General criteria for HASS CI Subjects
Communication intensive subjects in the humanities, arts, and
social sciences should require at least 20 pages of writing divided
among 3-5 assignments. Of these 3-5 assignments, at least one
should be revised and resubmitted. HASS CI subjects should further
offer students substantial opportunity for oral expression, through
presentations, student-led discussion, or class participation.
In general, the maximum number of students per section in a HASS
CI subject is 18.
Class participation
You are expected to participate actively and intelligently in
class discussions. At the end of each week, we will assign each
of you a class participation grade based on the quality and quantity
of your participation that week.
As a rule of thumb, you should plan to spend about an hour or
two going over your notes from the readings and preparing for
class each week after you have completed the readings. Please
notify the instructor at the beginning of the class if, for whatever
reason, you are unprepared to participate in class discussion
that day. Also, if you must miss a class, please notify the instructors
in advance. More than two unexcused absences or "unprepareds"
will jeopardize your class participation grade.
Class debates and presentation
There will be three in-class debates over the course of the semester.
All students are expected to participate in all debates. You also
will be expected to make a brief (around 10 minute) presentation
in class over the course of the semester. Your presentation should
summarize and critique the readings for that week in a polished
way. You may choose any week other than Week 1 (an introductory
week), Weeks 7-8 (class presentations), or Week 15 (for which
there is no reading due). Finally, you will be expected to make
a presentation defending your independent research paper in Week
7 or 8.
Papers and final examination
You will be expected to write three short (4-5 page) papers in
the course of the semester. The first, due at the end of Week
3, will address ethnic cleavages and the stability of democracy
in India. The third, due at the end of Week 10, requires you to
summarize and critique institutional, cultural, and social-structural
explanations of political outcomes, drawing on class readings.
Papers are due by 4 p.m. to the faculty mailboxes of either Professor
Rodden or Professor Lawson, located on the fourth floor of E53.
Third, you must also write a five-page research paper. For this
paper, you should choose a particular political event or outcome
and then explain it, considering cultural, social-structural,
and institutional outcomes, as well as different variants on each.
Feel free to pick any subject you want, as long as it is not explicitly
covered in the course. Past paper subjects have included topics
as diverse as the consolidation of democracy in Lithuania, the
failure of stable parliamentarism in Israel, the disintegration
of the Afghan state, the breakdown of Brazilian democracy in 1964,
the institutional roots of economic growth in Singapore, the outbreak
of ethnic violence in Kosovo, and the persistence of ethnic identity
politics in Malaysia. The topic for your research paper is due
at the end of Week 6; you will present your findings in class
on Week 7 or Week 8, and the paper itself is due at the end of
Week 8. You will then receive a graded version of the paper in
Week 10, and a rewritten version of the paper is due at the end
of Week 12.
Finally, your ex-camera final exam should be approximately five
pages long. The final requires you to apply the theoretical frameworks
you have learned over the semester to the issues of political
federalism and economic decentralization.
Grading
Class participation will count for a total of 35% of your grade,
distributed as follows: class debates, 5% each; in-class presentation
on the readings and class presentation of your research paper,
5% each; general class participation, 10%. The first paper will
count 15% of your grade, the third paper 15%, and the take-home
final 15%. Your research paper will count 20% of your grade, divided
as follows: topic and bibliography (5%), overall paper (10%),
and rewrite grade (5%).
Each batch of papers or examinations will be graded entirely
by one professor. If you are dissatisfied with your grade, you
may appeal it to the other professor. In that case, you will receive
the average of the two grades, regardless of whether that is higher
or lower than your original grade.
