17.423: THE CAUSES AND PREVENTION OF WAR

General Section Information

Mondays 3:00-4:00 and 5:00-6:00
Room 66-148

TA: David Mendeloff
Office: E38-252
E-mail address: dmendel@mit.edu
Course website: http://web.mit.edu/17.423/www/
Office Hours: Wednesday 2:30-3:30 and by appointment
Phone: 253-2633 (office); 491-3134 (home)

Sections are designed to help you think critically about, and to discuss actively, the material presented in the readings and lectures. It's a time for you to react to the lectures and readings, and to begin to formulate ideas and opinions that you will be asked to articulate in your written work and exams. Section is not a mini- or more-intimate lecture. While I'll actively elicit and answer questions about course material, section is primarily a period for discussion and debate in which we will all participate.

Section preparation
Sections are for your benefit, so it's up to you to be prepared. Section participation accounts for 15% of your total grade. Your grade will not be based on an assessment of your debating skills or depth of your historical knowledge. It will primarily be based on an assessment of whether you have made a sincere effort to prepare adequately for discussions. The following are five golden rules to a golden participation grade:

1. Attend section. Section attendance is mandatory. The success of section depends on you being there. If you must miss section you'll generally be expected to attend another section. This means talking to me as soon as you know that you will not be there. Significant, unexcused absences from section will adversely affect your participation grade.
2. Be on time. Section will begin promptly at five minutes past the scheduled start time. We only have 55 minutes, which is not enough time to cover all the necessary material, so every minute is precious. Also, it is very distracting (dare I say rude) to habitually arrive late. Serial tardiness will adversely affect your participation grade.
3. Complete all assigned readings before section. Since assigned readings often cover multiple lectures, I'll let you know ahead of time which readings you're expected to have completed before section. Section discussions will lag behind lectures one week. Since we meet on Monday, you'll have the weekend plus a few days to digest the previous week's lecture material and to finish the necessary reading. To get the most out of section, and out of the course as a whole, you must complete the assigned readings. However, this alone is not sufficient, therefore,
4. Prepare answers to any discussion questions before section. I will regularly hand out or post to the course website discussion questions several days before section. Many of these questions will be addressed in section. Read them, think about them, and jot down some notes before walking into section. Hint: Interesting discussions grow out of thinking about whether you agree or disagree with what your readings, teachers, and fellow students tell you.
5. Complete the response paper on time. A short response paper will be due on MARCH 5. This paper is important and you're expected to complete it. This paper will be factored into your participation grade. Failure to turn it in will adversely affect your participation grade, and hence your overall course grade.