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Intro to Media & Politics Course Requirements Updated 9/5/04
Please note that you cannot remain enrolled in this course if you do not have regular access to the Internet and a valid email address. If you run into computer problems during the term, you must immediately find alternatives (the library, a computer lab, a friend's computer). However, whenever you communicate with me via email, you must use the same email address, and you must include your full name either in the "reply to" heading or in the subject box. You must also indicate which class you are taking by including the letter "MP" in the subject heading of your emails. If you use a screen name or another person's address, or if you fail to include other identifying information, your message could be rejected as spam or misclassified. Assignments misdirected or lost for this reason will not be counted.
You will be required to locate newspaper articles and documentary images on the Internet. Consequently, you must know how to send attachments via email. To avoid virus transmission and other problems, text attachments must be formatted as Microsoft Word documents (".doc" extension) and images must be formatted as "jpeg," "tif,' or "bmp." If you are one of the growing number of students who maintains a web page, you can also submit assignments by sending me a url. Since disks and memory devices can carry viruses or malfunction, I will not accept assignments on disk or any other portable device.
A note on emailing answers to reading questions: Please do not send answers to reading questions as attachments. Just paste your answers into the body of an email message.
Presentation:
You will be required to make an in-class presentation using electronic resources during the second half of the term. You can use PowerPoint or create a web site if you already have sufficient skills or present without using electronic aids, but you must draw from digital materials.
Look through the list of topics provided on the course web page. You can choose from this list and use the documentary materials that I've provided, or you can come up with a topic and materials on your own. Either way, you must let me know what you plan to explore in your presentation by emailing me before November 9, 2004. If you plan to use any materials beyond those that I've provided, you must supply links to those resources.
Midterm: You will be required to write summaries of three different media stories. I will supply a list of articles from which you must choose. Each of your summaries must be approximately two typed pages (double spaced, one-inch margins, twelve-point type).
You will be graded according to your ability to write college-level prose. If you have writing problems, you must take your work to the Writing Center before you submit it to me. Also, you must use the Term Paper Checklist to proofread your work before you hand it in.
Final: You will be required to submit a four-page summary of your presentation. Topics and materials for presentations are listed at the bottom of the course web page. You can formulate topics and gather materials on your own, but you must obtain my approval, and you must supply links to all of the materials that you plan to use.
If you have sufficient skills, you may create a web page instead of writing a summary. However, you must make the page available before you give your presentation. Grade Formula: Class participation/reading questions = 35% Midterm = 25% Final exam/presentation = 40% Attendance Policy: If you miss more than two classes without a valid written excuse, you will either fail this course or receive a very low grade. Consequently, if you must miss a class, please email an explanation.
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