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You can quickly reach the following syllabus segments through clicking the appropriate links: Attendance Rules -- Disability Accommodations -- Exams -- Grading --  Make-up Exams -- Missing of Quizzes -- Quizzes (General). 

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I.          GENERAL--DATES

Instructor: Fritz Wenisch. E-mail address: fwenisch@mail.uri.edu. Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00-12:00, Wednesdays 2-2:50, and by appointment. (These hours apply only up to the last day of classes; special hours will be announced for the reading days and final exam period.) Office location: Chafee 179. Phone: 874-2226. Class meeting time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:30-1:45. Class location: Chafee 271.

Web page address (URL): http://www.uri.edu/artsci/phl/wenisch/homepage.htm

Exam and quiz dates: First quiz: Thursday, February 2; most subsequent quizzes will be unannounced. Midterm exam: Thursday, March 8 during class (12:30-1:45). Final exam: Tuesday, May 8, 12:30-2:30.

II.           TEXT-- OTHER COURSE MATERIALS--INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED

The text for the course is, Fritz Wenisch: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--Differences, Commonalities, and Community. If you still need to order it, click "ordering information." Study questions and other information will be posted on the course web page; consequently, internet access is required. The main page of the course web site also contains links to on-line versions of the Bible and of the Koran.

Attendance Rules -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

III.         CLASS ATTENDANCE--penalties for absences

[Note: See also the "Attendance Rules" web page, accessible from the RLS 111/0001 main page.]

This is not a correspondence course. Attendance from the beginning to the end of each class meeting is a course requirement that will strictly be enforced. Leaving early or coming late are treated exactly like absences.

If you miss class more than eight times, you will not receive a passing grade.

The penalty for each absence (or for being late and/or leaving early) is a two-point deduction from your final score, a score of "0" on a quiz you may miss, or both.

If the reason for your absence is frivolous ("I soaked up some sunrays on the quad; I went shopping with my mom; I attended a concert in the Union"), the penalty cannot be waived.

If your absence (or tardiness or leaving early) has a legitimate reason, such as illness, the penalty will be waived, provided you present documentation justifying your absence, and you demonstrate to my satisfaction that you studied the material covered during the class or classes you missed. To demonstrate this, you must: (1) carefully read and study the textbook segments covering the material you missed (see the "Study Questions" page, accessible from the course site's main page, for the page numbers of the text on which that material can be found); (2) write answers to the study questions dealing with that material; (3) fill in the Absence Make-up Work Cover Sheet (a copy was handed out during the first class; it also can be downloaded from the course web site); (4) staple a copy of the document verifying the reason for your absence as well as your make-up work to that sheet; (5) hand the packet to me at the beginning of the class which meets a week after the final absence for which you need to be excused. (For absences during the last two class meetings of the semester, the deadline is at the beginning of your final exam for this course.)

Absences for which the deadline and other rules specified in the preceding paragraph are not followed will not be excused, regardless of the reason for them.

If an absence is excused, you will receive a written statement signed by me. In case of a later dispute about whether or not an absence was excused, you must present that statement to have the disagreement decided in your favor.

Other important points:

• If you could or should know at the beginning of the semester that you will have to miss three or more class meetings (game and/or practice schedule for athletes; business trips for students who have jobs; participation in a theater performance, etc.), you must see me in my office by the end the second week of classes to speak to me about this problem. Failure to do so makes you ineligible to be excused for the absences in question. Also, this does not relieve you of your responsibility to submit the required make-up work following each individual absence.

• No excuses for absences, including those which resulted in missing of quizzes, will be accepted after the final exam.

• Excuses for absences which are not presented in accordance with the procedures and within the time frames specified on the Absence Make-up Work Cover Sheet will not be accepted. No exceptions will be made.

• The web page dealing with attendance rules (accessible through the RLS 111/0001 Main Page) informs you about negative consequences which unexcused absences do have in addition to a point loss and/or a score of "0" for a quiz you may miss.

Quizzes (General) -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

IV.         QUIZZES

There will be several quizzes. The first one will be announced (date: click "dates" link); most of the subsequent ones will be unannounced: A dice throw at the beginning of class will determine whether or not there will be a quiz. We will use the following dice-throwing cycle: The first two dice throws will result in a quiz if a seven or an eleven come up. For each subsequent throw, one more valid "quiz number" will be added. The following sequence will be used: 6, 8, 5, 9, 4, 10, 3, 12, 2. Whenever there is a quiz, the cycle will start "from scratch" at the class meeting following the quiz.

Unless announced otherwise, each quiz will cover the class material for which you will not have been held responsible yet at a quiz or at an exam (that is, the more time elapses to the next quiz, the more material there will be), except that you will not be held responsible for the material of more than three of the most recent class meetings.

Missing of Quizzes -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

There will be no make-up quizzes. A quiz not taken will be recorded as a zero, except if the penalty for your absence is waived in accordance with the rules formulated above. (See III.) If the penalty is waived, the zero for the quiz missed will not be used for calculating your cumulative quiz score, and your cumulative quiz score will be based on the remaining quiz(zes) only. If you do not comply with the rules for waiving penalties (for example, if you fail to hand in the written material required or to observe the deadlines), the score of zero for the quiz missed will stand.

I reserve the right not to have a dice throw on a given day. This does, however, not interrupt the cycle according to which valid "quiz numbers" are added; that is, the probability of a quiz the "next time around" will continue to increase. I also reserve the right to give a quiz without dice throwing, as well as to announce and implement changes to the dice throwing policy.

Missing a class for a legitimate reason does not excuse you from a quiz that may take place during the class at which you return. Rather, you are expected to read the textbook segment on the material you missed (page numbers will be provided on the "Tidbits and Progress Page" following the class you missed), and study that material.

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V.          EXAMS

1.           Regular exams: There will be two exams, a midterm exam and a final exam. (Dates: click "dates" link.) While taking an exam, you are not allowed to have any materials at your desk except for the exam blank and a writing instrument. (Sanction for non-compliance: Disqualification from the exam without the possibility of a make-up. This will, in almost all cases, result in a failing grade for the course.) The midterm will cover approximately the first half of the course material; the final will cover about the second half.

Make-up Exams -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

2.            Make-up exams: A make-up exam is a privilege granted only for serious reasons and only in accordance with the following procedures: If you could or should have known prior to an exam that you will have to miss it, you must see me in person and in my office ahead of time to make arrangements for a make-up. For the midterm exam, you must see me during the seven-day period preceding the date of the midterm (not earlier and not later); for the final exam, you must see me during the last week of classes, but prior to our final class meeting of the semester. (The last office hour prior to our final class meeting is the absolutely latest opportunity for you to see me; talking to me in the classroom prior to or following the last class is too late.) If a personal office visit is impossible (note: "inconvenient" is not the same as "impossible"), I expect to be notified ahead of time at least by phone. The phone call must be followed up immediately by a written notice to be mailed to me. An e-mail notice is sufficient. (What does "immediately" mean? If you do not sit down and write the statement as soon as you get off the phone with me, you'll probably miss the deadline. This applies with even greater force if all you reach is my out-going voice mail message.) If this is also impossible (because you have been kidnapped by aliens, for example¹), I expect that you notify me as soon as reasonably possible, and that you see me as soon as reasonably possible for making arrangements for a make-up exam. Noncompliance with these rules or with the arrangements for the make-up exam will result in forfeiting the privilege of a make-up. Doing poorly on an exam is not a reason justifying a make-up. Attempting an exam absolutely excludes you from being eligible for making it up. (Exceptions will be made, of course, for emergency situations arising while you are taking an exam.)

Grading -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

VI.         GRADING

1.            Criteria: The chief criterion for evaluating your work is the degree of your knowledge and understanding of the material presented in class. A secondary criterion is evidence that you have worked continuously during the semester, as measured by your quiz score, by the consistency of your class attendance, and by the timely submission of make-up work required for absences with a legitimate reason. When grading your answers, I'll be looking for correctness, clarity, and completeness.

I consider having no unexcused absences as complying with a minimum expectation; consequently, a clean attendance record by itself will not improve your score. Such a record will, however, motivate me to decide in your favor whenever the rules allow me to give you the benefit of the doubt. (See the Attendance Rules Web Page for details.)

2.           Weighting of assignments: The cumulative quiz score will count for 20% of the final score; the midterm exam and the final exam will count for 40% each. If there are absences for which the penalties have not been waived, two points will be deducted from your final score for each such absence. In the case of students with no unexcused absences, the lowest quiz will be dropped.

3.            Numerical values: The following numerical values will be used to determine letter grades:

VII         Other important points to consider

• There will be no extra-credit assignments, and, in accordance with University policies, grades of Incomplete will not be given as substitutes for failing grades.

• Being late for exams does not automatically disqualify you, but you will not be given extra time (your exam will be collected at the end of the exam period). If, however, you come after at least one student who has seen the exam has left the classroom, you will be disqualified. In the case of quizzes, you will be disqualified if you come after I have started dictating the question(s) and/or displaying them on an overhead.

• Absences will be excused only in accordance with the procedures specified in the "Class Attendance--Penalties for Absences" segment. No substitutes (such as phone calls, leaving phone or voice mail messages, leaving notes, writing letters or e-mail messages) will be accepted.

Disability Accommodations -- Back to Top -- Back to RLS 111/0001 Main Page

• If you intend to ask for special accommodations because of a disability, you must adhere to the deadlines and other provisions established by URI's Disability Services. Further, I am urging you to call a need for accommodations to my attention by the end of the third class meeting you attend, and to see to it that a mutually acceptable accommodation plan can be agreed upon within a week of the date on which you first spoke to me about the matter. If there is a problem with getting a written accommodation request from URI's Disability Services within this time frame, you are still strongly encouraged to see me within my deadline; we may be able to work out a satisfactory agreement even prior to receipt of the official request. For exams and quizzes, generally, no retroactive accommodations will be made; in particular, the lack of a timely official accommodation request from Disability Services will not be considered as a justification for a retroactive accommodation. Also, disability accommodations cannot be agreed to in the classroom; you must see me in my office for that purpose. Further, you must bring an original and a copy of the accommodation request issued by Disability Services. If your disability accommodation involves a special exam, you must follow the procedure for scheduling make-up exams specified in the "Make-up exams" paragraph of this syllabus.

• Class handouts as well as quizzes and exams to be returned will be brought to class only once. If you are absent when they are handed out or handed back, you must come to my office to get them. Also, while I will, of course, take reasonable care of assignments which are not picked up, I cannot be responsible for quizzes or exams which are returned in class if you are absent when they are handed back.

• If you add this class after the start of the semester or if you begin attending late, it is your responsibility to "catch up" with the material. "I signed up late" will not be accepted as an excuse.

• Whenever you claim that a penalty for noncompliance with a rule announced (either in this syllabus, or orally or in writing later in the semester) should be waived because of a legitimate excuse on your part, I will consider myself in a situation similar to that of a bank teller whose customer returns and claims that a part of the money he/she was supposed to receive was missing when he/she counted it at home. The teller will expect reliable evidence beyond the customer's word that not enough was paid out. Similarly, if you wish me to excuse you, the burden of proof that there was indeed a legitimate excuse rests with you.

• When an attendance check is conducted by means of a sign-up sheet, a missing signature will be considered as conclusive evidence of an absence. No appeal from a missing signature is possible. It is your responsibility to make sure that you sign the attendance sheet.

• Important oral or written announcements, including announcements modifying the terms of this syllabus, may from time to time be made in class during the course of the semester. If you miss class (or are late for class or "daydream" during my announcements), it is your responsibility to inquire whether such announcements have been made.

• Please do not subject me to accounts of how a particular grade will "affect your life." If you wish to contest a grade received, I will insist that the discussion be limited to the following two issues: (1) Where was I mistaken in evaluating your work? (2) When and how did I fail to apply a provision of this syllabus--or a later oral or written modification of it--to your case?

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