ENH295 Syllabus
Spring 2010
Glendale Community College



Instructor Information


Contact Information

Course Materials

Required: Ning Network Account, email address, computer access, microphone

    Suggested: Web Cam

Course Description
History, motivations, and effects of censorship in a democratic society. Censorship and book banning as a method of silencing diverse voices. Critical analysis of banned or challenged literature for children and adults. Prerequisites: None.

 Course Competencies
1. Explain the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution as it relates to literature and other printed materials. (I)
2. Identify and explain factors that motivate people and organizations to challenge and/or ban books. (I)
3. Identify and describe the effects of censorship on readers, writers, publishers, educators, and librarians. (I)
4. Explain and exemplify uses of censorship by a dominant culture to suppress minority voices. (II)
5. Read and analyze examples of banned or challenged literature dealing with issues of gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, religion, and political perspective. (II, III)
6. Analyze and present results of independent reading of a text chosen from the American Library Association's list of Most Challenged Books, 1990-2000. (II, III)
7. Work as part of a team to compose arguments for and against banning or challenging a selected text with a controversial history. (IV)
8. Articulate a personal position on the issue of censorship of printed materials, and identify national organizations that promote or oppose censorship. (IV)

Grading Policies

Grades for completed written work are given in percentages:

90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D

Below 60 is a failing grade on an individual assignment; however, a score of below 60 does reflect credit for the work done and certainly is more valuable than a zero (0), which is a score when no work is turned in.

Grades:

A = 1000-895 pts

B = 894-795 pts

C = 794-695 pts

D = 694-595 pts

F = 594-0 pts

Final Note: 60% of your grade in this class is dependent on your writing skills. That's over half of your grade. You are guaranteed to not do well if you do not complete your blog posts and discussion forum posts. To give you a fair opportunity to do well in ENH295, please complete ALL posts.


Attendance Policies

You are expected to attend all class sessions. Sessions in an online class include any schedule chats or IM. Attendance is also measured by your activity in the class. You should plan to participate at least 3 days a week. Should you miss more than that you may be withdrawn from ENH295 due to excessive absences. You may also lose class participation/attendance points for excessive absences.


You are expected to participate cooperatively, constructively, and to the best of your ability in all class and online activities. These activities may include class or small group discussion and online discussion forums and blog posts. In order to participate, you must be prepared--complete all class readings before joining any class discussion. If you "come to class" unprepared, you may lose discussion/journal points.


Late Work

You must submit all blog posts and discussion journals complete and on time. Complete means everything specified in the guidelines. Incomplete work will not be graded. On time means by midnight on the date the assignment is due. The grade for any late blog post or discussion post will be reduced 10% each day it is late. Late posts will be accepted up to one week following the due date. Posts over a week late will not be accepted.


Plagiarism

It is important that you become familiar with the plagiarism policy of the English Division. Credit must be given where it is due. Creators of ideas deserve to be recognized for them. If you present material without acknowledging an outside source, readers will assume that you are its author. When writers deliberately present another author's work as their own, they are guilty of plagiarism. When you write for others to read, as in an essay, you are bound by certain rules of fair play. Specifically, unless you quote directly, you must completely restate material borrowed from your sources using your own words and your own style. Failure to do so is called plagiarism, an act of dishonesty. If you plagiarize in any assignment in this course, you will receive zero (0) points for the plagiarized assignment, and possibly a failing grade for the class.


Post Format

All blog posts and discussion forum posts should:

  1. be typed and posted in the course network
  2. use grammatically correct English (No texting language)
  3. be written in complete sentences

Assignments that do not follow these format guidelines will be penalized no less than 5% and no more than 50% of the grade.


Communication Etiquette

I. You are permitted to contact the instructor via email, chat, text or phone (phone before 10pm). Please follow appropriate etiquette when doing so:

  1. Be sure to send your email from an email account that belongs to you, and make sure the account has your name attached to it.
  2. Use a proper subject for the title of your email
  3. When typing email, do not type in all capital letters
  4. Be sure you clearly identify what your problem, question or needs are
  5. When leaving a voicemail message, be sure to include your name, class, and phone number
  6. Lastly, please do not send chain letters, jokes, or any non-course related emails to the instructor. When contacting your instructor, you can expect a response within 48 hour outside of office hours and within the hour during office hours.
II. You are permitted to send emails and messages from the course network to students in the class for only class related business. Please follow appropriate etiquette when doing so:
  1. Sending messages from the course network will keep your email address private, but the recipient will not be able to reply back to that message. They will have to log into the network to reply back to you. That's not very convenient. 
  2. Be succinct when you state your business in an email or network message. 
  3. If you receive messages from a student and you do not want to communicate with him/her, inform the instructor so that she can contact the student. 
  4. Do not send repeated emails if the person does not respond.


Student Support Resources

Glendale Community College offers a variety of resources to support student learning and offers the student support services listed below:

  • Need assistance with writing skills?  Check out GCC's Writing Center. Be sure to take note of the Electronic Writing Center listed on the main Writing Center home page.
  • Need assistance with study skills?  Time management skills?  Test-taking skills?  How about one-on-one tutoring?  GCC's Center for Learning offers a variety of services to support student learning.
  • Need to find more information on a banned book?  Not sure where to find scholarly articles on a popular theme?  Trying to find primary sources on banned books?  Not sure how to cite a source?  GCC's Library and Media Services provide excellent resources and training.
  • GCC's Counseling and Career Services provides additional support to students interested in career exploration, enhanced study skills training, life coaching, and personal counseling.
  • Have general questions regarding enrollment, class schedules, advisement, and graduation?  Check out GCC's Enrollment Services.

Disability Services
If any of you has a disability, including a learning disability, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss any potential accommodation needs.
Glendale Community College's Disability Services Mission Statement:
"The Mission of the Glendale Community College's office of Disability Services & Resources is to support the campus community (students, faculty & staff, and administration) and local service providers (high schools, rehabilitation agencies) by offering individuals with disabilities the natural benefits afforded by access to our facilities, academic programs and student support services. 

In addition, Disability Services & Resources aims to promote establishment of campus policies, procedures, and technology that are more inclusive and understanding of individual functional limitations through advocacy, academic advisement, and the use of effective, reasonable, and efficient academic accommodations designed to enhance equal access to education, self advocacy, and the independence of this uniquely diverse and historically disadvantaged population."
If you have a disability that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require accommodations, you need to notify the Disability Services office, located in TDS-100. Telephone: (623) 845-3080.  Video Phone for the Deaf (623)-845-3083 or 1-(866)-869-7383.
This course uses Blackboard as the principle content delivery tool for the course.  To learn more about Blackboard's commitment to accessibility, please see their accessibility statement.


Final Statements