made in class.  Additionally, you are welcome to consult me during office hours to review material you may have missed, or to ask any questions you may have.

 

Class Decorum

Everyone is expected to maintain positive classroom decorum. Disagreement and debate in the exchange of philosophical ideas are natural, but you must observe a courteous, respectful attitude toward others in the class.  Disruptive or discourteous behavior, including repeated lateness and/or early departures, will not be tolerated, and will result in a lower grade, failure, or outright dismissal from the course.  It is rude and disruptive to leave a class in progress in order to get a drink, hit the vending machine, or take care of non-urgent matters that should have been attended to prior to class.  Please avoid this behavior except in case of true emergencies; repeated instances of such behavior will lower your grade and/or result in disciplinary action through the Office of Student Conduct.  If you know you will have to leave class early, please mention it to me at the start of the class.  Consider what your general behavior and attitude convey about you, particularly to those who may know little else about you outside of the classroom.

Cheating and Plagiarism

I do not tolerate cheating or plagiarism and will punish cheaters to the fullest extent allowed through the Office of Student Conduct.  If you don’t have enough integrity to do your own work, drop the class now and re-examine your purpose in life and at UCF.  Final research papers will be processed through Turnitn.com.  The following guidelines are reproduced for your information from the UCF Golden Rule (http://www.goldenrule.sdes.ucf.edu/conduct.html):

 

Academic Dishonesty/Cheating

A.  Cheating is a violation of student academic behavior standards. The common forms of cheating include:

1.      Unauthorized assistance: communication to another through written, visual, or oral means. The presentation of material which has not been studied or learned, but rather was obtained through someone else’s efforts and used as part of an examination, course assignment or project. The unauthorized possession or use of examination or course related material may also constitute cheating.

2.      Plagiarism: whereby another’s work is deliberately used or appropriated without any indication of the source, thereby attempting to convey the impression that such work is the student’s own. Any student failing to properly credit ideas or materials taken from another is plagiarizing.

B.      Any student who knowingly helps another violate academic behavior standards is also in violation of the standards.

 

Makeup Policy

If you miss an exam, you will not automatically be granted a make-up. These will be given only in exceptional circumstances, with substantial, written documentation, from a competent authority (physician, coach, counselor, etc.) Additionally, you must contact me within 3 calendar days of the missed exam in order for me to consider granting a makeup: note that “contact” means actually discussing the matter with me, not merely leaving me a message or an e-mail.  If granted, the make-up will be more difficult than the original that was missed, and will be given at the end of the semester.  Alternatively, if you anticipate having to be absent on an exam day, and have a legitimate reason for your absence, see me well ahead of time, and if possible, I will arrange for you to take it early. Unexcused absence from an exam will result in a failing grade for the missed exam.  

 

Lateness on exam days

Students who arrive late on an exam day will not be allowed to take the exam unless no student has yet left the classroom.  If no student has left the room, you will be allowed to take the exam without any penalty to your grade, but you will not be given extra time to complete the exam.

 

Research Paper

It is a departmental policy that all 4000-level courses require students to write a research paper, and I support this policy.  Also, since this course functions as a senior “capstone” course, you are required to write a substantial research paper of at least 4,500 words  (approximately 15 pages), not counting footnotes/endnotes, bibliography, cover page, appendices, or anything

 

 

 

other than the main text.  You will be given a list of pre-approved topics;  you may choose a different topic, but you must develop it properly and submit it for approval.  You will be required to submit an outline with working bibliography, as well as a rough draft.  Final papers are due in class at the time scheduled for the final exam (Tuesday, April 27th, 7-9:50 p.m.).  Paper turned in late will be downgraded 1/3rd letter grade per day, (e.g., an “A” paper that is 1 day late receives an “A-”, two days late = “B+”, 3 days late = B), and I will not accept any papers later than Friday, April 30th.  Please note that it is not acceptable to turn in recycled papers that you have written for other courses.  Early in the semester,  you will be given a separate handout that addresses the paper requirement in more detail.   Students who do not pass the research paper requirement (that is, students who do not achieve a grade of D- or better on their papers) will not pass the class, irrespective of their grades on the other components of the course. 

 

Schedule:

The details of the schedule will depend on the scheduling of time for individual projects, but below is a rough outline of what we will be covering in class.

 

- We will begin with Plato’s Republic.

- ONLINE SOURCE:  http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html   (no Stephanus numbers)

- Additional Plato readings and handouts may also be assigned.

- Exam 1 will cover Plato.

 

- Next, we will also cover some excerpts from Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics.

- ONLINE SOURCE:  http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html  (no Bekker numbers)

- Additional Aristotle readings and handouts may also be assigned.

- Exam 2 will cover Aristotle.

 

 

Important Dates on the UCF Academic Calendar, Spring 2010

Last Day to Drop without penalty (ends at 11:59 p.m.)  Thursday,  January 14

Last Day to Add (ends at 11:59 p.m. ) Friday, January 15

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Holiday) Monday, January 18

Grade Forgiveness Deadline  (ends at 11:59 p.m.) Friday, March 5

Withdrawal Deadline,  (ends at 11:59 p.m.) Friday, March 5

Last Day to Reinstate Drop for Full Payment (ends at 4:00 p.m.) Friday,  March 5

Spring Break, March 8-12

Classes End  Monday, April 26

Final Examination Period, April 27 - May 3

Grades Due in Registrar's Office (noon) Thursday, May 6