Your final course grade will be calculated according to the following formula:

The grade of A reflects excellence. The A work offers a well-focused and organized discussion appropriate to the instructor's assignment, reflects critical use of all relevant materials, and demonstrates effective and formal writing requirements. Work must demonstrate outstanding efforts to identify and use varied and pertinent evidence from all available sources, to employ those materials critically in the text of the papers, and to provide error-free citations of those resources. A work is handed in on time.

The grade of B represents work beyond satisfactory and indicates the work was completed in an appropriate and competent manner and, in general, demonstrates a strong attempt at original and critical analysis, writing, and research. Work must demonstrate beyond satisfactory efforts to identify varied and pertinent evidence from all available sources. The B paper may contain a number of minor errors of grammar or citation, and its thesis or its conclusions may be undeveloped or too weakly supported. B work is handed in on time.

The grade of C indicates that the work was done in a satisfactory or appropriate fashion and represents the average work expected for college courses. In order to obtain a C grade, your work must adhere to all of the assignment�s minimum requirements to include but limited to page/word requirements, number of sources, types of sources, and proper citation method. The work is organized around a central idea with arguments supported by relevant examples from the available sources. The work is structured into correctly written paragraphs and sentences. Although fulfilling the assignment, the C work may exhibit one or more weaknesses including, but not limited to, errors of punctuation and grammar, imprecise or incorrect word use, inaccurate or uncritical use of materials, occasional inconsistency of organization or development, and lack of direct relevance of the selected research materials to the topic. C work is handed in on time.

The grade of D indicates that the work may have a poorly defined topic or thesis, lacks clear focus or organization, and contains unsupported generalizations or conclusions. Research support (citations) is inadequate, not clearly relevant, or improperly documented. A less-than-minimal research effort is evident. D works fails to obtain the required page or word minimum requirement. The work may also suffer from numerous or major formal writing errors. D work fails to adhere to any of the assignment�s minimum requirements. D work may not have been handed in on time.

The grade of F indicates that the work is not clearly relevant to the assignment and that its topic and thesis are poorly focused or defined. The work may display inadequate organization or development, unsupported generalizations, and nonstandard formal features (including language usage, sentence structure, and paragraphing). Research support (citations) is absent, or irrelevant to the assignment. F work may not have been handed in on time.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

Your first responsibility, of course, is to familiarize yourself with this syllabus. It is my contract with you on how this course will be conducted. Should something be unclear, it is YOUR responsibility to contact and discuss it with me immediatly. Do not wait until after the course is over to say that there was something that you didn't understand!

This class uses Blackboard to assist in submitting papers, electronic communication, and delivery of course content. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that you have complete accessibility! This means that:

-- you have computer and network access, either through a personal computer or through the Student Computer Lab at ANY HCC campus;

-- you are familiar with Blackboard and its functions. Full understanding and developing competence with it is YOUR responsibility. Assistance on Blackboard basics is available through the Student Computer Lab at ANY HCC campus.

-- the time used for assignment submissions and cutoff is the college network time, not what your computer is set to;

-- pop-up blockers are turned "off"

-- the necessary software, such as Java, is set up on your PC. The BlackBoard login page has "Help" for you to check your computer and udate it if necessary.

-- you are responsible for TIMELY submission of your work! Do NOT wait until the "last minute" to submit a paper or take an exam! With all technology there is downtime, such as maintenance or hardware failure. You need to anticipate this possibility and plan accordingly. Failure to submit work on time because "the system was down" is NOT an acceptable excuse for late submissions!

BLACKBOARD STUDENT USER ID

Your Blackboard login user ID will be your HCC User ID (sometimes referred to as the �W� number). All HCC students have a unique User ID. If you do not know your User ID you can look it up by visiting the HCC home page:

o From www.hccs.edu, under the column �CONNECT�, click on the �Student System Sign In� link

o Then click on �Retrieve User ID� and follow the instructions.

Or use the direct link to access the Student Sign In page: https://hccsaweb.hccs.edu:8080/psp/csprd/?cmd=login&languageCd=ENG

The default student password is �distance.� You will be prompted to change you password on your their first login. Please visit the Distance Education Technical Support website if you need additional assistance with your login.

VIDEOS

IF ANY VIDEO IS OFFENSIVE TO YOU, DO NOT WATCH IT. Contact me confidentially through our class email and together we can determine an appropriate substitute.

You will write a minimum 800-word review of ONE of these movies (your choice). The review will include a 1-paragraph summary of the main plot of the movie. For the remainder of the paper you will discuss what messages/points the movie was intended to make and YOUR analysis of the movie's contribution to understanding the historical event the movie portrayed.

EXAMS

There will be two exams in this course, a Midterm and a Final, each worth up to 100 points. There will be no scheduled review sessions; instead, reviews sheets will be posted on line for each exam.

The Midterm will consist of 3 essay questions developed from class lectures and the assigned readings. An optional bonus essay question worth additional points may be included.

The Final is comprehensive and will consist of 4 essay questions developed from class lectures and the assigned readings. An optional bonus essay question worth additional points may be included.

* TO DO WELL ON THE EXAMS YOU MUST READ THE ASSIGNED READINGS, ATTEND AND PARTICIPATE IN CLASS REGULARLY!

* Exams for this course will be given ONLINE.

* Once you begin the exam you may NOT "leave" unless you are finished! Exiting the exam is considered completion and you will NOT be permitted to re-enter or re-take it! The ONLY exception is in the case of a system failure documented by HCC staff when taking the exam at a computer center at an HCC campus!

* There will be NO make-up of missed exams! If you are unable to take the exam at the scheduled time, you MUST make arrangements with me IN ADVANCE!

PARTICIPATION AND DISCUSSION

Discussion is the practice that makes perfect in studying History. Since this is a survey course, we will be covering a number of broad subjects and their interrelationship to US history. Understandably, some topics may hold more interest for you than others, but that should not prevent you from making a meaningful contribution to each discussion. Your participation will make the class more valuable for all and will help you develop a deeper understanding of our nation and its development.Obviously, to participate in the discussion, you must be "in class" by logging in and posting your comments in the "Discussion" area!

Discussion points are earned at the rate of 3 points per post to a maximum of 30 points. To qualify, each discussion post should be thoughtful and meaningful. Posts that are merely an "I agree" or similarly oblique statement will NOT be counted! Posts in response to other's posts are encouraged and make the discussion more interesting. Similarly, I will attempt to respond to each post but, due to time constraints and the number of students, this may not always be possible.

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS: OVERALL RULES

All written assignments MUST be submitted through the class website. Written assignments MUST be YOUR work in YOUR words. If you use materials prepared by others in your paper, you MUST provide appropriate references (footnotes). Failure to do so is considered plagiarism and is subject to the penalties described later in this syllabus. Papers will be submitted to Turnit-in to check for plagiarism.

* All works submitted are required to be new, original works. Papers written for, or modified from, works for other classes will not be accepted.

* Any paper that is, in the instructor's judgment, substantially similar to that of another student's will result in BOTH students being subject to plagiarism penalties.

Short and Late Papers

* Research papers that fail to meet the required length will lose at least 1/2 point for every word short of the requirement.

* Optional papers that fail to meet the required length will not be accepted.

* Research Papers lose 50 percent for each calendar day that they are late.

* Papers will NOT be accepted after the last official day of class.

PAPER GUIDELINES                      "Half of success is simply following the rules."

All papers must conform to the following:

* all submissions must be in a Microsoft Word document. You have the responsibility of ensuring that it is readable by Word and does not contain any viruses.

* an electronic copy must be submitted through the class website. I will post comments on your papers (where they were submitted on the website) as time permits.

* your name, date, and course number on top right of first page.

* number all pages: Last name / page number.

* footnote (not endnote) all quoted material. Footnoting of source material is a critical component of your paper. Failure to footnote--i.e., giving due credit to other people's work--is considered plagiarism. See the section on plagiarism for penalties.

* a Bibliography is required for all major (1800 words or more) papers. Required papers not having a bibliography will face significant loss of points; optional papers that do not have a required bibliography will not be accepted.

* WORD COUNT: the actual body of the paper will determine the word count. Your name, class info, titles or headings, date, page numbers are not counted. Footnotes and bibliographies are also not counted - these have their own requirements.

* significant points may be deducted if the above formatting requirements are not followed!

RESEARCH PAPER

You will choose a country in Africa and follow the current events in that nation. You will also research the history of imperialism in that country. Your finished project will be a research paper of at least 3,000 words that discusses how imperialism has shaped the events and problems pertaining to that country. You may find that keeping a scrapbook of information compiled on that nation over the semester helpful in developing your paper. If you have problems with the project or need guidance, email me and we will work out the difficulty.

* You may use any credible academic sources (books, Internet, etc.) to research the topic except the course texts or other similar college history texts . I recommend that you use a variety of sources. For a research paper of this length, you should have at least seven sources. You WILL lose points if non-academic sources (such as Wikipedia) are used. Remember, web sources generally do not provide the in-depth information and analysis you will need for a paper of this nature!

* You must use Sources of Western Tradition, Lives and Voices: Sources in European Women's History, and Expansion and Global Interraction, 1200-1700 in your paper. This includes appropriate citations for referenced material and bibliographic entries. Significant points will be deducted for failure to include these sources in your paper.

* Remember: this must be your work compiled from a variety of sources, not a rework of somebody else's article, work, or paper. If you use materials prepared by others in your paper, you MUST provide appropriate references (footnotes). Failure to do so is considered plagiarism and is subject to the penalties described later in this syllabus. Papers will be submitted to Turnit-in to check for plagiarism.

* Papers WILL lose 1/2 point for every word short of the 3,000-word minimum. I reserve the right to award points for effort - but don't count on it!!.

* This paper is due by the date posted in the Class Schedule. Early submission is encouraged. Papers submitted after this time will lose 50% for each calendar day they are late.

ADDITIONAL POINTS

You have the opportunity to earn additional points toward your final course grade by completing up to 2 Additional Points Papers. Each paper must be a minimum of 1300 words in length with appropriate footnotes and a bibliography of sources used.

To have these points considered in the final grade calculation you must complete the required midterm and final exams, and research paper. Topics must be related to this period of Western Civilization history. If you are uncertain that the topic you want to write about meets these criteria, email me & I will approve or suggest alternate topics.

Final note: Additional Points Papers are subject to the rules on plagiarism!

SCHOLASTIC DISHONESTY

Scholastic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: cheating on tests, plagiarism, and collusion. I will forward your papers to Turnit-in and they will check it for plagiarism. Be sure to use appropriate references (footnotes or endnotes) when utilizing materials prepared by others.

In simplified terms, cheating is:

- taking unchanged passages (or slightly modified) from another person's writing and presenting them as your own,

- submitting a paper that includes paraphrases of another person's work without giving due credit,

- having someone else write your paper for you,

- copying or using another person's work during in-class writing, presentations, or testing.

This in not a complete list of the forms of cheating on written work. If you are in doubt, ask!

CONSEQUENCES:

RESEARCH PAPER

* If the amount of text plagiarized is less than ten percent of the paper AND appears in the instructor's judgment to be unintentional, you may lose up to ten percent of the paper's total point value.

* If the amount of text plagiarized is greater than ten percent, you will receive a ZERO for the paper and the History Department administration will be notified with appropriate documentation of the incident.

EXAMS

Regardless of the amount plagiarized, you will receive a ZERO for the exam and the History Department administration will be notified of the incident.

ATTENDANCE AND DROP POLICY      "If you want to pass, you gotta be "in class."

CLASS ATTENDANCE

As stated in the HCC Catalog, you are expected to "attend" classes regularly. In DE courses you must regularly log into your Blackboard class (at least twice a week!!) or you will be counted as absent. Just like an on-campus class, your regular participation is required.

Although it is your responsibility to withdraw officially from a course, I also have the authority to block you from accessing Blackboard and/or to drop you for excessive absences or failure to participate regularly. You will automatically be dropped for non-attendance if you do not log into class before the Official Day of Record. Completing the DE online orientation does not count as attendance.

HCC COURSE WITHDRAWAL POLICY

Beginning Fall 2007, the State of Texas imposes penalties on students who withdraw/drop courses excessively. Students are limited to no more than SIX total course withdrawals throughout their educational career at a Texas public college or university. Students are encouraged to review the HCC 6 Drop Policy.

To help you avoid having to withdraw from any class, contact me regarding your academic performance. You may also want to contact your DE counselor to learn about helpful HCC resources (e.g. online tutoring, child care, financial aid, job placement, etc.).

HOW TO DROP

� If you decide to withdraw from a class after careful review of other options, you can withdraw online prior to the deadline through your HCC Student Center.

� I or HCC MAY withdraw you for excessive absences without notification. However, I will NOT drop you from class. Dropping a class is YOUR responsibility. If you simply quit participating in class, fail to complete the required course work, and do not withdraw yourself from class, you will receive a course grade based upon the total points, if any, which you have accumulated.

� You should check HCC�s Academic Calendar by Term for withdrawal dates and deadlines. Classes of other duration (flex-entry, 8-weeks, etc.) may have different final withdrawal deadlines. Please contact the HCC Registrar�s Office at 713.718.8500 to determine mini-term class withdrawal deadlines.

STUDENT COURSE REINSTATEMENT POLICY

You have a responsibility to arrange payment for their classes when they register, either through cash, credit card, financial aid, or the installment plan. Faculty members have a responsibility to check their class rolls regularly, especially during the early weeks of a term, and reconcile the official class roll to ensure that no one is attending class whose name does not appear on it.

Students who are dropped from their courses for nonpayment of tuition and fees who request reinstatement after the official date of record payment of tuition and fees who request reinstatement after the official date of record (OE Date) can be reinstated by making payment in full and paying an additional $75 per course reinstatement fee. This fee will only be charged to those students who are making payment by check, cash, money order, or credit card.

A student requesting reinstatement should present the registration office with a completed Enrollment Authorization Form with the signature of the instructor, department chair, or dean who should verify that the student has been regularly attending class.

Students who are reinstated are responsible for all course policies and procedures, including attendance requirements. A dean may waive the reinstatement fee upon determination that the student was dropped because of a college error. The dean should note the nature of the error in a memo to the registrar with appropriate documentation.

OFFICE HOURS

Being that this is an online class, there are no "set" hours for "attendance." However, I am online every day. If you have questions, problems, difficulties, or just need a little more explanation about something, the fastest, most effective way to contact me is through our class email. I do not advise calling me since I am rarely at my desk! Should talking or a face-to-face meeting be the more effective way to resolve an issue, we can arrange through email a time to meet on campus.

DISABILITY SERVICES

If you have a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) and need to arrange reasonable accommodations you must contact the Disability Support Services Office at the beginning of each semester. I am authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office.

To request special testing accommodations you may choose the most convenient DSS office for assistance each semester:

District ADA Coordinator � Donna Price � 713.718.5165

Central ADA Counselors � Jaime Torres & Martha Scribner � 713.718.6164

Northeast ADA Counselor- Kim Ingram � 713.718.8420

Northwest ADA Counselor � Mahnaz Kolaini � 713.718.5422

Southeast ADA Counselor � Jette Lott - 713.718.7218

Southwest ADA Counselor � Dr. Becky Hauri � 713.718.7910

Coleman ADA Counselor � Dr. Raj Gupta � 713.718.7631

After student accommodation letters have been approved by the DSS office and submitted to DE Counseling for processing, you will receive an email confirmation informing you of the Instructional Support Specialist (ISS) assigned to me, your professor.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Receiving a W in a course may affect the status of your student Visa. Once a W is given for the course, it will not be changed to an F because of the visa consideration. Since January 1, 2003, International Students are restricted in the number of distance education courses that they may take during each semester. ONLY ONE online/distance education class may be counted towards the enrollment requirement for International Students per semester. Please contact the International Student Office at 713-718-8520 if you have any questions about your visa status and other transfer issues.

DISTANCE EDUCATION (DE) ADVISING AND COUNSELING SERVICES

Much DE student information can be found on the DE Student Services website: de.hccs.edu. Advising or counseling can be accomplished through our online request form AskDECounseling. Counselors and Student Services Associates (SSA) can assist you with admissions, registration, entrance testing requirements, degree planning, transfer issues, and career counseling. In-person, confidential sessions can also be scheduled to provide brief counseling and community referrals to address personal concerns affecting your academic success.

ASKDECOUNSELING FORM

AskDECounseling is a student services online help form. This is the best and quickest way for you to get accurate assistance with DE registration, enrollment, advising, and counseling. The online help form is simple to fill out, convenient, and readily accessible through the internet. You do not have to travel to campus sites, leave work, or wait in an office or lobby to receive assistance. Upon submission, student requests are answered in the order they are received.

EARLY ALERT

HCC has instituted an Early Alert process by which Ir may �alert� you and DE counselors that you might fail a class because of excessive absences and/or poor academic performance. A counselor will then reach out to you to discuss your progress and offer any relevant resources. This initiative is designed to provide you with support services and resources to assist you in successfully completing this course.

LIBRARY RESOURCES

As a DE student you have the same access to first-rate information resources that the HCC Libraries make available to all HCC students. A special website pulls together all the tools DE students will need to complete research. Visit Library Resources specifically for Distance Education students.

Library services are available throughout HCC. Through a daily library delivery service and a listing of all materials belonging to HCC libraries, books may be requested from and delivered to any campus library. HCC also has cooperative borrowing agreements with the University of Houston libraries and provides a copy of the Houston Public library catalog at each library. These arrangements provide students with access to over 4 million volumes.

Special services provided by the library system include photocopying facilities; specialized equipment for disabled students; group and personalized instruction in library use, including a self-instructional media program to orient students to the use of the HCCS libraries; a �term paper� workshop; and online bibliographic search services.

ONLINE TUTORING

HCC provides free online tutoring in writing, math, science, and other subjects. Look for Ask Online on your Blackboard log-in page. This directs you to the HCC AskOnline Tutoring site: http://hccs.askonline.net/. Use your student ID or HCC e-mail address to create an account. Instructions, including a 5-minute video, are provided to make you familiar with the capabilities of this service.

SOCIAL NETWORKING

DE students are encouraged to become a fan of DE on Facebook and follow DE on Twitter on Twitter. These social networking sites can provide a sense of community for the online learner as well as up-to-date information and announcements related to HCC and DE.

VIRTUAL CLASSROOM CONDUCT

As with on-campus classes, all students in HCC Distance Education courses are required to follow all HCC Policies & Procedures, the Student Code of Conduct, the Student Handbook, and relevant sections of the Texas Education Code when interacting and communicating in a virtual classroom with me and fellow students. If you violate these policies and guidelines you will be subject to disciplinary action that could include denial of access to course-related email, discussion groups, and chat rooms or even removal from the class.

OTHER

Please read your Student Handbook carefully. You have certain responsibilities to your fellow students and faculty.

This syllabus is meant as a guide and is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor as circumstances require. Should a change be necessary, I will notify you of the change through through Blackboard in the message area of the class home page or by e-mail.

... and now, a message from our sponsor.

There is a great deal of information here that can seem overwhelming or intimidating. Let me assure you that this information is for YOUR benefit so there will be no misinderstanding between us. As with everything in life, there are certain rules to the game. Half of winning is knowing what those rules are - if you are ever in doubt about them, ASK! The other half is work, and that is up to YOU.

History CAN be fun. Quite often you will find, as I have, that it's like uncovering a mystery or piecing together a great puzzle. The reward comes when you suddenly realize that history is happening all around you. I expect that many of you will contribute to history in some way, be it large or small. You need to be prepared for your role in this great human drama.

I will do my part in making events that happened decades or centuries age as meaningful to today's world as possible. We will explore themes and events in Western Civ that your high school textbooks never discussed, and look at people and events from differing viewpoints. Some of what we read and discuss may even challenge what you think you know about this nation. Are you up to the challenge?

Now, let's study the development of Western Civilization!