Course Syllabus
HIST/POL 444: Modern
Fall 2009
Instructor:
Terrence Monroe
808.941-7140
Office hours: Mon-Fri all day, except 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
Catalog Description:
Examines
Student Learning Outcomes:
·
Gain an understanding of contemporary Chinese
national developments with reference to past traditions; the causes of
·
Refine writing and cognitive skills through weekly
essays and class discussion.
·
Become proficient in functioning in an online
learning environment and in the use of online resources related to modern China.HIST/POL 444:
Linkage to Program Learning Outcomes:
·
Students
will employ chronology to understand change and continuity, as well as cause
and effect, in history. The skills and competencies in this area are developed
in all regularly offered history courses.
Text:
John King Fairbank and Merle
Goldman, editors
ISBN: 0-674-11673-9
Course Requirements:
Successful completion of this course depends upon:
· Completion of three essays assignments, as discussed in the Orientation Addendum.
· Participation in weekly discussion forums.
· Completion of a proctored final exam as described in the Orientation Addendum.
*** Be sure to
refer to the Orientation Addendum for further details on how to complete these
assignments.
Schedule and Grade Policy:
I do accept late Essays Assignments, but I will assess a 2 percentage-point penalty for every day that the assignment is late. So, if your Essays Assignment 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, 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 group discussion 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 essays assignment, discussion, and final exam grades
will be posted in the Gradebook within 7 days of
their due dates. Each Essays Assignment will have a maximum value of 300 points
(for a total of 900 points), each week’s discussion forum will have a maximum
value of 100 points (for a total of 1000 points), and the Final Exam will have
a maximum value of 300 points. Total points for this course: 2200.
Grading
Scale:
A: 90 - 100 (1980 - 2200 points)
B: 80 - 89 (1760 - 1979 points)
C: 70 - 79 (1540 - 1759 points)
D: 60 - 69 (1320 - 1539 points)
F: less than 60 (less
than 1320 points)
Assignment Schedule:
Week 1 (Oct. 5 – Oct. 11):
Participate
in Week 1 discussion forum
Week 2 (Oct. 12 – Oct. 18):
Participate
in Week 2 discussion forum
Week 3 (Oct. 19 – Oct. 25):
Submit
Essays Assignment 1
Participate
in Week 3 discussion forum
Week 4 (Oct. 26 – Nov. 1):
Participate
in Week 4 discussion forum
Week 5 (Nov. 2 – Nov. 8):
Participate
in Week 5 discussion forum
Week 6 (Nov. 9 – Nov. 15):
Submit
Essays Assignment 2
Participate
in Week 6 discussion forum
Week 7 (Nov. 16 – Nov. 22):
Participate
in Week 7 discussion forum
Week 8 (Nov. 23 – Nov. 29):
Participate
in Week 8 discussion forum
Week 9 (Nov. 30 – Dec. 6):
Submit
Essays Assignment 3
Participate
in Week 9 discussion forum
Week 10 (Dec. 7 – Dec. 13):
Participate
in Week 10 discussion forum
Final
Exam (proctored); date to be announced
Military Students and DOD Employees:
The proctored final exam can be taken on campus. 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 at Schofield Barracks. 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
To reserve a seat at one of the military installations, you
must have access to the military base you will be attending. 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.
You must email the following information to one site only (
·
name,
social security number (last 4 digits)
·
contact
phone number and valid email address
·
type
of access (active duty, military family member, DOD)
·
time
slot (one per class) – 13:00 or 15:00
·
course
number, course title, and instructor’s name
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 re-send the reservation request. You must print out your
confirmation and bring it with you to the exam (along with a valid picture ID).
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 discussion. You
should log in to WebCT 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 in to 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
regularly 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 essays and exams are not evaluated on compositional excellence,
but on quality of insight. Please understand that after some 35 years of
reading student writing—and of reading and researching the corpus of
professionally produced writing on our subject--it is often 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 bestseller—it’s probably on the Internet somewhere). If Turnitin indicates that there is a significant match between your work and a previously published source, pointed questions will be asked and disciplinary measures enacted if need be.
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! 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.
I will try to respond to your messages within 24 hours; however, please do not
expect me to respond on weekends or holidays.
Orientation Addendum
If
this is your first online course, don't be alarmed. I think you'll find it’s
pretty straightforward. It may not, however, be what you expect. An online
course is not a glorified correspondence course, nor is it a course in directed
reading. You are not isolated and out there on your own. To the contrary,
you’re likely to become more involved with your classmates than you ordinarily
would be in a regular class. One of the nice things about an online course is
that your classroom is open 24/7. Time of day (or night) and physical location
is irrelevant—we’re living in a global village. For those of who are able to
discipline yourselves academically, you’ll find that the freedom of working and
studying online is sweet indeed. Another nice thing about learning online is
that the discussion forums enable you to leisurely examine everything that
everyone in your class has said to date about a particular discussion topic,
pick and choose what to respond to, and think through your response before
pecking it out on your keyboard. All that tends to make for a much more
thoughtful and better quality discussion, and you may
conclude, as I have, that it’s a better way to learn. What’s more, you’ll find
that the online learning environment can introduce you to the galaxy of online
resources including websites, online libraries, subject guides, and lots more.
I am assuming that you are reasonably well acquainted with the use of a computer and with our course management system, which is fairly intuitive and quite forgiving (as such things go), but if you ever have a question about getting around in that, let me know. I promise you immediate and cheerful assistance!
Now, as to course requirements:
The first thing that makes up your
course grade is a series of three essays assignments. The topic for each of these
essays assignments is the same, as follows:
In essays of approximately 200 - 300 words each (1,000 -
1,500 words total), identify five (5) topics (you decide which ones, as long as
they have something to do with the material you've studied to date in this
course) and reflect on their implications--in other words, why they matter, and
where those implications lead. This is an exercise in reflection on the lessons
of history, where they come from, and where they lead in terms of their
influence on the development of the enduring characteristics of Asian society,
and (if you wish) what they mean for things that are happening now.
You should be working on these essays assignments continuously, and your work should have
the polished feel of being the result of a steady, daily progression of thought
and reflection. You can never tell when insight will strike, so you should get
into the habit (now) of taking notes as we go along of things like this that
occur to you; carry a little notebook and pen around with you always (except in
the shower)--it’s a habit that will serve you very well indeed for all kinds of
purposes. Polish, embellish, and refine your insights as you go. Don’t even
think about trying to sit down to compose these essays all at
once—it’s a daunting, unproductive, and highly improbable prospect. If it appears that you have
slapped together this assignment at the last minute, your grade will suffer for
it.
Everything you write for these assignments must be entirely in your own words,
however humble. Plagiarism will result in your eviction from this course. Do
not cite or recite anything—I already know what happened in history, so what I
want is your insight as to the implications
of your topics. I want to see evidence that you’re thinking things through in
these matters and wondering about what it all means. Any citation of material
from any other sources will result in a mark-down of your grade.
You must write on five
(5) separate topics for each essays
assignments. Your five essays for each assignment should
be clearly segregated from each other--do not submit them run together into one
big essay.
Here are three essays as an example:
·
Social
organization: Asian societies and economies (especially
·
China's
terra cotta army: Only a monster like Qin Shihuangdi
would have set himself to such epic tasks as building the Great Wall, burying
China’s army of scholars alive, and assembling an earthenware army for (who
knows?) the purpose of conquering even grander horizons that men of mere flesh
and blood might shrink from. The old boy seems to have set a precedent for
brutality that was not exceeded until Mao Zedong became the most prolific mass
murderer of modern peacetime-—accounting for some 70 million deaths largely
through maladroit policies like the Great Leap Forward that brought devastating
famine to China and which, by the early 1970s, had left the average Chinese
poorer than the average Somali. The Chinese are no less heavy-handed in
enforcing uniformity of opinion today, largely because of their fear of the
burgeoning popular dissatisfaction that has produced thousands of outbursts of
public protest in recent years. This is the sort of thing that makes for the
loss of the Mandate of Heaven, and which might someday summon Qin Shihuangdi’s terra cotta troops to administer to the regime
its coup de grace… and bring the long cycle of Chinese history round once again
to whence it began.
·
Japan's
loss of traditional arts: I think many if not most Westerners would be greatly
surprised--and perhaps appalled--by the reality of what passes for cultural
forms in Japan today: a dreary and depressing cemented-over landscape of
pointless monuments and brutalized nature. Whatever happened to the sense of
harmony with nature that once graced
Do you see from these examples that what I'm getting at it
is not what happened, but what it means? Don't worry about drawing the
wrong conclusions about your topics--I will never penalize anyone for drawing
the wrong conclusions. This is your chance to wonder about things, and that's what I'm trying to accomplish in
this course: to get students into the habit of wondering about things that
happened in history, and to draw upon their lessons to help understand
comparable things that are happening now.
I will be sending you the following grade report on your
essays assignments:
·
Quality of insight (50 percentage points): How well
did you interpret the significance of your topic? How well did you consider the
implications, in terms of how your topics reflect on comparable developments in
the present, past, or even the future? How creative is your thinking in terms
of drawing conclusions are where things come from and where they lead and why
they're of special significance? To what extent does your writing reflect
consistent, in-depth reflection, rather than a last-minute effort?
·
Familiarity with the facts (35 percentage points).
You may be forgiven for wondering how you are going to demonstrate familiarity
with the facts without reciting history. Let me put it this way: I am concerned
that your essays do not reflect a complete ignorance of your subject matter.
You need to acquaint yourself (using all kinds of sources, including your text,
websites, books, articles, videos, your grandpa, whatever) with what you write
about, so that your conclusions as to their significance are not completely at
odds with the reality of the historical record. You may make whatever mention
of those facts from the historical record that are needed (and only what is needed) to support your
conclusions.
·
Quality of expression (15 percentage points): How
clearly and articulately is your insight expressed? (I don't like sloppy
composition, confused syntax, and bad spelling. Show
pride in your facility with the English language--more than anything, this is
your key to earning both respect from others and a prosperous future.)
·
Total percentage X total number of points possible
= your grade.
Things that can work against
you:
·
Five topics for each Exam Essays assignment are
required; for each topic fewer than five submitted, there will be a reduction
in your grade. A total of 1,000-1,500 words is recommended--if your effort is
appreciably less or more (which is not necessarily better) than this, there may
be a proportionate reduction in your grade.
·
Do not recite history for the sake of reciting
history, in any sort of narrative form (as, for example, your textbook does)--I
already know (more or less) what happened in history. Above all, are your
essays entirely in your own words? Any
whiff of plagiarism will result in your essay being submitted to
Turnitin.com--and if plagiarism is indicated, your continued participation in
this course would be at risk.
·
If your essays are not clearly segregated, there
will be a reduction in your grade (in other words, do not submit your five essays
as one big rambling essay); this is meant to be an exercise in thinking and
writing succinctly.
If you would like to discuss
your assignment and its grade, please do not expect me to respond in writing--I
have too many students to permit me the time I would need to peck out a
personalized response to each of you who may have questions and concerns. I ask
instead that you call me (808.941-7140) so that we can discuss things--that's a
lot easier, a lot more productive, and a lot more enjoyable for both us, since
I can bring your essay up on screen and roam through whatever points we need to
consider, and provide you with guidance on how to improve your work. This way, I can provide you with as much
personalized consultation as we feel you need, and hopefully lend a much-needed
dimension of student-teacher contact to an otherwise somewhat impersonal medium
of instruction. If you like, just call and let me have your number so that
I can you back on my nickel.
The second thing that makes up your course grade is your participation in the discussion forums. In each of these forums, you’ll find a number of topics that I’ve posted, and you’ll find them in the discussion forum for whichever week we’re in. In order to do well in this exercise, you should plan to log on several times throughout the week with a total of 5 responses--to your choice of the topics themselves and/or to your classmates’ postings. If you don’t feel that you’ve had enough exposure to deal with a particular topic, then by all means get on the Internet and look this stuff up so that you’ll be better informed (use some initiative here, and take control of your own learning—the text is by no means the Alpha and Omega of your education in history).
*While you only need to respond to
5 topics and/or your classmates' postings, please try to at least read each of my own responses to these topics. This is also how I teach you, and I am
trying to provide you with examples of how to think creatively about these
topics, and to help get you into the habit of writing your Exam Essays
assignments.
With any of these forums, there will be a number of topics to choose from; go with whichever ones arouse your interest. You do not need to respond to all of the discussion topics—just go with the ones (5 of them) that most interest you. Because of the enormous terrain that we’ll be covering in this course, the discussion topics that I’ve posted are nothing more than a sample, just enough to whet your taste buds for the fantastic variety of things that could constitute a history course of this sort.
Your
responses to these topics should be thoughtful and concise. Don’t ramble--try
to make your points succinctly. Not too succinct, however--I’m looking for a
lot more than just “Great idea! Wish I had thought of that!” Your postings
should each be around 100 words--but that’s just a rough guideline, since I
value quality of insight much more than quantity of words. I especially value
postings that reflect something of the history that you may have learned thus
far; uninformed personal opinion, frankly, is dime-a-dozen, while an opinion
that is at least somewhat informed by history will rank very highly in my esteem.
Be sure to post your responses in the discussion forum—do not email them to me.
If you’re not sure how to post to the forum, just ask and I’ll walk you through
it.
Discussion
is what makes an online course work; otherwise, an online course is just a
glorified correspondence course. Be sure to respond to your classmates! If your
classmate posts a response to a topic that interests you, look it over and
consider posting a different point of view if, in your opinion, it merits one.
We’re trying to get an actual exchange of views going here, and the gods will
surely smile upon whatever you can think to do to help that process along. I
think you’ll be amazed at how much you’ll learn from each other in these
forums.
There’s
one last thing I need to say about these discussions: they’re meant to be
provocative and, in many cases, relevant to the issues of today. They say that
“history is”--not “history was”--and one of the paramount points of
why we study history is to apply its lessons and implications in consideration
of things that are happening in the here and now. To that end, I encourage my
students to think creatively and philosophically about these things, and not
just to soak up the historical record for the sake of spewing it out on their
exams and then forgetting the whole business. If I can teach my students to wonder about the lessons of history and
how they may shed light on the things that are happening in their lives, then
hopefully it will become a habit that will flourish (and serve them well) throughout
life.
Again,
I do not accept late submissions of your discussion forum postings. Reason
being, the discussion is a group project, and if you miss the deadline, the
group will have moved on and you’ll have nobody to discuss anything with. I
expect you to log on regularly; by that, I mean that you should log in at the
start of the forum, again in the middle, and again towards the end. As with
writing your Exam Essays assignments, your participation in the discussion
forums needs to be continuous. If I see (from the time-stamp of your postings)
that most of your postings were made at the last moment, your grade will suffer
for it, since by posting at the last moment, you will have deprived your
classmates of the opportunity to discuss anything with you.
The third thing that makes up your
course grade is the final exam. In this assignment, you'll be asked to once again to
discuss the significance of several topics of your choosing, much as you will
have done with the essays assignments described above. This is a closed-book,
no notes allowed, proctored exercise, and you will be provided with written
guidance on how to complete this exam at the time of the exam.
As to extra credit assignments: there are
none. Please do not ask for the opportunity to do extra credit work to make up
for an assignment that you may have missed.
If
you have any dispute over course requirements, policies, grades, or anything
else that you haven’t gotten a satisfactory response from me on, you have my phone number: 808.941-7140.
I am your court of first appeal, and as your teacher, I have both the right and
the responsibility to resolve your concerns before they go anywhere else. Do
not take any complaint or concern that you may have to the department chair,
the dean, the president of the
In
closing, I’d like to think you’re here because you want to learn, rather than
just meet a requirement, right? Right??? I would ask
you to think about what a college education should really mean to you; the day
will come, long after you’ve gone out and conquered the world (or been
conquered by it), when you’ll realize that what really matters in life is
learning, personal growth, and wisdom—take the word of a wise old hound on that
for now. I expect your best effort, but more so, you should expect that from
yourself. I’m not some guy sitting on the beach out here doing this to keep
myself in mai tais and
suntan lotion (I haven’t been to the beach in more years than I can remember);
I take your education very seriously, and I trust that you will do the same.
Once the course is finished, I must ask that you not lean on me about your
grade, telling me that you really, really need an A (when in fact you’ve earned
less), or that maintaining your 4.0 GPA is a matter of life or death, or that
your financial aid is in danger if you don’t pass. I do not respond well to
such overtures, and they tend to be counter-productive. The time to worry about
such things is while you’re working your way through the course--not after it’s over and done with--and again, I think you’ll find that
I’m quite generous with the grades as long as you do the required work and make
your best effort.
With
that said, go ahead and jump into your Week 1 stuff. And relax… despite all the
stern-sounding rules and regs, I’m actually very easy
to get along with.
If you want to
talk with me about things, send me an email asking that I call you. Or, give me
a call anytime (24/7) at 808.941-7140 and leave a message—don’t worry about
calling in the middle of the night, since you can’t wake me up (my office is
downstairs, and the ringer's on low). I’ll then call you back on my nickel. I
don’t have time for telephone tag, so please specify in your message the best
time(s) for me to reach you, and I’ll try to schedule the call accordingly. In
your message, be sure to specify which college you’re in (I teach for more than
one), and which course you’re taking; please do not assume that I should know
you by name (even if we’ve talked a dozen times); I’m the original
absent-minded professor, and I need all the help I can get (don’t we all,
though).
Aloha… Terrence Monroe