History 323: Modern Germany
Tobin Hall room 204 – TR 11:15 am – 12:05 pm

Requirements:

  

There will be four quizzes, out of which you will be permitted to drop the lowest grade.  Absences from quizzes will be counted as the dropped grade (there will be no make-ups).  There will be one 6-7 page term paper.  Details on the assignment will follow in a separate handout.  The term paper will be due on April 15. There will also be a midterm exam and a final exam.

 

Grading and Required Work:

  

Your work in this course will be evaluated frequently and in a variety of ways.  I hope that the frequency of evaluated assignments will encourage and allow you to stay on pace with the material.  I also hope that our regular feedback helps you to identify weak spots and enables you to accent your strengths (e.g., preparing for those quizzes—never one of your strengths—ultimately helps you to write a terrific short answer on the midterm.)

 

 

Quizzes

 

15% Total (4 x 5%, dropping the lowest grade)

Midterm Exam

25%

Term Paper*

20%

Final Exam

30%

Participation

10%
   

* You will recieve a separate handout covering the paper topic

 

Things to keep in mind:

  • Please retain a second copy of papers until your graded paper is returned.
  • Please hold all graded assignments until you receive your final grade.
  • Please respect a 24-hour moratorium on discussing any individual grade.
  • All late papers will be marked down 5 points for each calendar day late (i.e. after one day, an 85 (B) becomes an 80 (B-), etc.).
  • Letter grade equivalencies: A=93-100; A-=90-92; B+=88-89; B=83-87; B-=80-82; C+=78-79; C=73-77; C-=70-72; D+=68-69.4; D=63-67; D-=60-62; F=below 59.

Please Note: All course requirements must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in the class.  Cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty are grounds for failing this course.

Also Note: Exams will only be rescheduled for a documented illness or other emergency.

 

Plagiarism and Academic Honesty:

The quizzes, midterm exam, term paper and final exam must be taken without the assistance of books, notes, or other students.  You may study with your classmates, but you may not seek their assistance during the actual administration of these tests.  At the same time, beware of plagiarism.  Plagiarism is stealing the words, ideas, or thoughts of another person (including the authors of all of our texts) and passing them off as your own.  A rule of thumb: Whenever you use three or more consecutive words extracted from a text or a lecture, give credit by citing your source and using quotation marks.  For example: ‘According to the Western Experience, Homer’s epics were the “greatest literary creations” in the history of the Greek Renaissance’ (Chambers et al, p. 47).

As a condition of continued enrollment in this course, you agree to submit all assignments to the Turnitin.com service for textual comparison or originality review for the detection of possible plagiarism. All submitted assignments will be included in the UMass Amherst dedicated databases of assignments at Turnitin.com. These databases of assignments will be used solely for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism during the grading process and during this term and in the future.

To access Turnitin.com go to the main login page and either login (if you already have an account) or click on "New User" at the top of the page. This service is free, but you do need to register. Once you are logged in, you will need to add the course to your account. The Class ID is: 3075281 and the password is “bismarck” (written in small case). If you have questions here are some helpful links:

 

Student Quickstart (@ UMass Library)

Student Manual (@ Turnitin.Com)

What is Plagiarism?  According to the UMASS Academic Regulations (2008-2009) Plagiarism is defined as “knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own work in any academic exercise. This includes submitting without citation, in whole or in part, prewritten term papers of another or the research of another, including but not limited to commercial vendors who sell or distribute such materials.”  For more info please see the "Preventing Plagiarism" website at: http://www.umass.edu/academichonesty.


Honesty:  You many not engage in any form of academic dishonesty.  This includes, but is not limited to, cheating on exams, helping another person cheat, or plagiarizing on written assignments.  This also includes fabricating excuses for absences from class and signing in for another student.  If you are caught cheating at any point during the semester, you will fail the entire course and I report you to the Academic Honesty Board.

 

Writing Center:

  

The university offers a special resource for students who want some additional assistance with writing and research. The Writing Center is located in the northwest corner of the W.E.B. DuBois Library's Learning Commons.  For more information, please visit the WC Website: http://www.umass.edu/writingcenter. The web site also offers information about the Center, such as current hours of operation and what to bring with you for your first consultation.