This course is designed to be a collaborative learning experience: it’s not a passive flow of information from professor to student, but a cooperative, mutually supportive project to explore the world of ancient Athens together. To recognize your contribution to that work, we’ve made “course contribution” a key part of how you earn your final grade.
Our most fundamental expectation is that each day of class you will:
- Be present in class. This means showing up to class on time, but also being as fully present as possible: asking questions, offering thoughts in conversation, enthusiastically participating in group and partner work, throwing yourself energetically into the simulation of the Game.
- Be prepared for class. This means reading the assigned material for each day of class in advance, slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully. It also means seeking out other members of class to study and read with, bringing questions or topics of conversation to the TA and professors, and otherwise finding ways to set yourself up to be an active and supportive member of class.
Your contribution score in this class will be self-assessed: every other week, you’ll submit a survey about the ways you contributed to class during that two-week period. You’ll be able to earn one contribution point per week, starting in the third week of class. If you’re able to state that you attended class every day, fully prepared, then your contribution score is secured.
We also understand that life gets in the way of these expectations. If you weren’t able to attend or prepare for class adequately, we’ll offer alternative ways you can earn that credit: meeting with the TA or professors, studying other students’ notes from classes you missed, seeking out additional readings or other modes of learning.
We want everyone in this course to contribute to our mutual learning, and our expectation as a result is that everyone will earn all the available contribution points for the semester. If you have questions or concerns about this part of your grade, please contact us (Prof. Farmer or Prof. Shirazi).
