Marriage and Sexuality in the New Testament Course Requirements

Course Requirements

Class participation and attendance

Students should come to class prepared to discuss the daily assignments. Assignments should be completed before class on the day on which they are listed on the syllabus. Students should bring the assignments (or detailed notes) to class along with specific questions and topics for class discussion.

To facilitate discussion, students must participate in the discussion board on the IC Courseware page for this class. Students are expected to login to the discussion board before each day of class, post at least one new thread about the readings for the day, read the other threads, and respond to at least two posts by other students. In class and on the discussion board, all students are expected to participate in a thoughtful, well-prepared manner that is grounded in the course assignments. Participation in class and on the discussion board will be graded by the quality of participation.

All members of the class are expected to reflect critically on they ways in which they can contribute to constructive rather than destructive class dynamics. I often call upon students and may not wait for students to volunteer themselves. Take notes: you will be expected to incorporate issues raised in class discussions in your papers.

More than two unexcused absences may severely affect your grade. Students with multiple excused absences should speak to me about a make-up assignment for their missed participation. Unexcused absences cannot be made up. If you must miss class, you should get notes from a classmate before meeting with me to go over missed material. If you miss a video or other multi-media presentation in class, it is your responsibility to find and view the material on your own time.

Papers

You will write two papers based on the assignments and class discussion. Papers will be graded on the strength of their argument and use of course materials. Late papers will not be accepted.

Minimum requirements for the papers are:

A thesis supported by evidence from primary sources and information provided by secondary sources.
A minimum length of 1500 words (approximately 5-7 pages).
Documentation of all facts, ideas, and quotes taken from other sources (including lecture and class discussion) using parenthetical citations.
An avoidance of lengthy direct quotations from either primary or secondary sources; students instead should summarize and analyze the sources in their own words as much as possible.
Correct grammar and spelling throughout the paper.

Papers will be turned in electronically to the Courseware drop box or via email.

Final Project

There is no final exam for this course. Instead, the final assignment, due on the final exam date for the class, is a group website on a passage or set of passages from the New Testament related to marriage and sexuality, or a theme or issue related to marriage or sexuality in the New Testament. You will meet several times with Kathy Barbieri and a tutor from ACCS to learn to use HTML and Dreamweaver to build a website. Together, your group will produce a website that provides at minimum the following elements:

An annotated bibliography of the most important books and articles on your topic or passage. All members of the group must contribute to the bibliography.
Each member of the group must compose at least one other component on the website.
There must be at least one component of the site dedicated to some aspect of the historical background or circumstances of your topic or passage(s).
There must be least one component of the site dedicated to some aspect of the contemporary issues, relevancies, debates, or conversations about your topic or passage(s).
A main page that outlines, explains, and links to all of the components of your site.

Each group will have 2 to 4 students, and students will pick their topics and form their own groups themselves. (However, no two groups can do the same topic.) More information and instructions about the project will be forthcoming. The project will be graded as follows. Students will be graded individually on their contributions to each component of the project :

	Timely completion of HTML worksheet:	5 points
	Attendance at Dreamweaver workshops:	10 points
	Project proposal (group grade):	45 points
	Content of your individual contributions to the website:	100 points
	Design and appearance of your individual contributions to the website:	20 points
	Design and appearance of the shared components of the website (group grade):	20 points
	Total points possible:	200 points total

You will need to use the Cornell Library to research your bibliography; please plan accordingly.