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INR 2002 International Politics Tom Byrnes 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 post a question regarding international politics each week in the current events topic area. It is extremely important that you post and read the postings of other students every week. In online classes students frequently don't visit the class regularly and then get behind. Try not to do this. 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 the discussion area 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 our communications. 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 Readings: You must acquire 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 Word 2007 copy of the book here. You can find a RTF copy of the book here. You will also be assigned a number of articles to read regarding current situations in International Politics. I will assign these readings from the Internet using particularly the periodical Current History. The course will involve substantial research on your part into important issues involving the world community. You will be given two editorials 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 multiple choice, true and false exams with one essay question. I will provide you with two possible questions a few weeks before you take the exam; one will appear on the exam when you take it. You will also a critical thinking research assignment over editorials that I will select (you will choose between three). Your paper will be approximately 1,200 words in length or about five type-written pages. There are links on this website that will explain the critical thinking assignment in detail. In 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 labs on all major campuses where you can bring in papers or other writing assignments and receive advice. 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 centers are normally opens 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 two critical thinking evaluations. They will constitute 40% of your final grade. The evaluations will require research using the World Wide Web. You will use three or four data bases that Valencia sponsors and several other sources that are useful for international information. I will grade your evaluations holistically based on a rubric that I will give you on a separate sheet. For each evaluation you will submit a complete draft, which I will comment on and then you will submit the final draft to turnitin.com through WebCT and afterwards to me. The first draft is extremely important; it will allow me to give you specific feedback on your evaluation--and your thinking. It should mean that you will receive a good grade on the final draft. If a first draft is not done the final draft will lose ten points. There is specific information about the structure of the critical thinking evaluations here. If you hand your final draft of the evaluation in late it will lose five points. If it is more than a week late you will lose ten points. The final 20% of your grade will be based on your participation efforts. I will look at one thing principally for this grade--your participation in the Discussions area. Final grades will be 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, below 60 = F. Attendance Policy: It is extremely important to participate in Blackboard at least three times a week. You should spend at least an hour and a half reading and posting comments and questions. You will need another two hours or so to read the assigned materials. Any student who does not participate for two weeks is subject to withdrawal. 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 two 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. 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. Netiquette: I will treat you with respect. I expect the same of you towards your classmates and me. We will all refrain from using inappropriate names or language in our discussions. It is expected that some of us will disagree. This is a politics class after all. I want you to be able to express your opinion, but you must do so politely. If you do not I will discuss this with you in a private email. Any student who continually exhibits impolite or aggressive behavior will be removed from the discussions and possibly from the class. The easiest way to reach me will be through Blackboard. Don't feel that you are inconveniencing me by 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. 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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