Course Syllabus
Catalog Statement
Humanities 125 is an interdisciplinary, intercultural, team-taught course designed to enrich students’ knowledge and understanding of American society. Through comparative analyses of readings and materials from literature and various disciplines, students examine the development and current reality of commonly held American ideals, attitudes, and institutions and better comprehend the American balance between freedom and responsibility. Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills through reading, writing, and discussion.
Student Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the required coursework, the student will be able to:
- identify values that characterize American society;
- compare and analyze values expressed in course materials to students own values.
Recommended Preparation: Eligibility for ENGL 101
Prof Julie Gamberg Email: jgamberg@glendale.edu
Phone: 818.240.1000, x.5345 Office: SV 240
About Your Instructor
Feel free to call me Julie or, if you prefer, Professor Gamberg. I have been teaching in community colleges for nearly fifteen years. But before that, I was a community college student myself. It took me six years to finally transfer! I hope it will take you less time than that, but either way, if you keep at it, you’ll get there. I learned a lot in that time, and to this day, I am appreciative of the instructors who helped spark a love of their subject (even if it wasn’t my favorite subject), and for instructors who taught me how to think through ideas, consider different points of view, and express myself clearly in writing. It is my hope to give you the best of the best teaching I received, and to have some small contribution in helping in your success, and in your opportunities to give back to the world everything wonderful that’s in you! Ambitious? Nah. We've go this!
Contacting Your Instructor
I would love to hear from you via Canvas message (best), via email (only from your GCC student email), or on the discussion forums. I also have an online student office hour every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, from 4:30 - 5 PM !
I will respond to you within 24 hours, M-F, and 48 hours on weekends/holidays. If you do not hear back from me within this time, please assume I did not receive your email and resend it.
During face to face student office hours, you may come visit me in person, and you may also contact me by phone; however please do not leave a message at other times, as messages may only checked during face to face office hours :-).
Student Office Hours:
Fridays, 10:00 - 10:30 AM , face to face
SV 240. 818.240.1000, x.5345, jgamberg@glendale.edu
Mondays, 4:30 - 5:00 PM ONLINE via ConferZoom
Tuesdays, 4:30 - 5:00 PM ONLINE via ConferZoom
Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:00 PM ONLINE via ConferZoom
Additional student office hours, including one-on-one ConferZoom individual sessions are very welcomed and encouraged, by appointment as well as during class sign-ups.
Response Time
I will respond to you within 24 hours, M-F, and 48 hours on weekends/holidays. If you do not hear back from me within this time, please assume I did not receive your email and resend it.
During face to face student office hours, you may come visit me in person, and you may also contact me by phone; however please do not leave a message at other times, as messages are only checked during office hours :-).
Technical Difficulties
Click here for Canvas Guides and Tutorials. And if you have a tech issue, click "Help" (left side Navigation) to call the 24/7 support number!
Other Helpful Canvas Guides Links
Student Guide Table of Contents (Links to an external site.) - This will show you a list of all the topics within the Student Guides.
View your grades (Links to an external site.) - Learn how to view your grades, scoring details and instructor comments on assignments.
Submitting an online assignment (Links to an external site.) - Instructors can choose what kind of online submissions they want you to use. Learn how to submit your assignment online.
Using the Inbox (Links to an external site.) - Many instructors prefer (or even require) that you use the Canvas Inbox (also called "Conversations") rather than your regular email account.
Using Canvas on your mobile device (Links to an external site.) - On mobile devices, Canvas is designed to be used within Canvas mobile applications. Be aware that not all features are fully supported in the app. (It's recommended you do "sophisticated" tasks like taking quizzes and submitting assignments using a regular web browser.)
Plagiarism and Academic Honesty
All papers written for this class will be submitted to Canvas, and checked by Vericite. This allows me to give you personal feedback, and also detects plagiarismby matching submitted papers to a text-matching database consisting of publishedworks, other papers – from high schools and colleges internationally – as well as papers and essays purchased from the internet. Please remember, plagiarism is not just copying words, but also copying ideas and putting them into your own words. In academic writing, we frequently respond to the ideas of another, or use them to build on, so mentioning ideas that you read or heard elsewhere is a good thing! Just be sure to always cite where those interesting ideas came from, so your reader knows which ideas are from others, and where you are adding in your own two cents. GCC Policy of Academic Honesty:http://gcc.glendale.edu/policies®ulations/ BPweb/ BP6133.htm
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Attendance
Attendance in an online course is determined by participation in academically related activities. You will be considered present if there is evidence of your participation in course activities including, but not limited to, submitting an assignment, taking a quiz, participating in an online discussion, and working in a group. You will be considered absent if there is no evidence of your participation in the academic activities of the course. Further, students who do not complete the first assignment on time or are absent for three days or more of the course may be dropped.
Regarding course pacing, you may view future assignments, and you are welcome to move ahead on the reading, but it is not permitted to turn in any assignment until it opens on Canvas. The online discussions we have are a very important part of the class; thus we all stay in the same module together.
Finally, refer to this syllabus for an overview of course expectations, policies, and requirements. If you have a question about the course, it is probably answered in the syllabus! Further, please do not hesitate to contact me if you need help with anything! Whether or not you realize this, your unique contribution to our class is valued.
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Students with Disabilities
Please Note: All students with disabilities requiring accommodations are responsible for making arrangements in a timely manner through the Center for Students with Disabilities. Please find the center here: http://www.glendale.edu/index.aspx?page=1970
Helpfinder: If you have other needs and would like to see resources available to you (both on and off campus) please search helpfinder at the gcc home page.
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Homework & Late Policy
Please turn in all homework and essays early or on time. It will help me give you useful feedback, which I really want to do, so you can do well in class and grow as a writer.
The good news is that there is a policy for late essays and homework! The bad news is that quizzes, because they are auto-graded and the answers are revealed, cannot be taken late. For homework and discussions, if life sometimes gets in the way and you do have to turn it in late, I will give you partial credit. Please communicate with me, and please do the best job you can on the work -- the skills we learn build on each other.
Essay Late Policy
Essays will receive a 10% reduction for each 1-24 hours late up to a 50% reduction. Please turn your essays in on time in order to receive maximum benefit from feedback.
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Problems Submitting Essays on Canvas
If you are having trouble submitting your essay on Canvas:
- FIRST contact Canvas Help.
- IF the issue cannot be resolved, THEN me your essay and a screenshot of your technical support contact, BEFORE the essay IS DUE.
- FINALLY, after emailing the essay to me, continue to troubleshoot with Canvas, until you can successfully upload the essay. You must then upload the exact same essay you emailed to me.
Sorry for the ALL CAPS, and the multiple steps, but this keeps everyone honest and ensures that neither you, nor I, have to go through the hassle of dealing with essays by email unless there is a genuine problem :-).
Problems Submitting Quizzes or Discussions on Canvas
For any problems taking quizzes or submitting discussions on Canvas, please contact Canvas Help. If there is a problem with Canvas, your help request must come to me through the Canvas or GCC instructional help offices; they will contact me if there is an error in Canvas. If you do have a problem and wish to notify me in addition to contacting Canvas, take screenshots of the error and your answer from Canvas, and email me BEFORE the deadline.
Other Technical Issues
For technical problems on your end, please have a backup plan. Glendale College has free computer labs for students, and the public library in your neighborhood has free computer use as well. You may want to take a minute now and note the hours of your closest libraries (just google "libraries near me" :-). I always advise participating in discussions and taking quizzes far enough in advance of the deadline, that you have time to troubleshoot any problems. I want you to succeed in this class, and because it is online, you will likely need to manage your time and prepare differently than in a face to face class. Together we can do this. Let’s do it!
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SYLLABUS MODIFICATION:
Please note: The syllabus is only an approximation of our actual progress through the semester and modifications may be made as we proceed. Students are responsible for daily assignments given in Canvas.
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Accessibility + Accommodation
This course is "Ally enabled" which means that you can read many of the texts in this course in a variety of ways: On your smart reader, read to you aloud, etc. To learn more about how to quickly and easily access these accessible formats, watch this short video.
Grading and Assessment
You will have the opportunity to receive points for a wide variety of online assignments, including quizzes, discussion posts, responding to your peers, short writing assignments, homework responses, creative assignments, essay writing, rewriting, group work. The course is worth approximately 1,000 points. Canvas will supply you with a report of how you are doing at any moment in the class, under the "grades" section. Final grading will be as follows:
A 90+ percent
B 80-89.9 percent
C 70-79.9 percent
D 60-69.9 percent
F 59.9 percent or below
You've got this!
Course Summary:
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