Notes for a Course Compact

· Everyone will attend all classes and will arrive on time. (Two unexplained absences will be permitted, but further absences will lower your grade.)

· Everyone will do the assigned reading before coming to class.

· Everyone will participate in each class and show respect and encouragement for the participation of others. Participation may take a variety of forms but successful contributions to class lectures and discussions include:

a) listening attentively;

b) raising a question about the topic or issues at hand [this can often clarify a murky point or a misunderstanding];

c) summarizing the ideas of others to confirm understanding;

d) providing reasoning or evidence to support an idea mentioned by you or someone else;

e) suggesting connections between several contributions or previous class or group discussions;

f) presenting concise results of individual or a group investigations.

· Everyone agrees to collaborate in several ways:

a) As a member of the course, everyone agrees to cooperate with the Instructor and their peers, for the purpose of ironing-out problems and facilitating the intellectual and collective progress of all.

b) As a member of a Discussion Group, everyone agrees to exchange ideas of mutual benefit and to convey them to the class through brief presentations or postings on the course discussion forum.

c) If interpersonal problems arise, everyone agrees to work to resolve them in a fair and open manner so that cooperation is quickly re-established.

· Everyone will strive to achieve an improved understanding of history as a method of inquiry, analysis, and interpretation, key aspects of which include an appreciation of historical change and continuity, of the differences in outlook and assumptions held by people in the past as compared to us today, of the insights to be gained by trying to understand the way the world looked to the people we’re studying, of the varying interpretations of the past by historians, and of the ways in which the past shapes the present (and future). In short,

o historical change and continuity,

o empathetic understanding of the human past,

o multiple perspectives in the past (historical actors) and on the past (historians’ interpretations)

o the past in the present.

· More broadly, everyone will work to improve our writing, our oral communication, the precision and clarity of our language, and the skills of analytical reading, which include:

a) Using pre-reading techniques of skimming and scanning to locate and understand main points and main arguments, together with examples of supporting evidence before returning to read the entire piece.

b) Identifying main points and themes.

c) Identifying and connecting examples of evidence for main points and themes.

d) Distilling from a pile of information a meaningful summary of the essentials.

e) Effectively and succinctly conveying ideas in writing and discussion.

· Everyone will evaluated as follows for the final course grade:

20 percent for attendance and class participation via discussions, postings, and brief oral presentations.

35 percent for two or three-in class quizzes, announced well in advance.

45 percent for a self scheduled final exam.

Further, we agree to abide by the following ground rules:

1. Without exception, all will be treated with courtesy and respect.

2. We shall try to stay focused on one topic before moving on to another.

3. We shall express respect and encouragement by listening attentively, building on others’ ideas, appreciating differences in our thinking, and explaining how our ideas—and not our personalities—conflict and differ.

4. We shall not distract others by making gestures or carrying on unrelated side conversations.

5. We shall try to make our interpretations of course materials and our personal judgments clear, specific, and supported with evidence and sound reasoning.

6. We shall do our best to be constructive; if we dislike the readings, we shall not shoot the instructor but explain our reservations or difficulties.

Signed________________________________________________