Grading Policy

This class meets bi-weekly. The lecture is meant to introduce you to the main concepts, theories and debates on the topics dealt with on that week. Discussion sessions are designed to help you actively engage with these ideas. They are closely connected to the lectures. For they are also the moment when the knowledge is put into practice (and assessed), they constitute the central moment around which the whole course is organized, both intellectually and in terms of validation. As a consequence, you must come prepared to these sessions.

Your overall grade will be determined by 5 types of required written assignments, added to a grade of class participation.

During discussion sessions: (2/3 of the final grade)

1. Weekly quiz on the “discussion” text and class participation (with an emphasis on methodological sessions – special exercises can apply): 25%
2. Once-in-a-quarter oral presentation of a selected text: 25%
3. Mid-term exam: 25%
4. A 5 to 7 pages memo on a book (to pick from a list handed out by your TA): 25%

Final exam: (1/3 of the final grade)
The final exam consists in two different types of exercises:

• An analysis of documents informed by the lectures and the discussion sessions.
• A short essay on one question (to be chosen out of a few) directly linked to the lecture.

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