Assignments

(a) Doing assigned reading

In order to facilitate classroom and study-group discussions, all of the reading and other similar assignments are to be done in a timely and conscientious fashion. Unless otherwise indicated, this means that solo assignments are to be done BEFORE the applicable study group and/or class meetings.

(b) Doing assigned movie-going/listening/viewing

Some homework assignments will require you to se a movie, listen to audio recordings or to watch videotapes or films -- some of which will have been reserved on campus for that purpose. Sound recordings have heretofore been put on reserve in the Library.

NOTE: All of the audiovisual materials and reading assignments have been chosen, in part, for their "entertainment value" (what is this?). However, in exposing yourself to them in this context, it is important that you guard against the tendency to regard them as merely so many amusing diversions. Instead, you should be watching and listening for and taking note of the material for its meaningfulness to you as a participant in this class. This kind of "attentive observership" involves a number of important and learnable skills that can and must be actively strengthened through disciplined practice.

This is no exaggeration. In some cases, you must be prepared to encounter subject matter that is way too complex and/or subtle to be cognitively "grasped" in a single quick read, look or listen. If once is not enough, read, watch or listen to it several times so that the material "sits in your head."

(c) Keeping a JOURNAL

Is it true that we don't really know what we think and feel until we hear (or read) what we say (or write)? Against the possibility that some learning is about to occur and may be worth keeping track of, you are to get yourself a hard-bound "composition book" in which to make regular entries. (A computer-based workfile can be used as a supplement, but not as a substitute for a notebook; if you decide to keep your journal electronically, you should regularly print out hard copy and paste or otherwise bind pages into a hardcover volume. What to put in your journal? That is largely up to you. (And an appropriate subject for study group and classroom discussion.) The important thing is for you to BE A PROACTIVE JOURNAL-KEEPER: make substantial and frequent entries pertaining more or less directly to the form and/or content of your 9.68 learning experience. We may occasionally ask you to submit your journal to us for examination.

Likewise, you will need to be able to show it to us in the event that final grades are in dispute and grading becomes an issue between us.

(d) You and your groupmates are responsible for tracking the amount and quality your own 9.68 performance in real time. (PDF) 

A printed form to be used for this purpose is appended. Like the Journal (of which you are requested to make it a part, the form should be available for inspection by us on demand and without warning at any time.

(e) Writing "Reaction Papers" (PDF)

These will normally be 1-2 pages in length on topics to be assigned. You are responsible for proofreading and printing. (We have previously experimented with email submissions, but will not do so again unless and until we are sure that assignments are done in conformity with conventional academic standards in respect to such things as formatting, citation and stylistic criteria.) Please, submit no handwritten papers unless absolutely necessary and unavoidable.

(f) Planning/Producing a Term Paper

This can be on almost any topic, provided only that it be clearly relevant to the subject at hand and is the product of your own mind and hand. Please do not misunderstand. We are not trying to discourage you from consulting or discussing or quoting from or otherwise relying on the work of others. On the contrary, conscientious reliance on the work of others is both a necessary and a desirable hallmark of all serious scholarship. Indeed, our aim is to encourage rather than to preclude it. This means, in part, that your task is largely one of finding the voice in which you are going to articulate what you think and feel it is important for you to say about the subject at hand. Insofar as the views of others are relevant in this connection, you should feel free to use their words - in which case you are also obliged to acknowledge your sources. Generally speaking, the choice of topic should be based on your own personal/social (e.g. academic/professional) experience and interests. Generally speaking, all assignments and reaction papers for 9.68 should be written in the voice of the first person singular. A further term-paper desideratum: your topic should be one that arguably relates in some clear and compelling way to an aspect or aspects of the material dealt with in this class during the term. Finally, term papers are not to exceed 15 double-spaced pages in length, including references.

Term paper proposals are to be submitted for prior approval. Collaborative term paper proposals are welcome. Proposals (not to exceed 2 pages in length) are to be turned in via email on or during the 11th week of the term. Proposals will be reviewed and returned to you with comments regarding acceptability the following day. With luck, you will thus have almost a month to work on your term paper. The deadline for submission of term papers is the beginning of the final regularly-scheduled class. Extensions will be granted only by prior arrangement and only under extreme circumstances. Final grades will be based partly on individual term-long performance in the subject, including the timeliness, conscientiousness and skill with which assignments are undertaken and completed, our perception of the overall quality of your (1) written work, (2) study group involvement, (3) classroom participation (in general) and (4) final term paper (in particular).