Mini-Presentation Preparation

Class Preparation For January 31

You should read all or at least large sections of The Patient Assassin and come to class ready to discuss that.  You do not need to hand in any file cards, but will be responsible for completing a seminar note in response to your reading of Anita Anand's book.  That is formally due on Sunday, February 2nd, though there is some flexibility in that regard so long as you come to class on February 7th ready to discuss the Golden Road and so long that you also have purchased the Illustrated Mahabharata from the bookstore by that date.

We will discuss the history of the Koh-I Nor Diamond in this class, and you are encouraged to browse extensively in that Discussion Topic and to access other Optional Extras from this week as well.  Supplementary file cards will be welcomed.

Listening And Viewing

  "Mahabharat: The Full Animated Film," 2014.  [120 mins]

Optional Extras

Browse extensively in  From The Mauryans To The Mughals: Indian Civilization In The News

***March 28:  Faces Assignment Due (19%)

Browse extensively in the British India: Indian Civilization In The News.

Week 12

Friday, April 4

You should read all or at least large sections of Gandhi's Autobiography and come to class ready to discuss that.  You do not need to hand in any file cards, but will be responsible for completing a seminar note in response to your reading of that.  You are encouraged to take some Reading Notes as you proceed.  The seminar note is due on Sunday, April 6.

Seminar notes are commentaries of at least two double-spaced pages apiece (500+ words) upon The Patient Assassin and Gandhi's Autobiography.  The Patient Assassin will be due in the first half of the semester, while Gandhi's Autobiography will be due at the end of the semeser.  The purpose of these reflective reading responses is to provide you with the opportunity to organize your thoughts after each of those major readings and  to facilitate thoughtful group discussion.  The notes should be analytical in nature and should highlight key themes from the reading.  Your own interpretations must be at the centre of each seminar note.  I want to see you engaging directly with the text rather than paraphrasing someone else's descriptions or review.  Although you should write concisely, it is great if one or more of your seminar notes are considerably longer than the recommended length.  Seminar Notes can be typed or hand-written, though for either format you should take some notes and carefully organize your thoughts before attempting to write your paper.  I encourage you to hand in these rough notes with your completed Seminar Note if you indeed have these.

The excellent seminar note will probe chosen themes in an original, organized, and analytical manner.  The commentary will effectively connect together your larger ideas with the particularities of the reading, using examples and specific text to accentuate your writing.  A good seminar note will show evidence of attentive reading and of engagement with the text.  You will organize your thoughts coherently and demonstrate the ability to explain and to explore key themes that you highlight from the text. The satisfactory seminar note will offer evidence that you have engaged directly with the text and drawn something of larger meaning from it.  Your ideas may not be fully developed or as clearly stated as might be the case, but you do demonstrate that you have taken something away from your encounter with the book.  An unsatisfactory seminar note is one in which you either seem to rely entirely upon secondary sources and thus do not engage with the text, or in which you do not demonstrate any understanding of the text.

The class participation grade will be based upon attendance; pre-class preparation; and the willingness to contribute thoughtfully to small-group and full-class discussion.

LIB 210 will combine lectures and documentaries with extensive small-group and full-class discussion.  Sometimes we'll devote an course period to a major reading.  Other times, we will have shorter but focused conversations about a particular topic.

I would like to encourage a classroom environment in which all are eager to share their ideas and in which lectures are accompanied by thoughtful dialogue.  This will be dependent not just upon your willingness to speak, but your pre-class preparation and your willingness to listen.  The significant class participation component derives from my belief that the most engaging and successful courses are not ones in which knowledge is merely transferred from instructor to student but in which a genuine learning community exists in which all participants share their perspectives and insights.

Although attendance is not required, I will take roll, and those who are not in class regularly will both receive a poor grade for this part of the course and deprive others in the class of their own insights.

I do appreciate that some students are shy or for other reasons may find it intimidating to speak in our full-group setting.  I do want these students to push themselves to nonetheless fully engage with the class and participate in discussions.  I will nonetheless be understanding of these students so long that they can clearly demonstrate to me by other means that not only do they come to class but they do so well-prepared and are engaged with the course material.

Academic Integrity, Artificial Intelligence, And My Approach To This Course

The curriculum for this course is organized on a week-by-week basis, with the course's success being in part dependent upon full pre-class student preparation.  This is particularly the case for our more involved discussions, but it holds true for the daily rhythms of the course as well.  Late assignments are also often an extra burden from an instructor standpoint.  Due dates should be noted and met.

Homework Assignments should be submitted at the beginning of each class session.  The entire logic of the Homework Assignments is that they are designed to help you to be ready to contribute in a meaningful way to small-group and full-class discussion.  Inconsistency here in meeting this course expectation will have a major impact upon both your Homework Portfolio and Seminar Contributions grades.

Your promptness in regards to being present at 8:30 am for the beginning of our three-hour classes is important to the success of this course, as is your timely return from any mid-session breaks.  I likely will lock the door for much of the class periods if late arrivals become a significant disruption.

I do appreciate that there may be occasions where a very few extra days to polish an assignment in the midst of competing deadlines can be helpful, and thus I deliberately assume a good-faith effort on the part of students to meet the due dates and provide a small cushion of flexibility for all the graded assignments without any academic penalty.   That does not mean the due dates are unimportant or that extensions are automatically granted.  You should discuss possible extensions with me directly and I reserve the right to refuse to accept any late major assignment if you do not check in with me first.  As a general rule, no assignment will be accepted more than two weeks late.

It is fundamentally important that you set up a meeting with me if you are falling behind with your studies.  Please do not come to me at the end of the semester anticipating that you can submit a portfolio of work that will compensate for a semester of academic inactivity.  This will not be possible.  I appreciate that courses at NIC can be very expensive.  However, I have set up the structure of my courses so that those students who approach their studies in good faith and with effort should attain success.  Moreover, registration within a course carries with it not just the expectation that you will engage with it, but also a responsibility towards your fellow students.  The decisions you make in regards to your approach to your studies will have a direct impact upon their educational experience. 

Writing Support is available to all students at no additional cost.  Go to Writing Support for any or all of your assignments.  Every visit is a step toward becoming a better writer.  Use Writing Support as many times as you like, and at any point in your writing process.  The writing support faculty can help you understand the assignment, develop your ideas, outlines, thesis, and revision -- and anything else in-between.  Book your appointment through the library website, or visit the library desk to inquire about drop-ins.  There's also WriteAway, an online tutoring platform that allows you to upload your papers and assignments for detailed written feedback.  Both services may be found at https://libguides.nic.bc.ca/WritingSupport .