English 101 HYE--- Syllabus

(Item #0980, Spring 2011)

 

Instructor: Martha Silano

E-mail: msilano@bellevuecollege.edu (if Vista email is disabled)

Phone: (425) 564-2509

Preferred Method of Communication: Vista email

Office location: R230-K          

Office Hour: Tu, 9:30-10:20 AM (Please contact me prior to visiting me during my office hour to make an appointment).

Mandatory Class Meeting Times: 10:30 am-11:20 am TTh

Classroom: C140

  

CLASSROOM ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY. I take attendance at the start of each class. If you miss four (4) class meetings (20% of the course), it is likely that you will not receive a passing grade for the course. Arriving late to class will not be tolerated—two late arrivals to class equal one absence. It is your responsibility to find out what you missed from a fellow student and check the Vista Blackboard website for new assignments or instructions you may have missed. Please let me know at the beginning of class if you need to leave early. In general it is very important to stay in touch with me, especially if you fall ill or a personal or family emergency becomes unmanageable.

 

Course Outcomes:

After completing this course, students will be able to...

 

Think and read critically:  carefully read, analyze, interpret and evaluate claims, beliefs, texts and/or issues.

·         frame questions, define problems, and position arguments.

 

·         consider multiple points of view and differentiate between assumptions, beliefs, facts, opinions, and biases. 

 

·         read and respond to various texts critically for purposes of interpretation, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and/or judgment.

 

·         demonstrate an understanding of the main point of a text; that is, its thesis and its relevant supporting details.

 

Compose and revise in context: shape written responses for different audiences and purposes.

·         consider flexible strategies for prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing.  

 

·         develop and support thesis statements that are appropriately complex and significant.

 

·         construct unified paragraphs with topic sentences and supporting details that advance the thesis.

 

·         apply various methods of development such as illustration, comparison and contrast, and/or analysis.

 

·         balance their individual voices with those from other texts.

·        
employ style, tone, and mechanical conventions appropriate to the demands of a particular audience or purpose.

 

Reflect and evaluate: recognize and incorporate newly acquired skills.

·         develop the ability to critique their own and the work of others.

 

·         gain a clearer perspective of habits that may detract from the effectiveness of their own writing.

 

·         respond to comments from their instructor and peers.  

 

Food Sustainability Theme: global citizenship, social responsibility, ethics, and culture.

 

Additionally, you will have prepared yourself to be a responsible citizen in a globally interconnected and diverse society and have increased understanding regarding:

 

·         the link between food and culture;

 

·         the negative consequences of industrialized, processed, and profit-motivated food production;

 

·         the relationship between food and health;

 

·         the possible benefits of local and alternative food systems, including those implemented by multinational corporations such as Walmart;

 

·         the issue of local and world hunger;

 

·         increased understanding of contemporary food movements such as locavorism and the slow food movement;

 

·         ethical arguments for making conscious choices about what to eat.

 

 

How Outcomes Will Be Met / Grading:

This is a hybrid course. That means that most of the work for this class will be conducted online through our Blackboard Vista course site. There (and in our grounded classroom) the instructor will employ and/or facilitate the following methods and practices to assist students in achieving the stated English 101 course outcomes: short lectures, field research and data collection/analysis, critical analysis of assigned readings, small and large group online discussions, homework and essay assignments, peer review of draft essays, quizzes, grammar and writing assignments, and other relevant activities.

 

Major Assignments:  

Diagnostic Essay                                                                               50 points

Three (3) out-of-class essays                                                        300 points

Group Poetry Presentation                                                            100 points

Skit Assignment                                                                                 50 points

Four (4) Peer Review Workshops                                                 100 points

Five (5) quizzes                                                                                  50 points

Weekly Journal Entries                                                                    50 points

Weekly Online Discussions (10 x 10)                                          100 points

In-class exercises and group activities                                        100 points

Final Essay Exam                                                                             100 points

 

Total:                                                                                                 1,000 points

 

FINAL GRADING SCALE (BASED ON 1,000 POINTS):

Letter Grade

Number Grade

# of Points

A

4.0-3.8

1000-930

A-

3.7-3.4

  929-890

B+

3.3-3,1

  889-860

B

3.0-2.8

  859-820

B-

2.7-2.4

  819-790

C+

2.3-2.1

  789-760

C

2.0-1.8

  759-730

C-

1.7-1.4

  729-690

D+

1.3-1.1

  689-660

D

1.0

  659-650

F

 

  649 & below

 

 

 

Late Assignments and Revision Options

 Paper format/late assignments: I will provide detailed guidelines for all major essay and presentation assignments.  Late papers will lose half a grade for each day they are late (a paper is considered late if I do not receive it by 11:59 PM on the date it is due). Unless we have made other arrangements, papers over 3 days/72 hours late will not be accepted (for instance, an essay due Monday, 11:59 PM must be turned in by Thursday, 11:59 PM). Late assignments may not be revised.

 

Note: To avoid lateness due to lost/corrupted files, please be sure to back up all of your writing for this class by emailing it as an attachment to yourself, or by placing it on a zip drive, CD, or memory stick.

 

Option to Revise: You will have the option of revising essays 1 or 2 after I have graded them. Revisions are due on a specific date during the 8th week of the quarter. I will grade the revised essay and then average it with the grade you initially received on the paper. This averaged grade will be your final grade for the essay. Late assignments may not be revised.

 

The BC College Grading Policy is located on page 10 of the Course Catalog and also on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/3/3000_grading.asp. 

 

 

Books and Materials:

 

Required Textbooks:

 

Textbooks are available at the BC Bookstore and online at http://bcc.collegestoreonline.com.

 

The Ethics of What We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter. Rodale Books. Peter Singer and Jim Mason. 2007. ISBN-10: 1594866872.

How to Write Anything. Bedford/St. Martins. Spiral. 1st Edition. John J. Ruszkiewicz. January 2009. ISBN-10: 0312452261; ISBN-13: 978-0312452268.

Classroom Learning Atmosphere

Instructor Expectations:

 

I expect you to arrive in class on time (and ideally rested and fed!), prepared, and ready to actively participate in classroom activities. Chronically being late/unprepared and/or posting late to online weekly discussions will lead to a lowered participation grade.

 

I do not allow make-up work. That means that if you do not turn in your prewriting questions, rough drafts, quizzes, on the day they are due, you forever lose the opportunity to receive points for that work. Additionally, to receive full credit for peer review sessions, you must participate actively and fully, posting detailed peer review responses on or before the due date. If you have a doctor’s note confirming illness or injury, please present it to the instructor (either hard copy or scanned and sent via email), along with your submitted missed work, at the start of the first day you are back in class.

 

This course focuses on the theme of food sustainability. Sustainable food practices are ones that could conceivably continue in perpetuity without damage to culture, the environment, or to those people who live in proximity to or who work to grow, harvest, and distribute the food being produced. Sustainability, having its root in sustain, also relates to the eating of food that sustains rather than causing illness or disease. When we label a practice sustainable, we are also considering the degree to which this practice preserves biodiversity, achieves its affects by taking small actions that lead to large impacts, and fosters healthy and just economies, along with taking into consideration the impact the practice will make on the local ecosystem.  Sustainability skills include intellectual openness, a sensitivity to cross-cultural perspectives, an ability to work collaboratively in groups, an ability to think laterally (connect the dots), an ability to reflect on how one’s personal choices affect sustainability, thinking critically and relying heavily on observation and empiricism, practicing civic responsibility, and reflecting on one’s knowledge, values, and commitment through a variety of media, including literary and artistic expression.

 

As a student in a sustainability-themed course, you will be expected to consider the local as well as global impact of your personal choices when it comes to food purchasing and consumption, including how far your food has traveled to get to your plate, along with how the food you eat is grown, produced, processed, packaged, and disposed of. You will also be expected to make connections between small changes in behavior and potentially huge global impacts.

 

Throughout the quarter we will be reading, viewing films and videoclips, and discussing and writing about FOOD: what it means to us, our peers, and professional writers, where it comes from and how it is altered along the way to the supermarket—how it is grown, who grows it, how it is processed, who decides what is safe to eat, etc. You are not expected to know much about this subject when the quarter begins, but plan on being challenged to examine your own food purchasing and eating habits and, in general, the way you think about food and how it is produced. I ask that you keep an open mind as we explore heated topics such as global warming, the fast food industry, and industrialized meat production.

 

Affirmation of Inclusion:

 Bellevue College is committed to maintaining an environment in which every member of the campus community feels welcome to participate in the life of the college, free from harassment and discrimination.

 

We value our different backgrounds at Bellevue College, and students, faculty, staff members, and administrators are to treat one another with dignity and respect. http://bellevuecollege.edu/about/goals/inclusion.asp

 

Plagiarism:

 All assignments you complete for this course must present your own ideas in your own words. If you copy from a text word for word, you must put them in quotation marks. Even if you summarize or paraphrase the ideas or facts of someone else, you are obligated to cite the source of those facts and ideas, that is, tell us where you found your ideas/facts. You will receive instruction regarding the basic conventions for citing your sources using MLA (Modern Language Association) citation guidelines. I will not accept an essay you have downloaded from the Internet or copied from someone else, an essay you wrote for an earlier class, or an essay in which you present words or ideas as your own when they are not. Essays that do not present your own ideas in your own words or essays in which you do not cite your sources are considered plagiarized. If you plagiarize, you will receive a zero for the assignment or assignment sequence. If you plagiarize a second time, you will fail the course. Please note that once it is determined that your work is not your own, I will not negotiate a plan for relieving yourself of the consequences of your actions. For a more detailed explanation of plagiarism, read the official policy of the Division of Arts and Humanities: "Student Procedures and Expectations" http://www.bcc.ctc.edu/artshum/studentinfo.html.  Unintentional plagiarism is still considered plagiarism and is punishable; saying you did not know you were plagiarizing is not an acceptable defense. Just in case a question of ownership arises, print out drafts of your work often and keep them in a folder or binder. Information about Bellevue College's copyright guidelines can be found at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/lmc/links/copyright.html

A good resource for Plagiarism is the Library Media Center:  http://bellevuecollege.edu/lmc/links/plagiarism.html.

 

Student Code / Classroom Atmosphere:

 Since this is a college course, I expect students to conduct themselves in a way that does not interfere with the learning of others. You can help to create a positive learning environment by respecting all voices and views; completing assignments promptly and conscientiously; coming to class with a good attitude and an open mind; and accepting and giving feedback graciously.

 

Cheating, stealing and plagiarizing (using the ideas or words of another as oneŐs own without crediting the source) and inappropriate/disruptive classroom behavior are violations of the Student Code of Conduct at Bellevue College. BC instructors have the right to excuse from class a student who interferes with instructor effectiveness and/or student learning.

 

Examples of unacceptable behavior include, but are not limited to: talking out of turn, text-messaging or having laptops open during class, arriving late or leaving early without a valid reason, allowing cell phones/pagers to ring, and inappropriate behavior toward the instructor or classmates.  The instructor can refer any violation of the Student Code of Conduct to the Vice President of Student Services for possible probation or suspension from Bellevue College.  Specific student rights, responsibilities and appeal procedures are listed in the Student Code of Conduct, available in the office of the Vice President of Student Services.  The Student Code, Policy 2050, in its entirety is located at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/policies/2/2050_Student_Code.asp

 

Values Conflicts:

 

Essential to a liberal arts education is an open-minded tolerance for ideas and modes of expression that might conflict with one’s personal values.  By being exposed to such ideas or expressions, students are not expected to endorse or adopt them but rather to understand that they are part of the free flow of information upon which higher education depends.

 

To this end, you may find that class requirements may include engaging certain materials, such as books, films, and art work, which may, in whole or in part, offend you.  These materials are equivalent to required texts and are essential to the course content.  If you decline to engage the required material by not reading, viewing, or performing material you consider offensive, you will still be required to meet class requirements in order to earn credit.  This may require responding to the content of the material, and you may not be able to fully participate in required class discussions, exams, or assignments.

 

Important Links

Bellevue College E-mail and access to Blackboard Vista:

 

All students registered for classes at Bellevue College are entitled to a network and e-mail account. Your student network account can be used to access your student e-mail, log in to computers in labs and classrooms, connect to the BC wireless network and log in to MyBC. To create your account, go to:  https://bellevuecollege.edu/sam.

 

BC offers a wide variety of computer and learning labs to enhance learning and student success. Find current campus locations for all student labs by visiting the Computing Services website.

 

GETTING YOUR COMPUTER SKILLS UP TO SPEED AND GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH VISTA/BLACKBOARD:

 

Click on these sites for information about Equipment and Skills Requirements, taking a student tutorial, and for deadlines re: withdrawing from a course, receiving a tuition refund, etc.:

 

Preparing your computer for Blackboard Vista: http://bellevuecollege.edu/distance/studentguide/

 

Logging onto Blackboard Vista: http://bellevuecollege.edu/distance/studentguide/

 

Navigating your course: http://bellevuecollege.edu/distance/studentguide/

 

Disability Resource Center (DRC)

 The Disability Resource Center serves students with a wide array of learning challenges and disabilities. If you are a student who has a disability or learning challenge for which you have documentation or have seen someone for treatment and if you feel you may need accommodations in order to be successful in college, please contact us as soon as possible. If you are a person who requires assistance in case of an emergency situation, such as a fire or earthquake, please meet with your individual instructors to develop a safety plan within the first week of the quarter.

 

The DRC office is located in B 132 or you can call our reception desk at 425.564.2498.  Deaf students can reach us by video phone at 425-440-2025 or by TTY at 425-564-4110. Please visit our website for application information into our program and other helpful links at www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc

 

Public Safety

 The Bellevue College (BC) Public Safety Department has a well-trained and courteous non-commissioned staff providing personal safety, security, crime prevention, preliminary investigations, and other services to the campus community, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  Their phone number is 425.564.2400.  The Public Safety website is your one-stop resource for campus emergency preparedness information, campus closure announcements and critical information in the event of an emergency. Public Safety is located in K100 and on the web at: http://bellevuecollege.edu/publicsafety/

 

Final Exam Schedule

There is no final exam in this class; instead, you will submit your final examination essay by 11:59 PM on the day of our scheduled final exam (June 16, 2011). 

 

http://bellevuecollege.edu/classes/exams

 

Academic Calendar

The Bellevue College Academic Calendar is separated into two calendars. They provide information about holidays, closures and important enrollment dates such as the finals schedule.

·         Enrollment Calendar - http://bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/deadlines/. On this calendar you will find admissions and registration dates and important dates for withdrawing and receiving tuition refunds.

 

·         College Calendar - http://bellevuecollege.edu/enrollment/calendar/holidays/0910.asp. This calendar gives you the year at a glance and includes college holidays, scheduled closures, quarter end and start dates, and final exam dates.