Assignments
I will accept no late assignments of any kind (reading notes, presentations, or papers) without written documentation from proper authority such as a doctor’s note or a funeral notice. I require at least one-week notice for extension due to religious holiday. See the student code of conduct for a listing of legitimate excuses and valid documentation. Make up assignments must be completed by the time frame I devise upon receiving your excused request.
Technology
Cellphone use is strictly prohibited. This restriction includes trying to hide your text conversations by texting in your lap. Noncompliance will result in zero for your attendance and participation on that day. Anyone wishing to use a laptop for taking notes and reading articles must discuss with me in advance. Then, you must sit in the first two rows of the room and email me your lecture notes immediately after class. Failure to send your me your notes will cancel your attendance and participation points for the day.
All assigned readings will be available on the course OER page http://cuny.is/group-anth-3420-urbanarchaeology-oer. Some readings may change. You will be notified via the email address associated with you’re the OER account of any changes.
Office Hour meeting (10 points):
Sign up for one 15-minute office hour session over the course of the semester. Bring your thoughts and questions regarding the course, assignments or use as an opportunity to discuss your future goals and how this course can contribute to it.
Reading Reflections (15 points total):
In order to facilitate in-class discussion, students are required to submit at least one page of typed, double-spaced notes in twelve-point Times New Roman font over the
assigned readings for the week (I.e. one set of notes submitted each week for 15 weeks of readings=15 points total that can be earned). Bulleted and outlined notes are acceptable, however, all text but the highest outline headings must consist of complete sentences.
Students will receive one of three grade designations for every set of notes submitted, each representing a particular point percentage: PASS (100%=1 point), LOW PASS (75%=.75 points) or NO CREDIT (0%=0 points). Notes reflecting a careful and critical reading with an eye toward in class contribution will receive a PASS mark. Notes reflecting less-than-thorough readings and little or nothing in the way of critical evaluation will receive a LOW PASS mark. Notes reflecting little or no reading and a poor or completely lacking critical evaluation will receive a NO CREDIT mark. Failure to submit notes on time following the format guidelines laid out above will result in a NO CREDIT mark also.
Take note:
- You will submit the reading reflections on the Forum Academic Commons group before the beginning of the first-class meeting for each week. This will typically be a Tuesday.
- Notes may be directly typed in or attached but must have the Microsoft .doc or .docx file extension.
- Reading notes that do not meet the formatting requirements will not be accepted.
- No late notes will be accepted.
Discussant/Participation Obligation (25 points):
Participation in class discussion is critical for achieving high marks in this course. I expect students will take part in all class discussions, offering thoughtful comments that reflect a thorough reading of the day’s assigned materials. Each week, three to four students will act as discussants on the first-class meeting of that week, typically a Tuesday, and should meet (in-person, via Skype, FaceTime, etc.) prior to class meetings to craft several lines of discussion topics and questions to pose to your class cohort. Each student will serve as a discussant for TWO of the scheduled themes. Students not acting as a discussant on any given day should keep in mind that I will actively monitor every conversation for individual participation. In other words, I keep careful track of who speaks up in each discussion—so speak up often. I expect students will engage their peers during presentation days also, asking questions following the end of paper presentations.
Urban Mapping/Podcast Project and Presentation (25 points):
This will be a group project, with size of each group determined by total amount of students enrolled in class. Each group will develop a project that will be complete with historical documentary research, visuals, ethnographic/oral history data and will be part of a larger heritage map. Each group can also choose to add a podcast to their work. This project will be broken down step by step and portions of the work will be completed in class in assigned groups usually during the Thursday class of the week.
In essence, this is a tiered project: Each student will contribute to the group project and each group project will contribute to the class-wide project. Each student will contribute a portion to their group project and this portion will be the subject of their final paper and graded individually. While each group will be working on a separate neighborhood or community in their project, each group project will contribute to a larger class project of digitally mapping the heritage of Brooklyn. Specific information regarding stages and potential projects will be provided in class.
Once completed, the group will present their work and podcast/map portion which will take place over two weeks at the end of the semester. This will not only discuss the data gathered and results, but also methods used, what worked/what didn’t, and aspects of the project that could be added to best practices or lessons learned for future researchers. I expect that students will prepare presentations with visual aids-i.e. map or podcast and will have research their topics extensively prior to presentation. Presentations will be graded on organization, creativity, quality of information, and succinct summation of the interesting aspects of your chosen avenue of research.
Final Paper (25 points)
For the final paper you will research a specific topic related to your urban mapping project that you clear with me in advance. Papers should be formatted in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced with 1-inch margins and be 1,500 to 2,000 words in length (6-8 pages)—note: your references cited pages do not count toward the length requirement. In-text citations and the references cited section should conform to the guidelines prescribed by the American Anthropology Association (AAA). Your paper must include a references-cited section with at least ten scholarly references—at least six works must be items not already listed on the syllabus. The paper will be graded based on the quality of the information you present and, on the thoughtfulness, and criticality of your comments. There are three related due dates for this paper listed in the course schedule:
- Paper topics/ideas due Thursday 9/19/19
- Paper abstract due Thursday 10/17/19
- Final paper due Tuesday 12/17/19
