General Information Professor Chad Rector Mondays and Thursdays
11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Ballston 3010 Syllabus coming soon. You are welcome to drop by my office any time to talk, but in order to guarantee a meeting in my office or at Ballston I advise you to make an appointment. To see the schedule and make an appointment use this calendar. (You must be logged in to gmail or Marymount email. Scroll to the right to see future weeks.) If you do not make an appointment you are welcome to drop by but I cannot promise that I will be there. If you make an appointment but then cannot make it to that appointment, please email me to let me know. Any student who makes, and then misses, three or more appointments without cancelling them in advance will be permanently banned from making future appointments. Assignments:
Meetings: The assigned electronic textbook is Samuels, David. 2018. Comparative Politics, second edition. It is available at the Pearson web page at this link: https://www.vitalsource.com/referral?term=9780134637174 Sample of exams from prior years. Note that reading assignments change from year to year, so past exams may refer to different topics. However, the basic exam format will be the same. Grades Final course grades will be determined on a fixed scale, not on a curve. Each assignment is worth a fixed number of points, listed below; these add up to 100. Each assignment will be returned with a numerical score. Course grades will be based on the total number of points out the 100 possible, with 90-100 an A, 80-89 a B, 70-79 a C, 60-69 a D, and 59 and below an F. Course grades will be based on a weighted average of the following:
There are substantial opportunities for extra credit:
Any student who misses more than 7 class sessions will lose 1/3 of a letter grade for each class missed class session over 7. Students will not be penalized for missing a class for a recognized religious holiday. Papers will be marked down one point for each day (or fraction of a day) late. Students who miss an exam will have one chance to take a makeup and will be marked down unless they have a valid medical or university business excuse. Students will not be penalized for missing a class assignment for a recognized religious holiday. The exams will be written in class without books, notes, computers, phones, audio devices, or other aids. I may, at my discretion, check any written assignments for plagiarism at any time during or after the semester, using electronic or other means. Students found violating the Marymount principles of Academic Integrity will fail the course and be formally charged through the University’s Academic Integrity process. By accepting this syllabus and enrolling in the course, students acknowledge that they have reviewed the University’s standards of academic integrity. I do not, in general, grant extensions on major assignments. If you think you have gotten an extension from me but you do not have something in writing from me that specifically says that, then you probably haven’t. Like, if you tell me in person that your paper is going to be late, and I say “okay” or I give you advice on how to complete it, that isn’t me giving you an extension – that’s me saying that I understand that your paper is going to be late. It is only an “extension” (a promise from me that you may turn in a paper late without being penalized) if I have said so, explicitly, in an email message.
There is no such thing as an "excused" absence. If you tell me that you are going to miss a class and I say "okay" or something polite like that, the absence will still count toward one of the 7. If you feel like you have a legitimate reason why you will miss 7 or more class sessions during the semester I suppose you could try talking it through with me. | Course Schedule and Readings
January 27
February 20 Part 2: State and Society
Review Easter break
Issue to be voted on by the class
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