Course Expectations: In order to accomplish the course goals, you must come to each class prepared. This means coming to class on time, as well as completing your readings and outside assignments. Active and informed participation in class discussions and collaborative work is also crucial. In terms of writing assignments, you will be required to complete one annotated bibliography (ten points), one seminar paper proposal (ten points each), regular blog entries (fifteen points), one mid-semester project (twenty-five points), and one semester project (forty points). Late assignments will only be accepted with the prior specific permission of the instructor and will be penalized 10% for every calendar day late.

Grading Scale: The grading scale for this course is straightforward with no curve.

100-90: A
89-80: B
79-70: C
69-60: D
59-below: F

Note about Incompletes: The mark of ‘I’ is inappropriate if, in the instructor’s judgment, it will be necessary for the student regularly to attend subsequent sessions of the class. I will give an Incomplete only in cases of extreme emergency.

Class Participation & Assignments: This is one of the most important components to the success of the course. All reading and outside assignments are to be completed prior to class. This means reading carefully and critically, bringing materials to class, and coming prepared to engage with the ideas and your class. Each student is required to prepare a 15-20 minute presentation based upon one of the texts twice in the semester. This presentation can be a response based solely upon what is covered in the course or course texts and specific areas of interest (i.e. video game theory and the representations of people of Middle Eastern descent in video games since 9/11).

Attendance: Attendance is welcomed, expected, and mandatory. To best utilize our time, come to class on time. You are considered absent if 1) you are more than 15 minutes late and/or 2) you are unprepared for class. There will be regular in-class work to record your attendance and preparation for class. You may miss two (2) sessions without penalty. For every class after the these two, I will lower your final grade by five points. After two absences you must attend a conference with me to discuss whether you should continue in this course. Four absences constitute automatic failure of the course.

Conferences and Contact: I am open to discussing matters pertaining to the course, readings, and your writing; please feel free to contact me via email or phone as well as in person. I hope you will also take advantage of my office hours and email.

Academic Dishonesty:

Cheating: All written work submitted for a grade in this course must be the product of your own composition. Ideas generated due to reading and group discussion may provide the inspiration for your work, but should not be the sole ideas represented. With collaborative projects, of course, ideas should be representative of the group’s work.

Plagiarism is the act of presenting as your own work another individual’s ideas, words, data, or research material. The concept applies equally to written, spoken, or electronic texts, published or unpublished. All ideas and quotations that you borrow from any source must be acknowledged: at a minimum, you should give the name of your author, the title of the text cited, and the page number(s) of the citation. The only exceptions to this requirement would involve what is familiar and commonly held (e.g. the fact that the earth is round). You should know that penalties for plagiarism are severe and can entail suspension from the University. Students are responsible for reading and understanding the University policy on Cheating and Plagiarism set forth in Purdue University’s Academic Integrity: A Guide for Students.

Classroom Behavior: I am sure that at this level this goes without saying, but here goes. Insults, slurs, or attacks of any kind will not be allowed in my class. Any student who engages in this type of behavior in the classroom will be permanently removed from the class. In other words, forced to drop the course, in addition to other possible punishment given by Purdue University (See the Purdue University Student Code of Conduct. In order to have an effective teaching and learning environment we must practice both respect and tolerance, without question.