<aside> ⏳ I recognize that we are all still living through an intense time of war and violent conflicts, social movements for justice, quickly devolving conditions due to climate change, and more. These have far reaching and often very personal implications. This class is designed to be collaborative, where learning happens because of the perspectives, experiences, and knowledge that we all bring.
Compassion and flexibility will help us all get through this course together. I’ll check-in with you all periodically, and am open to hearing how you are doing and what might help you get through the course in a way that feels satisfactory to you and supports your well-being. If you tell me you’re struggling, I won’t judge you or think any less of you. I hope you extend me and your fellow classmates the same consideration.
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What does academic integrity mean in this course? Our class focuses on collaborative learning and skill building—not simply on the memorization and recall of facts. In this style of class, academic integrity means that when you reference or rely on someone else’s work in an aspect of the performance of a task—no matter how big or small—you will give full credit in the proper form as discussed in class. It is always better to imperfectly credit external influences and work than to not credit at all!
“Citation is how we acknowledge our debt to those who came before; those who helped us find our way when the way was obscured because we deviated from the paths we were told to follow.” ~Sara Ahmed, 2017
If there is no specific attempt to credit ideas and work, the assignment will receive no credit. Next, we will have a conversation about how to ensure appropriate attribution and citation going forward. Additional instances of missing attribution and citation will be handled according to the college's Code of Conduct policies.
We will have a conversation about this in the first weeks of class that will inform our course policy. The policy is linked here.
Another aspect of academic integrity is the respectful exchange of ideas. Discussion is encouraged in this course, with the firm expectation that all aspects of the class will be conducted with consideration for differing ideas, perspectives, and traditions. We will encounter challenging topics and materials in this class: things that are heavy, difficult, and may conflict with what we have learned before or may currently think.
I ask you to pause in these moments of friction and consider what elements may be jarring, and ground your responses in the materials. When in doubt, please reach out to me for guidance and clarification before posting or responding to a classmate.
Having Zoom meetings (or using any other video messaging tools) blurs the lines between what is private space (home, work, or other places) and what is the classroom space.
To preserve privacy for all: everyone will blur their backgrounds when joining a video meeting with DrS or with peers. Blurring will be used instead of putting up a background image.
I’ve spaced out assignments to be due regularly to keep everyone moving along together. I’m trying to balance structure and repetition with flexibility and grace—I’m aware that this is a “one size fits (hopefully) most” approach and I’m open to making adjustments as needed. I’ll check in with the class periodically on work load, progress, and pacing.
Because we are living in unsettled times in many ways, I’ve created 2 policies to help support us in these circumstances: