Attendance and Class participation (20%)

Attendance is required and students must complete the assigned readings before class in order to participate in class activities. Absences will count against students’ participation score. The class participation mark will be based on attendance AND the quality of your in-class oral comments as well as on the quality of your performance on written exercises that will be handed to you in class.

Religious Holy Days: Students who anticipate being absent from classes or miss the assignment deadlines due to religious observance should inform me by the end of the second week. Please note that assignment dates are fixed and no make-ups will be offered without an official/medical letter explaining your situation. For all other missed deadlines, I reserve the right to penalize your grades by 10% a day. 

In class presentations, worksheets, and quizzes (25%)

Worksheets: Throughout the course, students will participate in different in- class activities, including discussions, small group projects and case analyses. In some of those activities, students will be required to complete written worksheets. There are three possible grades for the worksheets: check plus, check minus and 0. The lowest worksheet score will be dropped.

Quizzes: Students might be asked to complete several quizzes throughout the course. These short quizzes will have two short answer questions related to the readings for the class.

Presentation: Students will be asked to sign up for at least one class, for which they will present an analysis of the readings at the beginning of the class. They will present for 10 minutes and guide a 20 minute discussion following their presentation. 

Midterm Exam 1 (25%)

This midterm exam will take place on February 26, 2025. More details will be provided before the exam.

Final Research Project and Presentation: (20%+10%): Research project aims to train students for a successful career in academia, journalism, and policy circles. You must get a confirmation from me for your country case, research question, literature research and presentation date no later than the third week of the course. I will give more details on the research project in the class.

The project involves students working on a topic involving an approved topic of their choosing. Each student is required to do:

1. A details one-page plan of their research topic (5 points)
2. 5-page paper single space on their topic (15 points)
   • Final paper due by email 11:59pm on April 20.
3. Present their topic in class (7-10 minute presentation; 5 minus Q&A) (10 points)
   • Presentations will take place the last day of classs.
   • Powerpoint recommended 

 Grading Scale: 100-90 A⏐89-80 B⏐79-70 C⏐69-60 D⏐59-0 F

Grade Change Policy

Legitimate requests for grade changes are welcome. However, you should resist the temptation to file a frivolous request just hoping to “get lucky”. Simple computational or clerical errors should be brought to the professor’s attention immediately. Otherwise requests for grade changes must: i) be submitted in writing either electronically or in hard copy, ii) be submitted within 7 days of receiving the graded assignment, and iii) be no longer than 600 words and no shorter than 150 words. Requests for grade changes should identify what was required in the assignment, describe precisely how these requirements were fulfilled at a level above the received grade and address any relevant comments written by the professor on the graded assignment (if applicable) and explain why they do not apply. Note that grade changes requests can result in re-grades both up or down (or left unchanged). That is, if the greater scrutiny demanded by a grade change request reveals your assignment to deserve a lower grade than previously awarded, then the lower grade may be assigned.