REQUIRED READINGS

Required readings are available in a reading packet.

GRADING

1. Participation

Discussion is essential to the vitality of the seminar. Your first priority is reading the assignments carefully and working diligently on the writing for the course. Thoughtful, honest, and respectful participation derives from these. Every effort will be made to ensure that the class is a welcoming forum for sharing serious ideas. In addition, participation is more inclusive than many students realize. Being attentive and engaged in class, asking clarificatory questions, and discussing aspects of the course with the instructor during office hours all fall under this heading. Advanced students typically need not worry about this element of their performance, but the instructor reserves the privilege of treating participation as constituting up to 10% of the final grade.

No laptops in class.

2. Opening essay: How do Skeptical Arguments Work and What Are They Trying to Achieve?

For the first seminar meeting, there is no assigned reading. Instead, you will prepare an essay on the topic, above.

5-6 pages. Typewritten, double spaced in a 12 point font. No title page. 10% of final grade.

3. Seminar discussion papers

You are required to write 6 short papers. These assignments are intended to stimulate class discussion. It is crucial that these discussion papers be short, clear, and to the point. You may conceive of the assignment as articulating arguments for your position on an important topic in the reading. For example, you may briefly summarize a central thread of the reading and critically respond. Or, you may pick a direct quotation from the readings and attempt to show that the ideas contained in it are misguided or fail to take into consideration important factors. Note that your responses need not be negative. You may take these papers as an opportunity to sympathetically review or to elaborate on proposals made in the literature.

About 2 pages (3 pages maximum). Typewritten, double spaced in a 12 point font. No title page. 30% of final grade with each paper weighted equally.

4. Seminar leadership

Each student will co-lead one seminar meeting during the semester. This will involve presenting a summary of the themes in the reading that you would like to discuss, as well as critical reactions to those themes. Both of these elements should be informed by at least three contemporary (i.e., written in the last 50 years) secondary sources that the co-leaders will have researched, acquired, and read. These will not be provided by the instructor; instead, the co-leaders will have to decide which secondary sources are illuminating. The secondary sources will typically be journal articles or book chapters. The secondary sources will not be part of the reading for the rest of the seminar, so it will be the responsibility of the co-leaders to fill in details.

A sensible target to aim for is for each co-leader to speak for 15 minutes and then to open up the seminar for discussion. Between the two co-leaders, you should expect to be able to lead the seminar for 90 minutes (the instructor will handle the rest).

You will turn in (1) your notes and outline (2) copies of the three secondary sources used to prepare the seminar. You will be graded, however, solely on the quality of the presentation (20% final grade). You may not write a seminar discussion paper the week you lead the seminar.

Please see the plan for leading the seminar.

5. Final paper

This will be an opportunity for extended discussion of any topic in the course. You are not required to seek additional sources for final papers, though you may. The final paper may be an extension of a weekly short essay, of the seminar presentation, or may advance completely new ideas. You may certainly use material from your opening essay for the final paper.

14-16 pages (20 pages absolute maximum). Typewritten, double spaced in a 12 point font. No title page. 30% of final grade. Essays are due on the third-to-last day of the exam period (the latest time the Dean's office allows written work to be turned in), namely 5pm, December 19th.

Grading on all writing assignments will be anonymous. Please turn in your papers with only your Williams ID number on it in some unobtrusive place.

Anonymous grading is one way of assuring that the collegiality of our interactions does not cloud my assessment of your work. Grading blindly is not a perfect mechanism for this purpose. One crucial disadvantage to anonymous grading is that the instructor will not know when your work is systematically inadequate and will not approach you with concerns about your writing. As a result, there is an additional burden of maturity and responsibility on your shoulders. You must elect to visit office hours and to seek out informal opportunities to improve your writing.

The desire to preserve the integrity of the anonymous grading system should never prevent you from seeking advice on assignments for this course. You are encouraged to speak with me with your work in hand. Naturally this will reveal facts of authorship, and may give the instructor some insight into your style and interests. Still, your success in meeting the challenges of this course should always be our first concern.

Any direct quotations or paraphrased material from outside sources must be credited and footnoted in your favorite style. Violation of this constitutes plagiarism. If you have questions about how the honor code applies to written work, please do not hesitate to contact me.

SEMINAR RESOURCES

Office hours - The instructor holds office meetings each week in North Academic Building 306. They are:

Mondays	12:30-2:30
Wednesdays	Noon-1


Additional times are available by special arrangement. Students are welcome to visit individually or in groups.

Students with disabilities who may need disability-related classroom accommodations for this course are encouraged to set up an appointment to meet with me as soon as possible and to contact the Dean's Office (at extension 4262) to better insure that accommodations are provided in a timely manner.

Final paper due DECEMBER 19th, 5pm