Evaluation

Participation  10%  =10%

Your grade is based on informed and timely engagement with the course materials in your online tutorial discussion group. This includes the completion of specific requested tasks and engagement with some of your peers’ contributions. You are expected to make your initial post dealing with the week’s discussion questions by Thursday morning. You will not see other student’s comments until you have posted your own. Your participation in follow up discussion must be completed by Monday morning to count towards your participation grade. There is no set number of posts each week. You must engage with the week’s discussion questions and the ideas presented by your peers. We value contributions that engage thoughtfully with the course materials, ask interesting questions, and generally move the discussion forward. We will be emphasizing quality more than quantity when grading participation.

Mid-Term  = 15 %

Take home exam delivered and submitted electronically.

Quizzes  2 x 10% =20%

Timed multiple choice quizzes administered online through Moodle.

Research Paper

You are free to choose ANY topic related to the themes being dealt with in the course; however the paper must include some kind of Canadian context (Canadian government, business, NGO, citizen, etc. involvement or official stance on the issue). This assignment consists of a proposal and a final paper.

Proposal =10%

Your proposal must have a working title, a short description of your topic, a brief synopsis of the controversies surrounding the topic, and a tentative outline of your paper all written in paragraph form. It should be 500 words (approximately 2 pages) long and have an attached bibliography with a minimum of six sources, at least three of which must be academic journal articles. The proposal will allow us to determine if the paper that you are planning to write is appropriate for the course and is doable within the allotted time. Papers may not be submitted without a pre-approved proposal.

Paper  25% =25%

The paper should identify the relevant controversies and issues surrounding the topic and provide a critical analysis with a clear argument. Avoid vague, general papers, and select a topic specific enough to be handled in a brief essay. The paper should be 8 to 10 pages, double-spaced and must use a minimum of 10 sources. The majority of your sources should be scholarly articles, but you can also consult books, journalism and official documents. Sources should be cited according to standard scholarly conventions (see the section on Essay Format below). NB. Wikipedia is not an acceptable academic reference.

Final Exam  20% =20%

Essay Format

All submissions must be double-spaced, 12cpi Times New Roman. The Department of Sociology at Queen's has prepared a very thorough Style and Reference Guide for Undergraduate essays (PDF). We strongly recommend that you adhere to its advice about writing, particularly the points about reification, thesis statements, wordiness, quotations, and assumptions. We require that you follow the bibliographic style and in‐text referencing format outlined in the above guide. Make use of footnotes (not endnotes) only for explanatory purposes, e.g., to clarify a point that would otherwise clutter the text or interrupt the flow of your argument; or to note an apparent political slant in your source.

Final Examination

Take home exam delivered and submitted electronically.