Requirements

How your final grade is calculated

Attendance and class participation	15%
Community study of Poughkeepsie	20/15%
Midterm	15/20%
Capital investment role play and brief	10%
Themed space website	20%
Take-home final exam	20%

Academic accommodations are available for students with disabilities who are registered with the Office of Disability and Support Services. Please schedule an appointment with the instructor early in the semester to discuss any accommodations for this course which have been approved by the Director of Disability and Support Services as indicated in your accommodation letter.

 

Attendance and class participation

Class participation entails having read the required readings by the date they are scheduled and coming to class prepared to discuss them. Attendance is mandatory, and missing more than two classes will hurt your final grade. Additionally, students are required to attend the two lectures in the Urban Talk series scheduled for Wednesday, September 12, and Tuesday, November 13.

 

Community study of Poughkeepsie.

Students will work in groups of 2-3, conducting research in the field (i.e., taking individual trips into Poughkeepsie) and the archives, but will turn in individual 5-page reports by October 2nd. For specific instructions on this assignment, click here.

 

Midterm

An in-class midterm will be given on Thursday, October 11th. For the study guide (formatted for Microsoft Word), click here. For sample answers to the midterm (formatted for Microsoft Word), click here.

NOTE: As of 10.10.01, whichever assignment you perform better on, either the community study or the midterm, will count for 20% of your final grade; the other assignment will count for 15%. The participation grade now also counts for 15%.

 

Capital investment role play and brief

Students will lead a group role-play exercise in class on Tuesday, November 6th. By the next class, each student will turn in a two-page brief discussing the outcomes and lessons of the exercise. Instructions will be handed out on the day the exercise is scheduled.

 

Themed space website

Students will work in groups of 2-3 and be collectively graded on a website presenting original political economy and semiotic analyses of a contemporary themed space. Note: this assignment requires some basic web authoring skills. However, students are welcome to divide the research and design tasks among their groups as they see fit. The websites will be presented in class on the last day of class, December 11th. For specific instructions on this assignment, click here.

 

Take-home final exam

A take-home final will be distributed on the last day of class, December 11th. It will be due on a date during finals week TBA.