The diversity of experience and insight among your co-students are rich resources for learning – resources that you will be able to draw upon in your own efforts to comprehend the course material.  To the extent possible, this course will therefore be run as a seminar, with students actively contributing to the learning / teaching process through engaged participation in ongoing dialogue and discussion regarding the readings and video presentations.  In addition, in order to ensure that all students have opportunities to actively participate, a series of four classes will be structured according to a "panel" format, as follows:

At the beginning of each panel, a group of students will be selected randomly by the instructor (all students will sit on a panel at least once during the course).

After the instructor’s introductory comments, this student panel will collectively discuss the readings and/or video presentation, following a "focus group" format facilitated by the instructor, in front of the class.

In the course of this discussion, panel members will have an opportunity to contribute insights, comments, examples, and questions they have that arose from the readings or video presentation.

After the initial panel discussion, the discussion will be opened to the entire class, who will then have an opportunity to direct their own questions to the panel, as well as contribute their own insights, comments, and examples, as time permits.

Evaluation Criteria:

20% of your grade for the course will be determined by your participation in, and contributions to, both the panel and ongoing class discussions.  In this evaluation I will be looking for:

• Regular presence and attentiveness in class. Consistently arrives on time.
• Demonstration of advance preparation for class (i.e., having read and struggled to understand the readings for each class in advance).  This preparation may be demonstrated in any of the following ways:
• depth and relevance of insights offered to the class
• depth and relevance of questions asked and clarifications sought in class
• contribution of examples that illustrate or contradict points in the readings 
• Clarity and conciseness of contributions (tip: try outlining your comments and questions in advance whenever possible).
• Collegial responses to other students’ comments and questions (i.e., listening with care and respect; probing for clarifications when necessary; valuing and seeking to understand, rather than pre-judging, other perspectives; critically examining your own preconceptions and assumptions when necessary; contributing to an atmosphere of mutual inquiry, rather than adversarial debate, in which everybody feels comfortable and confident in expressing themselves).

..
Note: If you approach your journal entries with care and commitment, and you bring them to class, you will be able to draw on your entries during class and panel discussions.