Viewing Assignment:

1)  You will have been assigned to one of four different groups, each of which will be listening at least three 15-minute episodes from your particular section of the major BBC podcast series "Germany: Memories Of A Nation."  You should complete three file cards as part of this exercise and bring these to class so that you are ready for both small group and full class discussion.

a)  Two cards should both summarize and respond to two of your assigned "Germany: Memories Of A Nation" episodes.  The front of the cards should include either a very brief summary of or notes on the particular episode while the back of the card should offer your own thoughts in response to the episode.

1)  This week's mini-presentations are connected to our earlier Germany -- Memories Of A Nation class exercise.  We will be using Misha Glenny's ongoing BBC podcast series How To Invent A Country as an entry point into thinking about national identities.  You will have been assigned to one of five nations.  Listen to at least two of the audio episodes at the provided links and then complete three file cards.

a)  Two cards should both summarize and respond to two of the particular episodes.  The front of the cards should include the title of the episode at the top of the card and then offer either a very brief summary of or notes on the particular episode, while the back of the card should offer your own thoughts in response to the episode.

b)  A third card should represent your attempt to bring together the different episodes and to connect them with the previous unit on Germany.  I have provided you with some questions to consider to help you with this concluding comparative exercise.

c)  If you missed the September 29th class session, you should pick one of the five nations and still come to class prepared

1)  Concentrate upon reading Svetlana Alexievich's Unwomanly Face Of War.  Your Reading Notes and Mini-Essay in response to that book is due today.  There are no file cards due but I do expect you to spend at least half an hour apiece carefully browsing in both the Romanovs' Bones And Lenin's Body Discussion Topic and the Russian Revolution At 100 Discussion Topic.

2)  You are welcome to hand in additional notes and/or thoughts based upon either of the Discussion Topics and/or any of the Optional Extras.

Svetlana Alexievich, Unwomanly Face Of War: An Oral History Of Women In World War II.  New York: Random House, 2018.

Browse extensively in Romanovs' Bones And Lenin's Body Discussion Topic.

Browse extensively in the Auschwitz In The News Discussion Topic

1)  You will have been assigned to one of five different groups, each of which will be studying the history of one particular East European nation during the Cold War.  You should complete three file cards as part of this exercise and bring these to class so that you are ready for both small group and full class discussion.  If you missed the November 3rd class session, you should pick one of the five groups and still come to class prepared.

b)  One card should offer a summary of and commentary upon one video or audio resource from your nation's history that you found to be interesting.  The front of the card should include either a very brief summary of or notes on the resource while the back of the card should offer your own thoughts.

c)  The third card should briefly list the different resources you consulted and offer your overall thoughts in regards to this exercise.

1)  Concentrate upon reading Victor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning.  Your Seminar Note and Optional Reading Notes in response to this book are not due until the end of next week.  However, I expect you to arrive in class having read this book and being ready to discuss it.

2)  You are not expected to complete a file card in response to the "Demolishing The Past" video.  However, please do watch this short documentary before class.

You will be asked to engage in extensive reading, viewing, and listening activities in preparation for our weekly sessions.  There will be regular small writing assignments associated with this pre-class study that you will be handing in on a weekly basis at the beginning of the class. One major purpose of this ongoing assignment is to help prepare you for our class sessions so that you can be as engaged with your classmates as possible.  I will collect these materials in individual student folders and evaluate these based upon the promptness and consistency of the submissions, and upon the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of the work itself.

Your pre-class study responsibilities are listed on the syllabus page on a week-by-week basis.  The core curriculum consists of those resources listed under the Reading, Viewing, and Listening Assignments and in association with the periodic Mini-Presentations.  Those students who demonstrate that they are doing their best to complete these responsibilities should do well in this portion of the class.

I have also listed a number of Optional Extra resources for our weekly sessions.  Although there is no requirement that you access these, students are encouraged to dive into these when they have the time to do so.  I am very happy to accept additional Notes that go beyond what has been specifically requested and then will add those to your Homework Portfolio.

The Homework Portfolio will be graded twice, once after the first four weeks of the semester, and then again at the end of the term.

The curriculum for this course is organized on a week-by-week basis.  Weekly discussions and mini-presentations are entirely dependent upon full pre-class student preparation for their success.  There is the expectation that you will arrive at the relevant class sessions with the basic required work completed.  You can always push deeper into your studies and submit extra materials to your Portfolio after the associated class session for topics of particular interest.

In the case of larger written assignments, I appreciate that there may be an occasion when a very few extra days 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 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.  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.