HON 100 - Honors Lecture Series - Spring 2013
Syllabus and Course Requirement

last modified December 30, 2012

Course Objectives

• To enrich the experiences of Honors Program students through lectures, concerts, exhibits and other events
• To help develop students’ abilities as astute listeners, critical thinkers, and effective writers
• To practice professional behavior and etiquette in an academic setting
• To provide exposure to a broad range of academic disciplines and professional opportunities
• To expand students’ academic and cultural experience through live events
• To provide opportunities for students to interact with professionals in a variety of disciplines
• To enhance the general education of Honors students and reflect the multidisciplinary character of the Honors Program
• To enhance each student's abilities in critical thinking, communication, integration of knowledge and appreciation of areas outside their own academic discipline(s)

General Policies

Please read the general guidelines and policies that apply to this course. They are a part of this syllabus. This syllabus is freely available to anyone. All other course materials, assignments, announcements, discussions, etc. will be distributed and submitted using UAHuntsville's course management system ANGEL.

ANGEL Online Access

Communication in this class will be conducted through ANGEL. To access it, go to http://angel.uah.edu. You'll find instructions there about id/password and access information. You can get help from the TAG help desk at http://its.uah.edu/about/gethelp.php or at (256) 824-3333.

Course Schedule

The most current schedule of Lecture Series is always available on the Honors web site at http://www.uah.edu/honors/curr/lectures. Note that the schedule may be subject to last-minute changes.

Deadlines

Lecture reports and extra events have submission deadlines as specified above. One point (out of 20) will be subtracted for each day (or fraction thereof) that your submission is late. NO SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER APRIL 25 FOR ANY REASON. Any un-submitted work will be assigned a grade of zero at that time and averaged into your final grade.

Attendance

Attendance at regularly scheduled Lecture Series sessions is required. Emergency absences must be approved by the instructor. If you wish to request that an absence be excused, please do so by ANGEL email. If you are absent because of an approved University activity, the sponsor should give you a request for excused absence(s) to show your instructors. A student is allowed no more than two unexcused absences from class sessions; additional absences will reduce your grade. Students are responsible for signing the attendance sheet circulated at each session. You are not allowed to sign for someone else for any reason.

Courtesy

It is distracting, rude, disrespectful, and unprofessional to "walk out" in the middle of any session. Attending part of a session is preferable to missing it entirely, but please try to arrive on time and remain until the program is over. In particular, speakers and performers will be distracted if you arrive late or leave early. You may wish to take notes on the presentation, but you're not allowed to use Honors Lecture Series as a time to work on other classes. Do not allow laptops, cell phones, beepers, alarms, etc. to disturb our class.

If you miss a substantial portion of any session, the instructor may -- at their sole discretion -- consider you absent from the session, even if you have signed the attendance sheet.

Lecture Reports

Each student will write two reports, each based on a presentation that you choose. Reports should be submitted within two weeks of the presentation. See Grading (above) for when the reports are due. A report should be about 700 to 900 words (about 2 single-spaced pages). Additional research or reading is not required; however, material from any source other than the presentations must be appropriately cited.

Proofread your reports! Essays that are not up to Honors Program standards will be given a grade of ZERO and returned for rewriting. Typos, misspellings, improper or missing punctuation and grammatical mistakes all detract from your report's quality.

Each report should address the basic questions listed below, but you may also address other issues you deem important. Each report should include the name of the speaker and the topic, but you may develop whatever title you believe is appropriate. The report should be single-spaced on numbered pages. If you use OpenOffice, you must save your file as a .doc or .docx (MS Word) file before submitting it.

Reports are returned to you through Angel with added comments (as "tracked changes") graded on a 20-point scale (see above)

The Basic Elements of a Lecture Report:

• Your name, date, the date of the event, name of the event, name of the presenter.
• What was the main topic of this program? What thesis or argument was presented? What sort of evidence (historical, textual, experimental, etc.) was given to support the thesis? Cite several examples.
• What are the qualifications of the presenter? It’s a good idea to take notes when speakers are introduced, as well as during the presentations, especially if you might write about them. Additional information about speakers is often available on the speaker’s web site.
• If the presentation stresses a dramatic, musical, artistic, literary or other art form, what experience does it offer? What historical and cultural factors can you discern which conditioned the development or expression of this particular art form ? (Give examples from the performance.)
• What is your general evaluation of this presentation? How convincing or engaging did you find the argument or performance presented?
• What did you find most interesting in this program?

Absolutely forbidden in any written work in this course:

If any of these appear, your paper may be returned to you with a zero. If you have any questions about these, please ask the instructor or any of your writing instructors.

• Misuse of apostrophes; e.g., "its" vs "it's", "your" vs "you're", "books" vs "book's"
• Use of "ideal" when you mean "idea"
• Use of the word "awesome" unless it is related to "awe" (look it up if necessary)
• Over-use of "like" (you know what this means)
• Incorrect use of homonyms: e.g., "there" instead of "their"
• Sentence fragments
• Text, Twitter or phone shortcuts
• Incorrect capitalization

Approved Events

All students in Honors Lecture Series are also required to attend two approved events. Events should have a primary cultural or academic purpose, normally involving a presentation or performance offered either to the public or the UAH community at large. In general, do not consider events that are less than 45 minutes in duration. Use the following lists as a guide in your selection of events.

These are typical approved events:

• an artistic performance that is primarily performed for a live audience
• any live performance or non-class lecture sponsored by an academic department or program at UAH, except events in which you are already a participant (see below)
• performances of the Huntsville Chamber Music Guild
• performances of the American Shakespeare Center On Tour
• any event sponsored by the UAH International Cultural Organization
• any live theatrical production of Broadway Theatre League, Theatre Huntsville, Renaissance Theatre, Merrimack Hall, Ars Nova, etc.. .

The following events are not approved unless specific exceptions are given in advance of the event:

• Honors Lecture Series presentations (these may of course be used for a Lecture Report)
• Watching a movie, either individually or in a group, unless it includes significant or organized discussion, background presentation, or critical review.
• Events that are primarily social or culinary in nature, such as receptions, fundraisers, parties, etc..
• Athletic events, including tournaments, meets, games, etc.
• Events sponsored by the Association for Campus Entertainment (ACE)
• Performances by high-school, middle school, etc. student groups
• Lessons, master classes, tours, or events which are primarily instructional
• Visits to museums or art shows, unless you attended some significant event associated with them.
• Events in which you are already a participant (e.g., students who perform in the UAH Wind Ensemble may not receive credit for Wind Ensemble events); all other UAH music events, including student recitals, would count.

To receive credit for an event, submit your information using an ANGEL drop box. Make sure you include the event name (if any), speaker/presenter/performer name(s), date, location, sponsor, type of event, approximate length of the event and a brief summary (a few sentences). Do NOT attach a file to your event submission -- use only the text box given.