Course Values
I design courses with a particular point of view, which may be different from your point of view. None of my courses provide equal time for all points of view. I will not demand that you accept my point of view. I do expect you to try to understand what my point of view is and to address it in your assignments. I will endeavor to follow the following precepts and I want you to follow them too.
A point of view should be supported by a group of intellectual traits.
- Intellectual honesty: This is the willingness to face the facts and logic used to support the point of view.
- Intellectual humility: This is the understanding that the point of view might be wrong.
- Intellectual perseverance: This is the willingness to keep looking for better arguments and stronger evidence.
- Intellectual autonomy: This is the refusal to accept points of view simply because they are expressed by a religious, political, scientific, or other authority.
- Intellectual integrity: This is the avoidance of deceit, dishonesty, artificiality and shallowness in expressing a point of view. It is the opposite of manipulation, by which we try to get people to accept our point of view by any means.
These precepts were adapted, with minor changes, from publications of the Foundation for Critical Thought.
We will talk about issues of sex, gender, race, class, and religion. No doubt many different points of view will be expressed. That is the purpose of having the discussion. However, everyone is expected to participate in this discussion with basic good manners and respect for differences.
Please do not make disparaging remarks about particular groups, even your own. You can express your values and points of view clearly without being offensive to other people. In short, avoid sexist, racist, classist, and other forms of foul speech.
Refer to the SUNY Geneseo Online Writing Guide Conventions of Writing for specific discussions of "political correctness," sexism, and racism in language.
Plagiarism will result in a failing grade.
Definition of plagiarism from Undergraduate Bulletin
When is it Plagiarism? Geneseo Online Writing Guide