Attendance and Participation Policy

Student engagement and participation are essential components of this course. I expect students to come to class having read all assigned materials and ready to take part in discussion based on assigned readings. There are no correct or incorrect answers to the questions that we will be discussing in class. Class discussions allow us to articulate our thoughts, better understand the topic, and consider some aspects of the problem at stake that wouldn't have otherwise come to our attention. 

Disability Support Services

This course is intended for all Columbia students, including those with disabilities, illness, injuries, impairments, or other conditions that tend to negatively affect one’s equal access to education. If, at any point in the term, you think you might require an accommodation to be able to fully access the space, content, and experience of this course, you are welcome to contact me by email or schedule an appointment to discuss your specific needs. I also encourage you to contact Disability Services by phone (212-854-2388) or email (disability@columbia.edu), where you can document your needs and create an accommodation plan.

Academic Integrity

The intellectual venture in which we are all engaged requires faculty and students alike the highest level of personal and academic integrity. As members of an academic community, each one of us bears the responsibility to participate in scholarly discourse and research in a manner characterized by intellectual honesty and scholarly integrity. Scholarship, by its very nature, is an iterative process, with ideas and insights building one upon the other. Collaborative scholarship requires the study of other scholars' work, the free discussion of such work, and the explicit acknowledgement of those ideas in any work that inform our own. This exchange of ideas relies upon a mutual trust that sources, opinions, facts, and insights will be properly noted and carefully credited. In practical terms, this means that, as students, you must be responsible for the full citations of others’ ideas in all of your research papers and projects; you must be scrupulously honest when taking your examinations; you must always submit your own work and not that of another student, scholar, or internet agent. Any breach of this intellectual responsibility is a breach of faith with the rest of our academic community. It undermines our shared intellectual culture, and it cannot be tolerated. Students failing to meet these responsibilities should anticipate being asked to leave Columbia. For more information on academic integrity at Columbia, students may refer to the Columbia University Undergraduate Guide to Academic Integrity