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Course Policies

Student Needs

Students with disabilities enrolled in this course and who may need disability-related academic adjustments and services are encouraged to see me privately as early as possible in the term. Students requiring disability-related academic adjustments and services must consult the Student Accessibility Services office (301 Collis Student Center, 646-9900, Student.Accessibility.Services@Dartmouth.edu). Once SAS has authorized services, students must show the originally signed SAS Services and Consent Form and/or a letter on SAS letterhead to their professor. As a first step, if students have questions about whether they qualify to receive academic adjustments and services, they should contact the SAS office. All inquiries and discussions will remain confidential.

PowerPoint Slides

I do not make the PowerPoint slides available to anyone. (I spend a great deal of time and energy preparing them, and I consider them intellectual property.) If you miss class for some reason, I suggest you make arrangements with another student to obtain the material. I am, of course, available to talk about the material—or almost anything else!—during office hours, before or after class, or by appointment. If there’s a matter of student disability, please consult the above paragraph.

The Dog Died and Grandma Ate My Homework

Assignments are due by beginning of class (10:00) on the due date. I take deadlines seriously for two reasons:

  • First, if you believe (as I do) that college in part is preparation for life, deadlines are part of real life. At 6:30 every evening with the red light on the camera blinks on, Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News typically doesn’t say, “Gee, folks, I’m sorry but I need another fifteen minutes before I’m ready for tonight’s broadcast.”
  • Second, the strict observation of deadlines is a matter of fairness. It’s not fair to accept late assignments without penalty because your fellow students who have planned and labored to meet the deadline would be justified in wondering why their work is graded by the same measure as yours. Therefore, a five-point penalty will be assessed for every day or part of a day an assignment is late.

That said, I do recognize that real emergencies occur. In that event, you should work through your dean in advance of the deadline for relief.

Religious Holidays

Some students may wish to take part in religious observances that occur during this academic term. If you have a religious observance that conflicts with your participation in the course, please meet with me before the end of the second week of the term to discuss appropriate accommodations. 

Dartmouth Honor Principle

Any student who becomes aware of a violation of the Academic Honor Principle is bound by honor to take some action. The student may report the violation, speak personally to the student observed in violation of the principle, exercise some form of social sanction, or do whatever the student feels is appropriate under the circumstances.

If Dartmouth students stand by and do nothing, both the spirit and operation of the Academic Honor Principle are severely threatened.

A number of actions are specifically prohibited by the Academic Honor Principle. These focus on plagiarism and on academic dishonesty in the taking of examinations, the writing of papers, the use of the same work in more than one course, and unauthorized collaboration. This list of examples covers the more common violations but is not intended to be exhaustive.

1. Examinations. Any student giving or receiving assistance during an examination or quiz violates the Academic Honor Principle.

2. Plagiarism. Any form of plagiarism violates the Academic Honor Principle. Plagiarism is defined as the submission or presentation of work, in any form, that is not a student's own, without acknowledgment of the source. With specific regard to papers, a simple rule dictates when it is necessary to acknowledge sources. If a student obtains information or ideas from an outside source, that source must be acknowledged. Another rule to follow is that any direct quotation must be placed in quotation marks, and the source immediately cited. Students are responsible for the information concerning plagiarism found in Sources: Their Use and Acknowledgment, available in the Deans' Offices or at Sources and Citations.

3. Use of the same work in more than one course. Submission of the same work in more than one course without the prior approval of all professors responsible for the courses violates the Academic Honor Principle. The intent of this rule is that a student should not receive academic credit more than once for the same work product without permission. The rule is not intended to regulate repeated use of an idea or a body of learning developed by the student, but rather the identical formulation and presentation of that idea. Thus the same paper, computer program, research project or results, or other academic work product should not be submitted in more than one course (whether in identical or rewritten form) without first obtaining the permission of all professors responsible for the courses involved. Students with questions about the application of this rule in a specific case should seek faculty advice.

4. Unauthorized Collaboration. Whether or not collaboration in course work (labs, reports, papers, homework assignments, take-home tests, or other academic work for credit) is permitted depends on expectations established in individual courses. Students are sometimes encouraged to collaborate on laboratory work, for example, but told to write their laboratory reports independently. Students should presume that collaboration on academic work is not permitted, and that submission of collaborative work would constitute a violation of the academic honor principle, unless an instructor specifically authorizes collaboration. Students should not presume that authorization in one class applies to any other class, even classes in the same subject area. Students should discuss with instructors in advance any questions or uncertainty regarding permitted collaboration.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your undergraduate dean in the Undergraduate Dean of Students Office, Carson Hall, Suite 125.

Grade Groveling

The determination of grades, especially in the humanities, is not an exact science. I try to be fair and judicious in the assignment of grades, weighing the work submitted against the specifications of the assignment and the performance of other students in the class. The process is arduous, time-consuming, and not undertaken lightly.

You may of course contest your grade; that is perfectly within your rights. You should, however, know the following. First, very occasionally a grade rises on reappraisal. More often, however, it stays the same and occasionally it falls. Second, I reserve the right to drop a student’s final grade as much as one full letter; I don’t expect to exercise that prerogative, but I want to keep that option for students who are especially rude, demanding, or disputatious. Finally, if you elect to contest your grade, I ask that you do not come back to me to request letters of recommendation.