COURSE MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES:
By nature, our course is non-traditional, and our course materials reflect that. All students should be prepared to access linked resources and reading materials on the internet and may choose to print these materials at their own expense. Each week you will be asked to use freely available online resources linked on this site and others related to professional development, such as LinkedIn. We will be using The College Reads! selection, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America in this course, and sometimes the city itself becomes our textbook!
We recommend purchasing an Honors College binder from the College of Charleston Barnes and Noble bookstore. These can be found as “recommended texts” for our assigned course number (HONS 100) and are extremely useful in managing the print version of the portfolio you will create in this course.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS and GRADED WORK:
Class Engagement and Attendance (30%): Participation in all aspects of class is essential. You are expected to actively engage in class activities, to contribute meaningfully to discussions, and to display dedication and earnest effort in exploring the class topics and tasks. This is simply what honors students do. Your PF will address any shortcoming in this area with you personally either over e-mail or during one of your consultation meetings. Please keep in mind that attending class is an aspect of being engaged. Provided there is reasonable communication from individuals, we will be flexible and accommodating in cases where excessive absence is due to unavoidable issues involving COVID-19, personal health, religious participation, or family crises.
Individual Consultations: (15%) In addition to regular class sessions, you will be required to attend three individual consultations outside of regular class sessions with your peer facilitator throughout the semester. While each session will have a particular purpose, there will be ample time to address broader concerns and connect with your peer facilitator one-on-one. These sessions may be conducted in-person or online at your peer facilitator’s discretion and with health and safety in mind. Please remember to respect your peer facilitator’s time as if it were your own. All you must do to earn a good grade on this is arrive on time and be ready to chat.
Know Thy City, Know Thyself Assignment: (10%) Drawing on BGS content in Weeks 4-6 and your experience with the Discovering Our Past: College of Charleston Histories walking tour app, you will select and complete one of several assignment options. Each option is designed to enhance your knowledge and experience of the city of Charleston as you prepare to begin your journey as a scholar-citizen of the Charleston community. Experiential learning is a hallmark of the Honors College curriculum and a favored approach to embracing the ethical and liberal arts values of the College of Charleston.
Portfolio (45%): Throughout the semester you will create a portfolio that will represent your accomplishments across your college career. Because the portfolio is a semester-long project, it will go through several revisions in response to peer edits, in-class workshops, outside input from Academic Writing instructors and Writing Lab staff, and/or feedback from PFs and class leaders. Your portfolio will include the following documents:
- PACE Navigator (15%): This document, a comprehensive planning tool that you will use throughout your time in the Honors College, allows you to chart out your individual academic plan in addition to noting professional and community engagement plans. We will spend time in class discussing the best methods for long- and short-term planning on the navigator, and this is a document that you should always bring with you to your advising appointments.
- Professional Documents:
- Resume (15%)
- Personal Narrative (15%)
Important Course Statements:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: As members of the College of Charleston community, we affirm, embrace and hold ourselves accountable to the core values of integrity, academic excellence, liberal arts education, respect for the individual student, diversity, equity and inclusion, student centeredness, innovation and public mission. Congruent with these core values, the College of Charleston expects that every student and community member has a responsibility to uphold the standards of the honor code, as outlined in the Student Handbook, In pursuit of academic learning, you are expected to reference the work of other scholars, and complete your own academic work, while utilizing appropriate resources for assistance. Any acts of suspected academic dishonesty will be reported to the Office of the Dean of Students and addressed through the conduct process. Your adherence to these practices and expectations plays a vital role in fostering a campus culture that balances trust and the pursuit of knowledge while producing a strong foundation of academic excellence at the College of Charleston. Any questions regarding these expectations can be clarified by your instructor. OAKS: OAKS, including but not limited to Gradebook, will be used for this course throughout the semester to provide the syllabus and class materials and grades for each assignment, which will be regularly posted.
STATEMENT ABOUT COVID-19 SAFETY AND PROTOCOLS: HONS 100: Beyond George Street will maintain and operate under the COVID-19 protocols outlined on the “Back on the Bricks” website. While our area may be classifying COVID-19 as endemic, we are sensitive to the individual needs of members of our campus community. Please be respectful of the needs and decisions of others when interacting with others in and outside the classroom.
STATEMENT ABOUT CLASS MODALITIES DURING PERIODS OF ISOLATION/QUARANTINE: If one or more students are absent for an extended period of time due to COVID-19 (quarantine or isolation), instructors may, at their discretion, conduct the class exclusively online via OAKS for the duration of the student quarantine/isolation, record class lessons to share with students, or choose an alternate accommodation that provides the impacted student(s) with the opportunity to continue in the course. The specific accommodation will vary depending on the number of students affected, the expected duration of their absence, and the needs of the class.
STATEMENT ABOUT LAPTOPS and PHONES: Since we will provide very few hard copies of handouts and because there may be occasions which call for social distancing, we encourage you to bring your laptops or tablets to class. Please note: this is not an invitation to access any other websites, read email, check Facebook, or do any work not related to work we’re doing in class on any given day. Additionally, please use professionalism regarding the use of cell phones; get into the practice of turning off your phones and putting them away before each class begins. Students who do not abide by these expectations jeopardize their Class Engagement grades.
ATTENDANCE VERIFICATION: Only students officially registered (graded or auditing) for this course may attend class. During the week following the drop/add deadline, the professor will verify student enrollments in this course. Any student appearing on the class roll but determined not to have attended the class even once will be removed, except for cases where a student is absent because of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19. Recording of Classes (via ZOOM): Class sessions taking place on ZOOM may be recorded via both voice and video recording. By attending and remaining in a zoom section of this class, the student consents to being recorded. Recorded class sessions are for instructional use only and may not be shared with anyone who is not enrolled in HONS 100.
ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: If you require academic accommodation due to a disability, please make Dr. Permenter, Dr. Cavalli and/or your Peer Facilitator aware of the fact in a confidential manner within the first week of class. The College will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Should you have questions about disability services at the College of Charleston, please contact the Center for Disability Services at 843-953-1431, visit their physical location at Lightsey Center, Suite 104, or visit their website at http://www.College of Charleston.edu/~cds/home.htm.
REGARDING INCLEMENT WEATHER AND CAMPUS CLOSURES: As Charlestonians, we live in a beautiful setting, which is also sometimes the site of severe weather. Rest assured, we are prepared to handle these situations. If the College of Charleston closes and members of the community are evacuated due to inclement weather, students are responsible for taking course materials with them in order to continue with course assignments consistent with instructions provided by faculty. In cases of extended periods of institution-wide closure where students have relocated, instructors may articulate a plan that allows for supplemental academic engagement despite these circumstances. MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING: At the college, we take every students’ mental and physical wellbeing seriously. If you find yourself experiencing physical illnesses, please reach out to Student Health Services (843.953.5520). And if you find yourself experiencing any mental health challenges (for example, anxiety, depression, stressful life events, sleep deprivation, and/or loneliness/homesickness) please consider contacting either the Counseling Center (professional counselors at http://counseling.cofc.edu or 843.953.5640 3rd Robert Scott Small Building) or the Students 4 Support group (certified volunteers through texting “4support” to 839863). These services are there for you to help you cope with difficulties you may be experiencing and to maintain optimal physical and mental health.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL WELL-BEING: At the college, we take every students’ mental and physical wellbeing seriously. If you find yourself experiencing physical illnesses, please reach out to Student Health Services (843.953.5520). And if you find yourself experiencing any mental health challenges (for example, anxiety, depression, stressful life events, sleep deprivation, and/or loneliness/homesickness) please consider contacting either the Counseling Center (professional counselors at http://counseling.cofc.edu or 843.953.5640 3rd Robert Scott Small Building) or the Students 4 Support group (certified volunteers through texting “4support” to 839863). These services are there for you to help you cope with difficulties you may be experiencing and to maintain optimal physical and mental health.
FOOD AND HOUSING RESOURCES: Many CofC students report experiencing food and housing insecurity. If you are facing challenges in securing food (such as not being able to afford groceries or get sufficient food to eat every day) and housing (such as lacking a safe and stable place to live), please contact the Dean of Students for support (http://studentaffairs.cofc.edu/about/salt.php). Also, you can go to http://studentaffairs.cofc.edu/student-food-housing-insecurity/index.php to learn about food and housing assistance that is available to you. In addition, there are several resources on and off campus to help. You can visit the Cougar Pantry in the Stern Center (2nd floor), a student-run food pantry that provides dry-goods and hygiene products at no charge to any student in need.
LAND AND LABOR ACKNOWLEDGMENT: We are located on the traditional lands of the first people of Charleston: the Etiwan, Kiawah, Edisto Natchez Kusso, Santee, and Wassamassaw people (also known as Varner Town Indians). We acknowledge and honor all indigenous people who lived, labored and were faithful stewards of the land. We express our deep gratitude for the land and continued faithful stewardship to the next generations. We also acknowledge the lives and labor of the Africans who were enslaved to build Charleston, South Carolina. On this campus and in this space, African and African-descended people used skilled labor in ornamental ironwork, historic architecture, and low country agriculture and food production. As members of the College of Charleston community, we acknowledge the Black lives and labor that built our city and our campus.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN THE CLASSROOM: We are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible classroom environment for all students. We view the diversity that students bring to this class as a resource, strength, and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender, sexuality, disability, generational status, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, religious background, and immigration status. Any suggestions for promoting a positive and open environment will be appreciated and given serious consideration. We will gladly honor your request to address you by your designated name and gender pronouns. Please advise us of this early in the semester via your college-issued email account or during office hours so that we may make the appropriate notation on our class list.