Critical Race Theory Seminar

SEMINAR REQUIREMENTS

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1. Weekly reflection papers. You are required to write nine doubled-spaced reflection papers of between two and four pages on the materials assigned for the fourteen seminar meetings. These papers should describe your reactions to the ideas presented in the assigned reading and indicate whether they are consistent with your experiences and thoughts. I will sometimes read from the reflection papers in class without identifying the author. If you do not want a particular paper to be read aloud, please write a note stating that on it.

The reflection papers are due at 5:00 p.m. the Wednesday before the readings are discussed. The papers should be placed in my mail box in the faculty mail room. If you cannot turn in a reflection paper by the deadline, simply turn in a reflection paper on a later week’s materials by the deadline, if you can still meet the requirement of nine. If you turn in a reflection piece late and must turn in that paper in to meet the requirement of nine, it may affect your grade for the seminar. Even though these papers will not be individually graded, you must complete nine in order to get credit for the seminar. Moreover, I consider them a form of participation in seminar discussions and as a body they may influence the portion of your grade determined by class participation. I encourage you to turn in reflection pieces for the first sessions of the seminar so that at the end of the semester you can work on your final paper without interruption.

2. Seminar Paper. The major course requirement is to write a research paper on a topic approved by the instructor of at least 20 double-spaced typed pages. The paper should demonstrate substantial research, include citations to authority, where appropriate, and have the citations in the appropriate form.  Use footnotes instead of endnotes.  Paper topics must be approved by October 2nd, and paper outlines are due at our seminar meeting on October 16th.  The papers must be turned in by depositing them in my mail box in the faculty mail room before 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 11th.

3. Grade. Your grade will be based on several factors. The seminar paper will be worth approximately 65% of your grade. Participation in seminar discussions and projects will be worth approximately 35%. Because participation is an important part of your work in the seminar, you are expected to attend all the seminar sessions, be on time, and be prepared to participate. Exceptional circumstances may arise which will make it impossible as a practical matter for a student to attend a meeting of the seminar or to be prepared for it. If such circumstances do arise, the student must advise me before noon on the day of the seminar by a phone call, voice-mail message, or note delivered to my office. My office phone number is 415-565-4630. If a student fails to meet these requirements, he or she may be dropped from the course. If a student misses a meeting of the seminar for a reason I deem unsatisfactory, he or she may be dropped from the course. If a student misses a number of seminar meetings I deem unacceptable, he or she may be dropped from the course regardless of the reason for the absences. If a student is unprepared for a number of seminar meetings I deem unacceptable, he or she may be dropped from the course. If a student is late for an unacceptable number of meetings, he or she may be dropped from the course. Additionally, I may lower the grades of students who miss a meeting or meetings for reasons I deem unsatisfactory, who are late for a number of meetings I deem unacceptable, or who stand out in terms of their lack of preparation for and participation in seminar discussions.