GVPT 241 The Study of Political Philosophy Ancient and Modern Summer Session I 2011 3 Credits GVPT Majors Only Prerequisite GVPT 100 Instructor Jesse Kirkpatrick Email jkirkpatrick at gvpt umd edu Course Description This course serves as an introductory survey of some of the key thinkers in the history of political thought While such a survey can nowhere near capture the full breadth and depth of 2 500 years of political theory this course examines key continuities and breaks between traditions in ancient and modern political philosophy Particular attention is paid to figures that address the themes of liberty freedom and political obligation including Plato Niccol Machiavelli Thomas Hobbes John Locke Jean Jacques Rousseau J S Mill and Karl Marx Course Requirements 1 2 3 4 Discussion 40 of final grade Short Papers 20 of final grade Reading and Lecture Quizzes 20 of final grade Final Exam 20 of final grade 1 Discussion Thread Posting and Participation This is a six week online course Given the asynchronous condensed nature of this course students will need to be organized motivated and able to access the online course space ELMS daily Log in early and become familiar with how ELMS functions Students will be expected to be able devote sufficient time utilizing the online course space Devotion to this online class time should be considered independent of the time that students will spend on the daily required readings The majority of your course grade will be determined by participation in discussion In order for a student to do well in the course they must log on and post to discussion daily Monday through Friday This means that you are required to post one entry every day M F for a total of 5 entries per week Depending upon the holiday schedule paper submissions and our pace with the readings I have estimated that we will have at a minimum approximately 20 25 days that will require posting to the classroom discussion threads Unless informed otherwise you will be expected to post to the discussion thread according to the above schedule of five entries per week How the posting format works Online Classroom Lectures and Podcasts Every day I will post discussion content These posts will take one of three possible forms written comments and questions podcast style lecture video lecture This content will serve as a start for the discussion of the day The use of written comments and questions are relatively straightforward In addition to written posts once or twice a week I will post a short podcast or a pre recorded video lecture Viewing or listening to these short lectures 1 is mandatory Within these posts I will pose questions and discuss content that will form the basis for that specific day s discussion In addition to the pre recorded lectures and podcasts I will occasionally give short live lectures in the virtual classroom followed by a discussion Viewing these lectures is mandatory doing so live is not I understand that not all schedules will permit students to attend and participate in these virtual classroom discussions With this in mind technology permits these live classroom sessions to be recorded in real time and then posted to ELMS so students who cannot be present can still access the content In an effort to accommodate as many students who may wish to participate in these virtual classroom discussions I will try my best to vary the days and times at which they occur This will of course reduce the predictability of the sessions but this variation should give those the opportunity to attend who may otherwise be unable to Irrespective of the format that I use to post questions comments and lectures I will post the content by 11 00 a m eastern standard time What counts as a post to the thread by you the student A posting must be between 200 350 words This is meant to be a general guide some days you may have more to say than others but anything less than 200 words will not receive credit This discussion should function more like an online conversation where students engage the material each other and the instructor For this to be successful students will need to draw from the texts to support their analyses and claims reference other students posts and respond in an articulate meaningful and novel way to the questions and comments presented Comments are to reference the text explicitly using quotes since we re all using the same edition author and page number is sufficient e g Locke 289 and adhering to conventional punctuation grammar and stylistic convention Think of these as very short essays not as tweets text messages or emails Absent legitimate documentation discussion posts that are not posted and time date stamped by midnight will not receive credit for that day In effect these posts cannot be submitted late 2 Short Papers Students will be assigned two short papers worth 10 each The papers will be approximately 3 pages in length and offer an occasion for critical exegesis and reflection on one of the texts and or key themes The papers will be expected to articulate a thoughtful analysis of a specific passage or thematic element that we have discussed in the text s Paper 1 Due 6 19 Paper 2 Due 6 27 3 Reading and Lecture Quizzes Over the course of the term there will be four short quizzes on the week s assigned reading and lecture These quizzes will be administered randomly and based upon factual elements 2 of the text For example a question may be What are the names of two people that brought charges against Socrates in the Apology The quizzes are worth 5 each 4 Final Exam The final exam will be a cumulative exam consisting of short answer and essay questions I will post the exam by 9 00 a m eastern standard time and it will be due by midnight The exam will be available for access and completion during the duration of this prescribed time but it will be designed to only take 2 3 hours to complete Other Course Policies Late Submissions Unless otherwise specified all written work is due before midnight on the relevant due date Papers that are late without a documented excuse will be penalized at the rate of a full letter grade per day For the purpose of this policy each day runs from midnight to midnight This means for example that an assignment turned in at 12 01 a m will count as one full day late Academic Integrity All students are expected to be familiar with the University s Code of Academic Integrity http www shc umd edu code html including the Honor Pledge http