FAD Syllabus: UNCCH POLI100
Overview
Syllabus shared by a UNC System faculty member.
Sample Syllabus
American Democracy in Changing Times
POLI 100
Fall/Spring XXXX
Instructor Office
Office hours TBD Email
Website
Location TBD
Time TBC
Course Description
This course is an introduction to American politics at the college level that is intended to serve both majors and non-majors. In this course we will discuss the origins of the current governmental system in America, political institutions, political behavior, and how theories of American government apply to current events and problems the government and citizens face today.
General Expectations
I expect all students to behave professionally in this class. I am generally intolerant of disruptive behavior in the classroom, including talking during lectures and the ringing of cell phones. Class discussions are expected to be civil, rational, and respectful of the opinions of others. One of my goals for this course is to develop important listening, debating, and conversational skills that allow for open-minded, meaningful and constructive dialogue about politics with respect for viewpoint diversity. To that end, I ask that you review and commit to these “Ground rules for public discussion”:
A vibrant democracy requires robust public discourse. In this course, we will sometimes discuss and debate various issues of public contention and public controversy. To ensure pro- ductive discussion and a healthy learning environment, students are expected to engage each other thoughtfully and respectively without personal attacks. Please consider the following guidelines:
- Be a charitable listener
- Speak for yourself, and listen to understand
- Consider issues from various perspectives
- Invite the opportunity for mutual transformation
- Give yourself and others permission to experiment freely with ideas
Students are expected to take an active role in their learning by completing readings before class, coming to class ready to participate directly with peers and through in-class technology, and reviewing routinely for exams. You will be held responsible for all material in the textbook and in lectures, even if you miss a class.
Office Hours
Do not feel intimidated if you have never been to a professor’s office hours. You can come alone or with a friend. Office hours are meant to give you an easy place and opportunity to connect with faculty. Please stop by to talk about the course, study skills, your interests, your background, the weather, running, politics, etc. Really, I am happy to talk about anything. You also may stop by your TA’s office hours.
Recitation Sections
As a part of this course you are also signed up for a recitation section with a teaching assistant (TA). Your teaching assistant will lead your recitation section through a set of materials that have been approved by the professor. The teaching assistants for this class are experienced, well-trained, experts in the field of American politics. I expect you to accord them the same level of respect that you would accord a professor. Recitation sections begin on the first day of classes. You will have a separate syllabus for your recitation section. You are responsible for the material on that syllabus as well. The readings from your recitation will appear on the exams for this course.
Technology in the Classroom and Poll Everywhere
Cell phones, laptops, and tablets should be silenced and generally away at all times during class. If you need an exception to this rule, please see me. I am willing to make accommodations as needed.
This course will utilize Poll Everywhere through your smart device. This means that you are required to bring a smart device to class. I prefer you use a smart phone for ease, but a laptop or tablet will work too. This device needs to be enabled for UNC wireless and Poll Everywhere access. Instructions on how to register for poll everywhere can be found here: https://poll.unc.edu. Please have your poll everywhere user name match the name on your One Card. This ensures that you get credited for your participation. Please note that you may not rely on cellular service. You must have your device connected to UNC Wireless. Be sure to do this for any devices you might use in class before the first day. See http://help.unc.edu
You must also register the device you intend to use with Poll Everywhere. Instructions on how to register can be found here: https://poll.unc.edu.
When we are not utilizing Poll Everywhere technology, please close your laptop or keep your
tablet or phone off (face down works well too). Other than utilizing our smart devices for Poll Everywhere this is a technology-free classroom.
There is a great deal of research supporting the argument that people who take notes by hand perform much better. Here is a link to an Atlantic article, which summarizes the argument: http:
//www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/05/to-remember-a-lecture-better-take-notes-by-hand/ 361478/.
Additionally, multitasking on an electronic devise during lectures has been shown to decrease grades of the multitaskers and those seated around them: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/
laptop-use-lowers-student-grades-experiment-shows-1.1401860.
Participation via Poll Everywhere
I cannot make you come to class, pay attention, or participate in discussion. What you get out of this class (and your entire UNC education) is up to you. To gauge participation, we will utilize Poll Everywhere through your smart device. These questions are to be done in class. You will receive a zero on this portion (10%!) of your final grade if you are found to be answering questions from a distant location. (Trust me, I have methods to determine if you are in the classroom or not.)
How are Poll Everywhere questions graded? There are two types of Poll Everywhere questions we will utilize: 1) reading assessment polls and 2) thought/activity polls. Reading assessment polls will be conducted at the outset of most class periods. These are intended to assess the extent to which students have read and understand the course material. These ques- tions will also be structured similar to those that will be on the exams, so they also serve as good multiple choice practice. Reading assessment polls will be graded as follows: 100% if you answered the question correctly; 50% if you answered the question incorrectly; and 0% if you did not answer the question/a response was not recorded. Thought/activity polls will typically be conducted during the middle of class. They will be graded as follows: 100% if you answered the question and 0% if you did not answer the question/a response was not recorded. Polls will be graded via this criteria beginning August 30, 2023. This should give everyone ample time to navigate the setup and software.
Extra Credit Opportunity At least one of the Reading Assessment Polls at the beginning of class will be labeled as providing an opportunity for earning extra credit on the next exam. If at least 80% of the class gets the demarcated question correct, one person in the class will have the opportunity to take a shot at a basketball hoop from the middle of the room (a location the instructor will choose). If the basket is made, the entire class will earn one bonus point on the next exam. The instructor will ask for volunteers who want to take the shot and will try to get different students involved each time.
What if I miss a question or my smart device does not record my answer(s) one day? There are no Poll Everywhere make-up questions! I will drop the lowest 10% of every- one’s polls to accommodate occasional absence, technology problems, athletic travel, lateness, etc. Please do not email me (or your TA) to tell me you were absent or your smart device was not working, we will have so many opportunities for participation that missing one or two days in the semester will not affect your Poll Everywhere participation grade. If you have many extended absences due to extended illness, we will address this at the end of the semester with the necessary documentation.
What if I have a Poll Everywhere issue/question that is not covered above? Please contact our grader for this course, [NAME, EMAIL ADDRESS]. But only do this after you have done all of the above.
Required Texts
- Lawless, Jennifer L. and Richard L. Fox. 2023. American Politics: A Field Guide. W.W. Norton & Company.
- I may also distribute other readings from time to time on Canvas.
- Your teaching assistant will provide more assigned readings in the recitation syllabus. These are also required and should be done prior to each recitation section. For the most part, these can be found on Canvas.
Course Components Making Up Final Grade
Exams (3) 45% of final grade Exams will be taken in class and consist of multiple choice questions, so bring a #2 pencil and a gradescope answer sheet (these can be printed). You will also need your PID number as identification on your exam sheet. You are responsible for correctly entering your PID on the gradescope sheet. Additionally, you may be asked to verify your identity, so it is required that you bring your one-card to each exam. Failure to produce a one-card if asked may result in a zero on that exam. The first exam will be taken in class on September 20. The second exam will be taken in class on October 30. The last exam will be taken during the final exam period, which is scheduled for December 14 at 8am. None of the exams are cumulative and each is worth 15% of your final grade.
Writing Assignments 20% of final grade Papers are due on your TA’s Canvas site. The first paper is 5 pages, due October 4, and is worth 10% of your grade. The second paper is 5 pages, due November 15, and is worth 10% of your grade.
Participation via Poll Everywhere 10% of final grade In class Poll Everywhere questions will make up 10% of your grade for this course. Each question will be worth a point. There are no makeup poll questions. As mentioned above, I will drop some of the possible points for everyone so that the denominator is less than the possible points you can earn. See above section Participation via Poll Everywhere for more information.
Recitation 25% Attendance and participation in recitation is required. Each recitation section will have a separate syllabus outlining expectations and requirements. Your grade for recitation is based on attendance (25%) and participation (75%). This will be specified in the recitation syllabus.
Grading and Assignments
Incompletes and Make-ups
A final grade of “incomplete” will only be given in this course under exceptional circumstances and is solely at the discretion of the instructor. Assignments (i.e. papers) turned in late will be penalized one full letter grade per day late. In addition, written assignments that do not follow the guidelines of the assignment and/or have poor grammar and spelling will be severely penalized. As a general rule, make-ups for exams will not be given. Students who must miss exams because of scheduled activities of an official University student organization, a religious holiday, or a verifiable illness should contact the instructor in advance of missing an exam so that alternative arrangements can be made.
Grading
Grading standards are meant to be high, but fair. In class exams will be multiple choice format. Your teaching assistant (TA) will grade all of your written work, but I will monitor grading standards for fairness across sections. If you have any questions about a grade on an exam or paper, please see your TA first. If s/he cannot satisfactorily answer your questions, please arrange a conference for the three of us.
Grading Scale
A 94-100, A- 90-93, B+ 87-89, B 84-86, B- 80-83, C+ 77-79, C 74-76, C- 70-73, D+ 67-69
Assignments
You are responsible for keeping a copy of all written assignments for the course. This ensures that we will not run into problems with lost assignments. You are also responsible for keeping copies of the assignments once they are handed back. Sometimes errors do happen, and a grade may not be recorded for you. If this happens you must be able to produce the graded paper to verify that the assignment was completed and that the grade is correct.
Research Participation
Students enrolled in POLI 100, POLI 130, or POLI 150 are required to participate in the De- partment of Political Science research activities as part of their course requirement. A principal goal of the requirement is for students to gain an appreciation of how political science research works, while simultaneously acquiring new knowledge about areas of the discipline that they may not encounter in their POLI courses.
The research requirement is administered by the Political Science Subject Pool (PSSP) Ad- ministrators. To satisfy the research requirement, students must complete eight (8) credits of research by participating in actual political science research studies. Research studies are typically research experiments or surveys. Typically, each study’s completion satisfies one (1) credit towards the requirement; occasionally, a study will count for more than one credit. The research requirement is fulfilled when eight (8) credits are earned. Students can participate in research studies and track their requirement fulfillment status by logging into their PSSP Portal (https://tarheels.live/psspparticipants/ ) using their UNC Onyen and password.
Students who object or fail to total eight credits through participation in research studies will be given the opportunity to fulfill the research requirement by writing a 900-word research- oriented reaction paper. More information is listed on the PSSP Portal. The total time commit- ment to complete the research requirement should not exceed 3 hours. The research requirement does not substitute for other course requirements, nor does it generate extra credit. Failure to satisfy the research requirement will result in an incomplete grade (IN) that will be removed only upon satisfaction of the requirement. For additional information and contacts, please email pssp@unc.edu.
Miscellany
Canvas Site
You will need your onyen to log on. I will post my lecture slides here. I will also post announce- ments/send emails on this site. It is your responsibility to check it and your UNC email account daily for any course announcements. I suggest you make sure in Canvas you turn on the setting to have emails sent directly to you. This way you are sure not to miss anything.
Academic Dishonesty
Academic dishonesty is broadly defined as submitting work that is not your own without attri- bution, and is not acceptable in this or any other academic course. Any academic dishonesty found on an assignment results in an failing grade for that assignment and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent permissible under University of North Carolina guidelines, which can be accessed at: http://honor.unc.edu. As a condition of joining the Carolina community, Car- olina students pledge “not to lie, cheat, or steal” and to hold themselves, as members of the Carolina community, to a high standard of academic and non-academic conduct while both on
and off Carolina’s campus. This commitment to academic integrity, ethical behavior, personal responsibility and civil discourse exemplifies the “Carolina Way, O´ and this commitment is codi-
fied in both the University’s Honor Code and in other University student conduct-related policies.
Accessibility Resources and Services
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill facilitates the implementation of reasonable accommodations, including resources and services, for students with disabilities, chronic medi- cal conditions, a temporary disability or pregnancy complications resulting in barriers to fully accessing University courses, programs and activities. Accommodations are determined through the Office of Accessibility Resources and Service (ARS) for individuals with documented quali- fying disabilities in accordance with applicable state and federal laws. See the ARS Website for contact information: https://ars.unc.edu or email ars@unc.edu.
Counseling and Psychological Services
CAPS is strongly committed to addressing the mental health needs of a diverse student body through timely access to consultation and connection to clinically appropriate services, whether for short or long-term needs. Go to their website: https://caps.unc.edu/ or visit their facili- ties on the third floor of the Campus Health Services building for a walk-in evaluation to learn more.
Title IX Resources
Any student who is impacted by discrimination, harassment, interpersonal (relationship) vio- lence, sexual violence, sexual exploitation, or stalking is encouraged to seek resources on cam- pus or in the community. Reports can be made online to the EOC at https://eoc.unc. edu/report-an-incident/. Please contact the University’s Title IX Coordinator (NAME
, interim: titleixcoordinator@unc.edu), Report and Response Coordinators in the Equal Op- portunity and Compliance Office (reportandresponse@unc.edu), Counseling and Psychological Services (confidential), or the Gender Violence Services Coordinators (gvsc@unc.edu; confiden- tial) to discuss your specific needs. Additional resources are available at safe.unc.edu.
Diversity Statement
In this class we will jointly value the perspectives of individuals from all backgrounds reflecting the diversity of our students. I broadly define diversity to include race, gender identity, national origin, ethnicity, religion, social class, age, sexual orientation, political background, ideology, and physical and learning ability. This classroom is an inclusive space for all students.
The Writing Center
The Writing Center is located in the Student and Academic Services Building and offers person- alized writing consultations as well as a variety of other resources. This could be a wonderful resource to help with your writing assignments in this course (and any assignments in your other courses). You do not need a complete draft of your assignment to visit; they can help you at any stage! You can chat with someone in the writing center or set up as appointment on their website: http://writingcenter.unc.edu.
Instructor Availability
If you would like to speak with me outside of class time, feel free to stop by my office during regularly scheduled office hours. If you are unable to meet during office hours, you can arrange an alternate time to see me by setting up an appointment. I also try to respond quickly to email inquiries.
Communication
Periodically the instructor may communicate with students via email, regarding assignments, schedule changes, or other course related matters. Students are responsible for the content of all such communications.
Extra Credit Opportunities
Never before have I offered extra credit besides the collective basketball shot discussed earlier. That said, one of UNC’s goals is to “promote democracy,” which fits this course topic nicely. It is also the case that students need CLE credit (campus life experiences). This fall there are several events that are being put on through UNC’s Program for Public Discourse that I will offer extra credit for. There are two events happening this fall. The first event is Wednes- day, September 20 at 5:30pm in the Carolina Union Auditorium. The event is a conversation between Irshad Manji and Dr. Leah Cox. They will be discussing diversity initiatives. The sec- ond event is on Wednesday, October 4 at 5:30pm in the Carolina Union Auditorium. The event
title is “Regulating Big Tech and the First Amendment.” Both of these events are CLE approved.
If you attend one of these events (I can verify your attendance), please write up a 1-2 page, single-spaced paper telling me what you found the most interesting about the panel and what you learned. Please email me your paper as an attachment. Be sure to include your name and PID on the paper. The paper is due by noon the day after the event. Attending an event and submitting the required paper on time will result in 2 points on an exam (the first exam for attending the first event and the second exam for attending the second event).
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Tentative Course Outline
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Readings should be done before the class for which they are listed.
Date | Description | Required Readings |
August 21 | Introduction | n/a |
August 23 | Concepts | Textbook How to use this book? pgs. 2-6 |
August 28 | American Founding I | Textbook Section I, segments 1-3 Articles of Confederation |
August 30 | American Founding II | Textbook Section I, segments 5 & 6 US Constitution |
September 4 | No Class—Labor Day | n/a |
September 6 | Federalism | Textbook Section I, segments 7 & 8 Federalist Papers selected by instructor |
September 11 | Congress I | Textbook Section VI, segments 32 & 34 |
September 13 | Congress II | Textbook Section VI, segments 35 & 42 |
September 18 | Catch up & Review | n/a |
September 20 | Exam 1 | n/a |
September 25 | No Class—Well-Being Day | n/a |
September 27 | Presidency | Textbook Section VI, segment 36 |
October 2 | Presidency | Textbook Section V, segment 31 |
October 4 | Bureaucracy (Paper Due) | Textbook Section VI, segment 37 |
October 9 | Bureaucracy | Textbook Section VI, segment 38 |
October 11 | Judiciary I | Textbook Section I, segment 4 |
October 16 | Judiciary II | Textbook Section VI, segments 39 & 40 |
October 18 | Public Opinion I | Textbook Section III, segments 17 & 18 |
October 23 | Public Opinion II | Textbook Section IV, segments 22 & 23 |
October 25 | Catch up & Review | n/a |
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October 30 | Exam 2 | n/a |
November 1 | Elections I | Textbook Section V, segment 27 |
November 6 | Elections II | Textbook Section V 29 & 30 |
November 8 | Participation | Textbook Section III, segment 19 |
November 13 | Participation | Textbook Section III, segment 20 |
November 15 | Civil Rights & Liberties (Paper Due) | Emancipation Proclamation |
November 20 | CR & Liberties | Textbook Section II, segments 9 & 10 Gettysburg Address & MLK 1“I have a dream” or “Letters from a Birmingham Jail” |
November 22 | No Class—Thanksgiving Break | n/a |
November 27 | CR & Liberties | Textbook Section II, segments 12, 13, & 16 |
November 29 | Political Parties I | Textbook Section V, segment 28 |
December 4 | Political Parties I | Textbook Section V, segment 33 |
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December 6 | Media & Budget | Section IV, segments 24-26; Section VII, segment 43 |