Expectations, Advisory

BY ENROLLING IN THIS COURSE, students agree to abide by the expectations set forth in this syllabus and in other course-related documents.

In other words, you can regard documents like this syllabus, but also the Assignment Schedule, study guides, web pages devoted to papers— really, any document posted by the instructor to the "Bingweb" site (this site) or to Blackboard — as a contract laying out the responsibilities of, respectively, instructor and students.

Note too that the aforementioned documents, though they will remain substantially the same throughout the semester, may, and probably will, have to be modified or updated at various points. The instructor reserves, therefore, the right to alter, as needed and in reasonable ways, details of the assignment schedule etc. etc.

Students should also be advised that, due to the nature of the course, material of a sexual, obscene, or otherwise potentially offensive character will need to be dealt with in frank and explicit ways. So, for instance, some of the ancient texts show what no longer would pass for acceptable speech — we'll need to confront that. Finally, students need to understand that everyone involved deserves the respect of everyone else involved. Discussion is, therefore, to be conducted in a courteous and orderly fashion.

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Goals

General-Education-Related Goals

Composition (C)

From the Bulletin: "Composition (C) courses are courses in any of the departments or divisions of the University. They require a process of revision and a minimum of 20 pages of expository prose. At least 50 percent of the course grade is based on student writing."

Humanities (H)

From the Bulletin: "Humanities (H) courses enhance students’ understanding of human experience through the study of literature or philosophy."

Course-Specific Goals

1. To explore. . .
   
   • Ancient Greek and Roman conceptualizations of, and attitudes to, sexuality and gender
   • How those conceptualizations and attitudes found expression in the literature, art, etc. of the ancients
   • Differences/continuities between ancient and modern ways of viewing sexuality and gender
   • How modern understandings — and misunderstandings — of the ancient evidence inform current debates
     
2. To think, speak, and write creatively, yet critically, about the primary evidence (ancient texts, art, etc.) and modern attempts to understand it.
   
3. To refine writing skills in terms of style, format, organization.

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Required Texts

Print-Texts, from BU Bookstore:

Apuleius. The Golden Ass, or, Metamorphoses. Trans. E. J. Kenney. Penguin Classics. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.

Butler, Judith. Antigone’s Claim: Kinship between Life & Death. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Print.

Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume 2: The Use of Pleasure. Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Print.

Juvenal. The Sixteen Satires. Trans. Peter Green. The Penguin Classics. 3 ed. London and New York: Penguin Books, 1998. Print.

Longus. Daphnis & Chloe. Trans. Paul Turner. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1989. Print.

Ovid. The Erotic Poems. Trans. Peter Green. Penguin Classics. Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England and New York: Penguin Books, 1982. Print.

Petronius. The Satyricon of Petronius. Trans. William Arrowsmith. New York: New American Library, 1959.

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Blackboard, Web

Additional readings (req'd) are to be accessed via Blackboard Coursite> PDF Readings, also via web links located on Assignment Schedule and study guide pages.

• REGARDING REQUIRED TEXTS, it is highly recommended that we all work from the same editions, as we shall be dealing mostly with translations, which can vary widely.
  
  Note that papers need to be written using legitimate editions, whether print or electronic. See more at papers, but a safe bet will always be to use translations recommended by the instructor.
  
  Finally, I've made available via Bartle Library Course Reserves (main circulation desk) all req'd print texts, (for the most part) in in the editions recommended above.

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Access to Online Course Materials/Dual Web Sites

This course operates via two separate web sites:

1. The "Bingweb" web site (where this syllabus resides), and,
2. The Blackboard course site.

The "Bingweb" web site will provide access to course-related information and materials of a non-secure nature:

• syllabus
• assignment schedule
• study guides
• lectures/instructor's PowerPoints
• various other informational documents
• etc.

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The Blackboard course site is mostly for materials and links OF A SECURE NATURE, things that should NOT be accessible to the general public via internet or Google, i.e., materials reserved only for the use of the class, students and instructor.

Access the Blackboard site via the following path:

http://blackboard.binghamton.edu/ > MyBb@BU > My Courses > Ancient Sexuality & Gender-FALL13

On that site, you'll find links to:

• Bb PDFs (chapters, articles, etc. as per above) + listing of shelf reserves
• Online Journal (responses to readings etc.)
• Oral Reports schedule (needs to be kept secure b/c includes names of students)
• Turnitin.com assignment submission links
• etc.

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E-mail Contact

All students taking this course must agree to check E-mail (your "@binghamton.edu" address via Bmail or similar) on a regular basis, as this will be the principal medium for instructor-student communication outside class.

• Check preferably twice a day or more
• Do not let in box fill up
• Instructor E-mail is ascholtz@binghamton.edu

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Attendance/Absence

Attendance is required; learning cannot happen if we are not there participating. Attendance will be taken and will figure into the participation grade. Students missing 7 or more classes without valid excuse (see following) will, at the instructor's disretion, be denied a passing grade. A pattern of tardiness can and will count as absence(s) at the discretion of the instructor.

Excusable Absence

IF YOU ARE ILL or otherwise cannot make class for a VALID REASON (religious observance, job interview, important family function, etc.), please contact me AS SOON AS POSSIBLE via E-mail. Without timely E-mail notification, I will not be able to credit the missed class, nor arrange for makeup quizzes etc., as needed. Please keep on top of this.

Non-Excusable Absence

Includes:

• Oversleeping/alarm-clock malfunction
• Absentmindedness (keep track of class- and assignment-schedules)
• Car problems and the like (reliable transportation is your responsibility)
• Long-weekends/vacation "extenders"
• Unexcused airline reservations, etc.
• Unexcused early departure from class-meeting (counts as absence)

For more on attendance, see University Bulletin > Harpurpur College > Attendance.

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Assessment of Student Work

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In-Class Use of Devices, Laptops, etc.

Use of laptops or similarly devices in class is subject to the following conditions:

• Restriction to note-taking, course-text access, class-relevant reference or similar
  • Facebooking, E-mailing, no gaming, web surfing, etc.
  • Enrolled students implicitly consent to the instructor's monitoring of device use in class
• Cell phones off or silent — no use thereof in class
• All devices off and out of reach during exams, quizzes, tests
  • See further Academic Honesty section of this syllabus

Sound recorders permitted in class only with permission of instructor.

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Participation (Reading, Viewing, Discussing)

Assigned readings must be done, and on time. Failure on that score will compromise one's grade. Discussion will be partly structured, partly unstructured. Pariticipation is graded (assessment); discussion will mostly center on issues and topics listed on the schedule of assignments and on study guides.

• INSTRUCTOR'S CALLING ON STUDENTS
  • Don't be surprised when I call on you in class. I do this a lot; it actually works well — shy students really don't feel reluctant to speak when asked to comment in that way
• RESPECT FOR OTHERS
  • Our communication in class has to be class-related, orderly, and respectful
  • Discussion cannot happen if we don't acknowledge that not all contributions will represent profound insights. Please don't feel you have to have something remarkable to say to participate. All discussion is dialogue, a dynamic process requiring your input
  • Likewise, behavior that disrupts or otherwise interferes with another's participation needs to be avoided. I can help by being even-handed in how I guide the proceedings.

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Online Journal Entries

Students will be required to keep an online readings-related journal, accessed via the Blackboard course site, entries to which will be accessible only to the individual student and to the instructor. This will apply to each and every reading assignment. It is required and will form a part of the participation grade.

Post entries no later than noon on day of class. Late entries may be counted as 0.

The "how":

• Log onto Blackboard course page
• Click "Readings Journal"
• Add your journal entries — comment/questions — as appropriate
• Minimum 75 words; more than 200 and I may not have time to get through all of it

In journals I'm looking for:

• Careful reading
• Personal reflection
• Critical thinking
• I'm not so much interested in polished writing as in using journals to try ideas out in advance of in-class discussion and of paper-writing. I do, though, expect a good-faith effort.

Grading: Successful completion (good-faith effort) = 1. Poor or nonexistent effort = 0.

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Quizzes

There will be FOUR FACT-BASED QUIZZES (no exams!) — multiple choice IDs dealing with readings and lecture/discussion:

• Titles of readings
• Authors' names
• Relevant terms

The purpose of these will be to encourage you to keep up with the material. No essays, no interpretation. I do not quiz for obscure details, precise dates (but you should be keeping track of basic chronology!), or the like.

Note that, in addition to the readings themselves, the terms page should be of use here, along with lectures and study guides, not to mention your notes.

For the timely making up of quizzes missed with excuse, please click here.

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Papers

Overview

• See also the dedicated Papers page.

In fulfilment of the "C" (composition) General-Education component of this course, there will be two papers of about 3,000 words each — that's ten pages of double-spaced text, all-inclusive. These papers will be critical-reflective papers, but will need to show some research outside of assigned readings.

These will involve multiple submission (rewrites) and multiple grading. They will also involve participation in a formal peer-review process.

The basic topic of the first paper is whether Butler or Foucault (readings assigned in class) finds support in ancient evidence from the first half of semester, of the second, whether Finnis or Nussbaum does.

For more information on all aspects, see the Papers page.

Assessment

I will assign an "en route" grade to the first submission, but the final grade on the second submission will be the one that figures into your course grade. That final paper grade will reflect whether your first submission represented a good-faith effort, and your second submission, a good-faith effort to address issues on the first submission. Do not be surprised if the final grade is lower than the initial one. That happens when students neglect to make an honest efforet to improve things.

See the papers page for details.

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Academic Honesty

It is important that ALL students approach their learning forthrightly and honestly. I will make every effort to clarify how that's and will help you along the way. Note, therefore, that, by enrolling in this course, students agree to abide by the provisions of the University's STUDENT ACADEMIC HONESTY CODE. Procedures to be followed in the event of an infraction are outlined there and on Harpur College's Faculty Resources for Academic Honesty page.

• SEE ALSO: Academic Honesty & Plagiarism page, BU Libraries.

WHAT IS ACADEMIC HONESTY? It is the ability to say that your work is substantially yours, and that you have forthrightly pointed out where and how you rely on the words, ideas, research, etc. of others.

As for academic dishonesty, that includes:

• Plagiarism (presenting another's work as one's own through unacknowledged quoting/paraphrasing, use of another's ideas, failure to acknowledge sources, using someone else's research notes or similar)
• Cheating
  • copying from. . .
    • another's test paper
    • a "cheat-sheet" brought to class
  • any form of unfair help received
• "Recycling" of papers (submitting one paper to more than one class)
• Unauthorized collaboration (different from working with an assigned team or from forming a legitimate study-group)
• Fabrication (arguing from evidence you've made up)
• Forgery (of signatures, of paper-authorship, etc.)
• Sabotage (undermining efforts of other students)
• Bribery (inducements to affect grade)

Prevention

Students taking this course are required to take a BU Libraries Academic Honesty Tutorial and the associated Bb Quiz.

1. Access and do the online "Tutorial 1: Avoiding Issues of Academic Dishonesty," via the BU Libraries site, then. . .
2. Take the associated Bb Quiz. Print out and submit in class — or else E-mail the instructor a screen-shot of — the screen certificate you get for successfully completing the quiz. At the end of the quiz, it will take a couple of OK-button click-throughs to get to that screen.
3. If you've already taken the quiz, the Bb quiz link should take you directly to the certificate screen.

Failure to follow the preceding two preventative steps means that you forfeit your right to receive a passing grade for this course!

Enforcement

Note, too, that any and all instances of academic dishonesty WILL result in a course-grade of F along with appropriate disciplinary action, not excluding expulsion from the University, as deemed appropriate by the authorities charged with handling such cases.

• Category 1 violations (minor plagiarism, minor quiz/test cheating, unauthorized multi-purposing of original work ["multiple submission"], unauthorized collaboration, fabrication/misrepresentation of research) will behandled by the instructor and student through the signing and filing of an Admission of Dishonesty Form for Minor (Category I) Offenses, unless the student wishes to take the case before the Harpur Academic Honesty Committee
• Category 2 violations (major plagiarism), major cheating, major fabrication, forgery, sabotage, bribery), plus repeat category 1 violations, automatically go before the Harpur Academic Honesty Committee

Further, by taking this course, students consent to submit all written assignments to Turnitin.com or other, similar anti-plagiarism databases for textual similarity review. Students also agree not to abet the academic dishonesty of others in connection with this class.