Attendance & Participation
Attendance
Because our course foregrounds discussion and close engagement with the readings,
attending class is crucial for your own success and for the success of the course.
If you are ill or have a personal emergency, please notify me and I will excuse your
absence. I want you to be healthy in mind and body, as you will learn best when you
are well. If you should be unable to make more than two class sessions in a row due to illness, I will work with you to create an alternate (at home) lesson so that you will remain caught up and do not lose attendance/participation points.
Some of our course material includes references to sexual violence. I have included a content warning on the days when these topics will be part of readings and discussions. If you stay home from these class sessions due to the content, please email me, including the subject “CW” (but without any other necessary explanation) and your absence will be excused.
If a class session or due date conflicts with your religious holidays, please notify me
24 hours in advance. In accordance with UM policy on religious/academic conflicts,
your absence will be excused and/or a due date extension granted.
Each student is allowed two “unexcused” absences (i.e., you may miss class for whatever reason and do not need to inform me beforehand). Your attendance grade will be lowered by 1/3 of a grade per each subsequent unexcused absence. Arriving late (by more than 5 minutes) disrupts class and affects your and others’ learning. Two late arrivals will be equated with one absence. Using your phone for reasons other than class-activities will count as a late arrival.
Final attendance grades will be calculated at the end of the semester, but you may check in with me regarding your attendance at any time.
Participation
Participation can take many forms. These may include:
- Offering a comment or reflection about the readings during class
- posing a question, responding to or following up on othersā questions
- identifying a passage or section that you find difficult or interesting
- making links between our discussions and events in the wider world
- listening carefully and respectfully to other studentsā contributions
- participating actively in small-group discussions
Effective participation in this context entails being an engaged reader. As youāre reading materials for class, please adopt whatever strategies will enable you to stay alert and active as a reader, such as:
- underlining or flagging important passages and key phrases
- writing notes in the margins of pages or in a reading journal
- jotting down questions to raise in class
- identifying pages or passages that contain especially confusing or intriguing material
Participation will be graded through a combination of self-assessment and conversation with the instructor. See the section under Grading below for further details.
Grading
- Attendance: 150 points
- Participation: 150 points
- Short Essay: 150 points
- Long Essay/Project Proposal: 50 points
- Long Essay/Project: 250 points
- Species List Project: 175 points
- Species List Presentation: 50 points
- Final Portfolio Cover Letter: 25 points
| A+ at instructor discretion | A 93-100 | A- 90-92.9 |
| B+ 87-89.9 | B 83-86.9 | B- 80-82.9 |
| C+ 77-79.9 | C 73-76.9 | C- 70-72.9 |
| D+ 67-69.9 | D 63-66.9 | D- 60-62.9 |
| E below 60 |
Participation Assessment
You will be asked to engage in self-assessment to determine your participation grade. This means that, twice per semester (in the middle and at the end) you will be asked to reflect on your own engagement in class discussion and activities. You will then meet with me to discuss, and together we will determine your participation grade and (during our mid-semester meeting) and set goals for the remainder of the course. Should you miss your meeting or fail to submit your reflection, I reserve the right to assign your participation grade as I see fit. 10 points of your participation grade are reserved for each reflection and meeting, and should you fail to complete these the points will be forfeit.
Final Portfolios & Revision
This course will be graded using Portfolio Grading. This means that you will receive feedback (including a provisional grade) on each of your written assignments, and will have the opportunity to revise before submitting a final portfolio of all your work at the end of the term. Should you decide not to revise an assignment, the provisional grade will become the final assignment grade. You will also be required to submit a 300-500 word Cover Letter reflecting on your portfolio and the revision process, and including a list of revised assignments and changes made to these assignments.
I am happy to work with you on your revisions. You may send me an email, come to my office hours, or make an appointment to meet outside of regular office hours. The university also provides resources to help with the writing process, including writing guides on various topics, and peer mentoring sessions. For more information, check out the Sweetland Writing Center website.
Extensions & Late Work Policy
I am happy to offer extensions so long as you ask me via email at least 24 hours in advance. This 24 hour period serves two functions: it asks that you plan ahead and recognize when you may need a bit more time, and it also allows me to plan my own work schedule.
If you do not ask me for an extension, late submission will result in a deduction of ā of a letter grade per 24 hour period in which an assignment is late. This will carry over to the final portfolio. Please, just ask for the extension!
Accessibility & Accommodations
I am committed to ensuring our class is as welcoming and accessible as possible
for all students. This applies not only to documented disabilities (see below) but to
other learning differences as well. I welcome feedback on how I can help enable your
learning.
If you have a disability and need an accommodation to participate in this class
or to complete course requirements, please let me know. It may be beneficial for
your academic career for you to ask Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)
to provide documentation of the accommodations that you need so that you may
share it with me and other instructors. I will treat any information that you share as
confidential.
If you suspect that you may have a disability and would like to be tested, Services for
Students with Disabilities can provide referrals to diagnostic services.
Here is the contact information for Services for Students with Disabilities:
location: G-664 Haven Hall
phone: 734-763-3000
website: http://ssd.umich.edu/
Mental Health
University Students may experience stressors that can impact both their academic experience and their personal well-being. These may include academic pressures and challenges associated with relationships, mental health, alcohol or other drugs, identities, finances, etc. If you are experiencing concerns, seeking help is a courageous thing to do for yourself and those who care about you. If the source of your stressors is academic, please contact me so that we can find solutions together. For personal concerns, U-M offers a variety of resources, many which are listed on the Resources for Student Well-being webpage. You can also search for additional well-being resources here.
If your mental health is impacting your ability to engage or learn in this class, please
let me know. I would like to work with you to enable your success.
Sexual Misconduct
Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, which includes sexual misconduct ā including harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. We understand that sexual violence can undermine studentsā academic success and we encourage anyone dealing with sexual misconduct to talk to someone about their experience, so they can get the support they need. Confidential support and academic advocacy can be found with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC) on their 24-hour crisis line, 734.936.3333 and at sapac.umich.edu.
Alleged violations can be non-confidentially reported to the Office for Institutional Equity (OIE) at institutional.equity@umich.edu
Please note: As an instructor, I am responsible for helping to create a safe learning
environment on campus. While I am not required to report information about
sexual misconduct or a crime that may have occurred on UMās campus, other
instructors, professors, or members of the department may be required to do so.\
Please also note that some materials for this course will address or refer to sexual violence. I have included a content advisory on the days when these topics
will be part of readings and discussions. If you miss class due to the content, please email me, including the subject “CW” (but without any other necessary explanation) and your absence will be excused.
Academic Misconduct (e.g., Plagiarism)
The University of Michigan community functions best when its members treat one another with honesty, fairness, respect, and trust. The college promotes the assumption of personal responsibility and integrity, and prohibits all forms of academic dishonesty and misconduct. All cases of academic misconduct will be referred to the LSA Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Education. Being found responsible for academic misconduct will usually result in a grade sanction, in addition to any sanction from the college. For more information, including examples of behaviors that are considered academic misconduct and potential sanctions, please see lsa.umich.edu/lsa/academics/academic-integrity.html
Building on othersā words and ideas is an essential element of effective scholarship.
However, we must give credit to those whose words and ideas we incorporate into
our writing. Using someone elseās words, ideas, or work without proper attribution
is plagiarism, and such an act is considered a serious ethical violation within the
university community. If you complete an assignment for one course and then submit that same assignment as original work for a different course, you are also committing plagiarism.
If you have questions about how to reference material that you find in books or
online, please let me know. There are many good resources to help you format your citations (try Purdue OWL & this Sweetland Writing Guide).
Covid
Our entire LSA community is responsible for protecting the collective health of all members by being mindful and respectful in carrying out the guidelines laid out in our Wolverine Culture of Care and the Universityās Face Covering Policy for COVID-19. Individuals seeking to request an accommodation related to the face covering requirement under the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the Office for Institutional Equity.
In LSA classrooms all students are expected to adhere to the required safety measures and guidelines of the State of Michigan and the University of Michigan, wearing a face covering that covers the mouth and nose in all classrooms, and not coming to class when ill or in quarantine. If you are feeling ill, regardless of your testing status, please stay home! Send me an email letting me know you are unwell, and I will excuse your absence. If you should be unable to make more than two class sessions in a row due to illness, I will work with you to create an alternate (at home) lesson so that you will remain caught up and do not lose attendance/participation points.
Ecological Empire 