Course Syllabus
HI/POL 444
Modern
Instructor:
Terrence Monroe
808.941-7140
Office hours: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM Mon. - Fri. (not available
weekends or holidays)
Experienced as an instructor of in-class courses
(since 1974) and online courses (since 2000) in various disciplines of world
history and contemporary Asian civilizations for colleges and universities
throughout the
Course Overview:
Study of the rise, fall and
rebirth of Modern Japan, focusing on her internal politics, economics and
culture, and how they relate to her international posture. Cross-listed as
POL 444. Fulfills interdisciplinary course requirement.
Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: any 100 or
200 level history or political science course.
Learning Outcomes:
· Gain an understanding of contemporary Japanese national developments with reference to past traditions; the causes of Japan’s post-WW II economic development; and Japanese behavior and national characteristics in business, international relations, and society.
· Refine writing and cognitive skills through weekly essays and class discussion.
·
Become proficient in functioning in an on-line
learning environment and in the use of on-line resources related to
Texts:
·
Morton,
W. Scott;
·
Johnson,
Course Requirements:
Successful completion of this course depends upon:
·
Completion
of one essay each week on any topic of your choice having to do with modern
·
Participation
in weekly discussion forums.
·
Completion
of a midterm and final exam; the midterm will be open-book (which you'll
complete on your own and email to me), and the final exam proctored.
Grading Policy:
Your weekly essay is due by the Sunday that ends each week of instruction. I do accept late essays (not discussion postings), but I will assess a 2 percentage-point penalty for every day that your essay is late. So, if your essay is four days late, and your grade is otherwise a 90, your adjusted grade (including the “late fee”) would be an 82. Discussion postings should be posted throughout the week and must be posted before the week closes each Sunday night. Discussion postings may not be made up once the weekly discussion forum closes; if you miss a particular week’s discussion forum, you may not go back in after the Sunday night deadline for that week and post.
Still, you are expected to complete all assignments on time. Please bear in mind that an Incomplete is generally not an option, since there is no way to make up the discussion forum participation element of your grade once the course is finished (after all, the group will have moved on, and there wouldn’t be anyone to discuss anything with). Please bear in mind also that participation in the discussion forums is what makes an online course work.
Your essay, discussion, and exam grades will be posted in
the Gradebook within 10 days of their due dates. Each
essay grade will have a maximum value of 100 points (for a total of 800
points), and each week’s discussion forum will have a maximum value of 100
points (for a total of 800 points). The midterm and final exams will each have
a maximum value of 200 points (for a total of 400 points). Total points for
this course: 2000.
Grading
Scale:
A: 90 - 100 (1800 - 2000 points)
B: 80 - 89 (1600 - 1799 points)
C: 70 - 79 (1400 - 1599 points)
D: 60 - 69 (1200 - 1399 points)
F: less than 60 (less
than 1200 points)
Assignment Schedule:
Week 1 (Jan. 12 - Jan. 18):
Week 1 online lecture
Morton, W. Scott;
Submit Week 1 essay
Participate in Week 1
discussion forum
Week 2 (Jan. 19 - Jan. 25):
Week 2 online lecture
Morton, W. Scott;
Submit Week 2 essay
Participate in Week 2 discussion
forum
Week 3 (Jan. 26 - Feb. 1):
Week 3 online lecture
Morton, W. Scott;
Submit Week 3 essay
Participate in Week 3
discussion forum
Week 4 (Feb. 2 - Feb. 8):
Week 4 online lecture
Morton, W. Scott;
Submit Week 4 essay
Participate in Week 4
discussion forum
Week 5 (Feb. 9 - Feb. 15):
Week 5 online lecture
Morton, W. Scott;
No essay or discussion forum
assignment due
Submit midterm exam
Exam 1 on online readings for Weeks 1 – 5
Week 6 (Feb. 16 - Feb. 22):
Week 6 online lecture
Johnson,
Submit Week 6 essay
Participate in Week 7
discussion forum
Week 7 (Feb. 23 - Mar. 1):
Week 7 online lecture
Johnson,
Submit Week 7 essay
Participate in Week 7
discussion forum
Week 8 (Mar. 2 - Mar. 8):
Week 8 online lecture
Johnson,
Submit Week 8 essay
Participate in Week 8
discussion forum
Week 9 (Mar. 9 - Mar. 15):
Week 9 online lecture
Johnson,
Submit Week 9 essay
Participate in Week 9
discussion forum
Week 10 (Mar. 16 - Mar. 22):
Johnson,
No online lecture
No essay or discussion forum assignment due
Final Exam: date, time, and locations to be announced
TO: Military
Students and DOD Employees
In an effort to service our students on the
***If you are a civilian and have a MWR student pass you
can take your exam at the Main campus or Schofield. You must already have your
pass; the Army will not make civilian passes for exam purposes only. Civilians are not able to take exams at
Instructions to reserve a seat at
one of the military installations:
1.
Some
instructors prefer students test at the main campus. Please discuss your
testing options with your instructor prior to registering for a seat.
2.
You
must have access to the military base you will be attending.
3.
This reservation must be made no earlier than the 7th week
of the course. We do
have a maximum seating, so reservations are first come first serve.
4.
You
must email the following information to one
site only:
Ø
Name,
Social Security# (last 4 digits)
Ø
Contact
phone # & valid email address
Ø
Type
of access (Active duty, Military family member, DOD)
Ø
Time
slot (1 per class) –
Ø
Course
#, Course Title, & Instructor
5.
You
will receive an email confirmation for the site requested, if you do not receive a confirmation email within 2 days, please
contact the office you emailed or resend the reservation request. You must
print out your confirmation and bring it with you to the exam (along with a
valid picture ID).
6.
If
you do not pre-register for a seat, no exam will be available for you at either
of the sites.
Participation Policy:
One of the reasons why
people take an online course is that other obligations make it difficult or
impossible to attend traditional classes. When you work on your assignment is
entirely up to you, but you should plan to spend at least ten hours a week on
this course--in reading, researching, thinking, writing, and in discussion in
the weekly forums. You should log onto WebCT to attend the classroom at least
several times a week, and when you do so and from where, of course, is up to
you. It is best to log onto WebCT once a day, if just to check for
announcements and to read through the discussions. If you procrastinate and
fail to log in for more than a few days, you will begin to get lost. What’s
more, if most students wait until the end of the week to make their discussion
postings, then there won’t be much until then for others to respond to;
therefore, a good discussion grade depends on the student making consistent
postings from the beginning of each week on through the end of the week;
students who wait until the end of the week to make their discussion postings
will be penalized for their procrastination. Many people who drop out or fail
online courses do so because they have not developed the habit of logging in
often to stay in touch with things.
Academic
Integrity (DO NOT FAIL TO READ THIS):
It is important for you to keep
in mind that all of your work for this course must be in your words, however
humble. Your website essays and exam essays are not evaluated on compositional
excellence, but on quality of insight. Please understand that after some thirty
years of reading student writing—and of reading and researching the corpus of
professionally produced writing on our subject--it is usually instantly recognizable
to me when a submission is not a student’s own work.
My policy is to submit anything
that arouses suspicion to Turnitin.com, an academic service to which I
subscribe that utilizes an algorithm-based methodology to compare the suspect
sample to all published material on the Internet. Keep in mind that the
Internet these days includes many web-based counterparts of conventionally
published materials (meaning that, if it’s been published anywhere in
print—whether in an old encyclopedia, a magazine or newspaper, or in a
brand-new best-seller—it’s probably on the Internet somewhere). If Turnitin indicates that there is a significant match
between your work and a previously published source, some pointed questions
will be asked
Consultation:
I’m always available via email, or you may call and leave
a message at any time, day or night. My phone ringer is turned off, so don’t
worry about calling in the middle of the night—it’s okay! I will try to return
your call within 12-24 hours. For those of you who are outside Hawaii, calling
Hawaii these days is cheap—free on most cell phone plans, several cents a
minute with a prepaid phone card, 10-25 cents/minute with phone company long
distance plans. If you just leave a quick message, you shouldn’t suffer much financially,
and I’ll pay for the return call, of course. As far as email is concerned, I
will try to respond to your message within 24-36 hours; however, please do not
expect me to respond on weekends or holidays—I need to have a life of some
kind!
Now, don’t forget to read the Orientation!