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INR 2002 International Politics Tom Byrnes 2011 In order to enroll in this class you must have completed ENC 1101 (Freshman Composition) or its equivalent. There are no exceptions to this. This is a Gordon Rule class that is designed to be a reinforcement of the skills you have learned in that class. General description: The Valencia Catalogue description of this course is this: Prerequisite: ENC 1101 or 1101H or IDH 1110. Analysis of world politics, focusing on the role of nation-states and international organizations and on selected foreign policy issues. Gordon Rule course in which the student is required to demonstrate college-level writing skills through multiple writing assignments. Minimum grade of C is required if INR 2002 is used to satisfy Gordon Rule and general education requirements. This course is designed to give you a general understanding of political processes, structures and occurrences at the global level. Although this course will be quite useful to students majoring in Political Science, it is primarily intended to help most students understand the increasingly interdependent global community of today. It is also designed to get you to think as a citizen of the world community. Emphasis will be placed on making you a better learner of international politics. You will, of course, have a much better understanding of the United Nations, the European Union, major political trends in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America and the Middle East; however, emphasis will be placed on thinking and learning about global situations and creating or increasing interest in what is happening to us in the world community. This class will have wide-ranging discussions about current events in international politics. To this end, you will be required to bring in a question regarding international politics each week to class. This class will incorporate Valencia’s four basic student competencies—Think, Value, Communicate and Act. These competencies have been carefully woven into the fabric of this class. We will start out from the first class discussing the role of perceptions in thinking about International topics. We will carefully distinguish between facts and opinions and between noumena (that which exists outside of us) and phenomena (what we perceive). Our communication in class will be monitored by all of us with distinctions between facts and perceptions in mind. I will also require that you pay careful attention to these distinctions in your writing. I have already mentioned a value above—that of thinking of international phenomena from the perspective of a global citizen, rather than just thinking from a nationalistic viewpoint. There are other values that I teach and hope that you will follow. I will not test you on them, but I will do my best to promote them and see that they are practiced in the classroom. Let me be explicit. I stress civility in all of our dealings. By civility I mean toleration of opposing viewpoints, a willingness to listen to ideas we find distasteful or uninformed and avoiding words and expressions of disrespect. Civility, in essence, means we treat each other with respect. There are other common values that almost all of us in academia stress. Theories, values, and beliefs are treated with a questioning eye. Supporting one’s opinions with evidence, research or sound reasoning is a must. Giving credit to those who first stated viewpoints or theories, rather than claiming them as our own, is a basic value. Finally, there is the simple, universal academic value – a respect for knowledge and truth. In this class you will not only hear me speak about critical thinking, effective communication skills and academic values, you and I will practice them. In terms of Valencia’s Core Competencies, we will act on them. For a more complete description of the Valencia Student Core Competencies look at this website: http://valenciacollege.edu/competencies/default.cfm Classroom Procedures: There will be little lecture in this class. We will follow a seminar format. I find this particularly successful with International Politics students. Class time will primarily be spent thinking and discussing. There will be little note taking. You will be given reading assignments and questions to answer or work to do before class. You will be expected to bring in your answers in writing. I will check these every time we meet. In class we will go over what you have been assigned. As the teacher, I will do my best to make sure that you understand the material, but you must make the initial effort. I will call on you in class. This is a relatively small class; there aren’t many students for you to hide behind. Be prepared. You will be expected to spend some time on WebCT submitting the writing assignments and communicating with me. To access WebCT you should use this link; you should not go in through Atlas as you will be timed out frequently. The user name and password for WebCT will be the same as the ones you use for Atlas. I strongly recommend that you make World News Network (http://www.worldnews.com/) the opening page on your Internet browser for the duration of this class. You will be expected to pay attention to and be informed about international news for this class. A simple truth: educated people read. You may get a college education, but if you haven’t developed a habit of reading regularly you will soon be left behind by those who do. There is more to know each day: don’t get left behind. Read. The best source of information about politics is now found on the World Wide Web. Group work: I have found that small collaborative groups are especially effective in skill acquisition. You can expect to be working in small groups with your classmates with some frequency. I utilize semester-long base groups of four, five or six students. You will be working with the same classmates from the first class on. The primary purpose of base groups is to provide you with academic and personal support. You will not be dependent on the members of your base group for any type of grades. You will be expected to help each other be successful in this class. In order to receive a decent grade in this course you will need to set aside about two hours of quiet study for each hour of class. This will be about 4 to 8 hours per week. You will be given written assignments almost every class. I do this for several reasons, but the primary one is to make it more probable that you will do well on the tests and the critical thinking evaluations. I have found that students who try to cram for this class often are overwhelmed and end up withdrawing or getting low grades. I want you to succeed. If you do your work as we go along, your success is more likely. This is a demanding college class. Be prepared to have some of your values challenged and understand that you will be required to do a substantial amount of reading, writing and thinking. Readings: You must read International Politics: A Look Inside by Thomas Byrnes (me). This textbook will provide you with some basic information regarding International politics. You can find a PDF copy of the book here. You can find a RTF copy of the book here. It is suggested that you copy one of these to a removable disk and take it to a Kinkos or some other place to print out a hard copy. It should cost less than $15. You will also be assigned a number of articles to read regarding current situations in International Politics. The course will involve substantial research on your part into important issues involving the world community. You will be given one editorial to evaluate. I will describe the evaluation process later. WRITING COMPONENT As hopefully you already know, this is a writing reinforcement class that counts as an Area II Humanities credit (if you pass with a C or better). Your other Area II course must have a HUM prefix, that is, be a Humanities course. In order to enroll in this class you must have completed ENC 1101 (Freshman Composition) or its equivalent. There are no exceptions to this. You will have three exams they will be mixed multiple choice, true and false and essay exams. You will also have one critical thinking research assignment over editorials that I will select (you will choose between three). The critical thinking assignment should be about 1,500 words or about seven type-written pages. I will provide handouts that will explain the critical thinking assignment in detail. In all of your writing assignments you will be expected to use clear language organized into coherent sentences and paragraphs. If you make serious spelling, grammar or syntax errors, five or ten points will initially be taken off your grade. These points will be added back on when you have re-written the portion of the writing I have marked. Valencia has a writing lab where you can bring in papers or other writing assignments and receive advice. On the West Campus the Reading and Writing Center is in 5-155. It is open six days a week, including Saturdays. You can call them at 407-582-1812. Grading Policies: There will be three exams. Each will count as 20% of your grade—total of 60% of the final grade. The final will not be comprehensive; it will cover only the last third of the class. There will be no curve. Each test will be graded on a percentage basis. If you take a test late, there will be a penalty of five points. Ten points will be subtracted if a second exam is taken late. Students who miss an exam will have a week from the time the original test was taken to take the exam in the testing center. If more than a week goes by there will be a penalty of 10 points. If the makeup test score is 70% or lower, no points will be taken off. Please note that the teacher reserves the right to restore the penalty points in extraordinary situations. The testing center is open from 8AM till 9PM Mondays through Thursdays and from 8AM till 1PM on Fridays and Saturdays. You must arrive at least an hour before closing to be given an exam. If you have any doubt about whether or not the testing center is open please call ahead. The testing center is located in building 7-219, 407-582-1323. You will do one critical thinking evaluation. It will constitute 30% of your final grade. The evaluation will be typed and will require research using the World Wide Web. You must use at least two data bases that Valencia sponsors and several other sources that are useful for international information. I will grade your evaluation holistically based on a rubric that you should access here (http://faculty.valenciacollege.edu/tbyrnes/rubric_for_grading.htm). For the evaluation you will submit a complete draft, which I will comment on and then you will submit the final draft to me. The first draft must have all parts, A through F. If one part is missing you will have five points deducted from the final grade on your evaluation. If you miss two or more parts you will lose ten points. I will give you specific information about the structure of the critical thinking evaluations in another handout. If you hand your evaluation in late it will lose five points. If it is more than a week late you will lose ten points. The final 10% of your grade will be based on your participation efforts. I will look at one thing principally for this grade--the work you turn in every class. Please note that work must be shown at the beginning of class. No work will be accepted after the first ten minutes of class. If you are going to be absent you must send in your work with a fellow student or send it to me via WebCT email before class to receive credit. Final grades will be 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, below 60 = F. Please note that I use the College policy on Academic Dishonesty (6Hx28:10-16) which states, in part: "All forms of academic dishonesty are prohibited at Valencia College. Academic dishonesty includes . . . plagiarism . . . alteration or misuse of documents. . . . "All work submitted by students is expected to be the result of the students’ original thoughts, research and self-expression. Whenever a student uses ideas, wording, or organization from another source, the source shall be appropriately acknowledged. . . . "Any student determined by the professor to have been guilty of engaging in an act of academic dishonesty shall be liable to a range of academic penalties as determined by the professor which may include, but not be limited to, one or more of the following: loss of credit for an assignment, . . .; a reduction in course grade; or a grade of ‘F’ in the course. . . ." If someone is found to be cheating on an exam the normal grade will be a zero for that test. Plagiarism will usually mean a zero on the work that is turned in. As with all policies, I reserve the right to change these policies, but only to benefit a particular student. There are three ways to earn extra credit. A) Do extra critical thinking evaluations of editorials that you select. Please make sure the editorials treat a current topic and are related to international political or social issues. You can add up to 15 points to a test by doing this; however, most students receive about five points for a three-page evaluation. B) Do an analysis of an article or editorial of your choice regarding a subject related to international politics. Again, it is possible to receive up to 15 points added to an exam by doing this, however, student usually receive three to five points for a two-page analysis. C) Attendance: If you miss no classes and are not late or leave early you will earn 4 points in extra credit that will be added on to your final grade. If you end up with a 76% final average, for example, your grade would be changed to 80% or from a C to a B. You can earn 2 points if you miss only one class or a part of a class. Please note that if you come to class more than ten minutes late or leave ten minutes before the end of class you will be given a half absence. All extra credit must be handed in two weeks before the final exam. Again, no student is eligible for an A in this class unless he or she has at least an 85% average on the three exams. Class attendance: Roll will be taken every day to fulfill the requirements of the college. Students may be withdrawn if they miss three classes or miss more than one third of the classes. No student will be eligible for an A if he or she misses three or more classes. Again, if you are more than ten minutes late it will count as a half absence. Any student who is late for more than half of the classes will be subject to withdrawal for excessive absences. If you do come in late please be sure I have not marked you absent. Do not come up the last day of class and tell me you were never absent. Classroom behavior: Please refer to Valencia Policy 10-18 on Student Code of Classroom Conduct to know exactly what is expected of you in class. I will treat you with respect. I expect the same of you towards me and your classmates. We will all refrain from using inappropriate names or language in our discussions. During class discussions it is expected that students pay attention. This means, amongst other things, that you will not be chatting for extensive periods with fellow classmates. Any student who falls asleep will be asked to leave the classroom. Please be on time for classes and do not get up out of your seat during class unless it is an emergency. Turn off your cell phone, or better yet, don’t bring it with you. If I find your behavior unacceptable I will speak with you. If the behavior continues you will receive written notification one time, anything more than that will require a conference with the dean and possible removal from class. Sorry to sound so harsh, but I have found this notice needs to be made in writing. Availability outside class: The easiest way to reach me will be through email you can reach me at tbyrnes@valenciacollege.edu I will be available in the classroom before and after class. If you have something important you can all me at home: 352-394-0220. Don't feel that you are inconveniencing me by calling, or sending me an email. You are not an inconvenience. Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability which requires accommodations in this course, please provide me with the proper documentation from Valencia's Office For Students With Disabilities as soon as possible. I am happy to make appropriate adjustments to suit your needs. Office Hours: I will be available before and after class to speak with you. Also, you can reach me at home (352-394-0220) Mondays from noon till 2 PM, Wednesdays from 11 AM till 1PM and Fridays from noon till 2PM. If for some reason you can't get me leave a message and I will get back to you soon. Don't be afraid to speak with me or to set up a time for us to meet. I reserve the right to change any of the above policies due to extraordinary circumstances, but only to assist a student.
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