COMP 390: Capstone in English: Urban Fantasy
MWF 12:00-12:50, SCHU 112 (CRN 493)

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Instructor: Dr. Amie A. Doughty
Office: 322 Netzer Administration Building
Office Hours: MWF 1:30-2:30 and by appointment
Phone: 436-3035 (direct line) or 436-3446 (English Department office)
E-mail: Amie.Doughty@oneonta.edu
Web Address: http://employees.oneonta.edu/doughtaa

Course Texts:*
Required:
Gaiman, Neil. Neverwhere. William Morrow, 2016. ISBN: 978-0062476371
Estep, Jennifer. Spider’s Bite. Pocket Books, 2010. ISBN: 978-1439147979
Wells, Jaye. Dirty Magic. Orbit, 2014. ISBN: 978-0316228435
Kadrey, Richard. Sandman Slim. Harper Voyager, 2014. ISBN: 978-0061714351
Glass, Seressia. Shadow Blade. Gallery Books, 2013. ISBN: 978-1476747484
Healey, Karen. Guardian of the Dead. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2011. ISBN: 978-0316044387

Recommended:
MLA Handbook, 8th ed., Modern Language Association, 2016. ISBN 978-1603292627
James, Edward, and Farah Mendelsohn, The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy, Cambridge UP, 2012. ISBN 978-0521728737

* Please note that you may use any unabridged edition of the books on the list EXCEPT the Gaiman book, which needs to be the Author’s Preferred Text.

Course Description:
Catalog Description: Composition 390 is a writing-intensive seminar required for seniors in the English major. A variable topics course, it emphasizes the application of analytical, research, and critical thinking skills. Students will be expected to engage with major critical and theoretical concerns within literary studies, and to produce a significant body of analytical writing.
Prerequisites: SrS (or departmental waiver); completion of LITR 150, COMP 200, and LITR 250.

Course Description: Students will explore urban fantasy texts, both written and film, and examine their place in the larger fantasy genre as well as in literary and popular culture studies. Students will choose an aspect of urban fantasy to research throughout the semester, culminating in a seminar paper.

Course Goals:

• To synthesize the writing and analytic skills learned throughout the English major in a major project.
• To learn how to write a seminar paper for graduate-level courses.
• To understand urban fantasy and its place in fantasy and in literary and popular culture studies.

Course Policies:
Contacting Me: My preferred method of communication outside of class is e-mail, and I am usually quick to respond to e-mail. If you send me an e-mail message, you should hear back from me within 24 hours during weekdays. If you do not receive a response within 24 hours, try again because it means that I have not received your message. I check my e-mail periodically Monday through Friday between 8 and 5. I am offline on Saturdays and Sundays. You may also contact me via phone or come by my office during office hours. You do not need an appointment to see me during office hours, though I recommend making one during busy times of the semester (i.e. pre-enrollment, near finals). If you wish to set up an appointment with me, you may ask me in person before or after class, contact me via e-mail, or call me. You may also contact the department secretary, Ruth Carr, who can set up a meeting for you. She may be contacted at Ruth.Carr@oneonta.edu or (607) 436-3446.

Attendance: This class is a discussion class, and you are expected to participate in all of the discussions. Missing class will mean that you miss an important aspect of the course—the analyses we make of the texts. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to make up your work by talking to other class members or by making an appointment to see me outside of class.

Class Discussions: I firmly believe that the best learning comes from student-generated class discussions. Therefore, I expect you to come to class having read the materials and prepared to discuss them. If I call on you, I expect you to have something to say about the readings we're doing, even if it's a question about what was going on or your objections to what we've been saying about the text. It is OK to disagree with me and with your classmates, as long as you express your disagreement in a courteous manner. It is important that everyone has something to say, so leave your discussion inhibitions at the door.

Assignments: You will complete each of the following assignments for this course. See the separate Assignments Sheet for specific details on each assignment:

• Prospectus (10%)
• Preliminary Bibliography (10%)
• Review of Literature (15%)
• Research Paper and Abstract (35%)
• Blackboard Postings, Responses, and Miscellaneous (15%)
• Participation (10%)
• Final Exam (5%)

Assignment Formatting: All assignments must be submitted according to MLA formatting guidelines. For this class, do not use a title page for any of your papers unless instructed to do so in class. Use a 12-point font (yes, I can tell the difference) in Times New Roman (no fancy fonts in this class and no use of Courier). Failure to follow formatting instructions will result in your paper’s grade being lowered. I will explain what MLA formatting looks like to the class before the first paper is due. You may also find instructions for it in any good handbook.

Grammar and Mechanics: I expect your papers to have correct grammar and mechanics and to be proofread. Grammatical, mechanical, and formatting errors, especially proofreading errors, will lower your paper grade in the following manner: For every page of your out-of-class papers, you will be allowed one different type of error (e.g. 2 types of errors on a 2-page paper; 12 types of errors on a 12-page paper). Once you have exceeded your error allowance, you will lose ½ point per additional error type. Error types will be defined as follows:

• Each proofreading error will count as 1 type (thus 5 proofreading errors will count as 5 types of errors).
• Homonym, usage, spelling, and other word-level errors will be counted by word (e.g. their/they’re/there is 1 type; it’s/its is 1 type; and wonder/wander is 1 type—if all 3 appear in the same paper, it will count as 3 types).
• MLA, mechanical (punctuation), and grammatical errors will be counted by first occurrence of an error only (e.g. 12 comma splices will count as 1 type; 5 comma errors will count as 1 type; a missing header will count as 1 type; a subject-verb agreement error will count as 1 type).

There is no limit to the number of points you can lose with this policy, so go through your papers carefully.
Exceptions to this policy will be the 5 Unforgivable Errors to be determined by the class. If these errors appear in a paper, the paper will lose ½ point per error (no error cushion). I will also students with these errors one opportunity to fix them to earn the points lost back, except for the final paper, which may not be fixed. Students will have two days from the return of the paper to correct and resubmit it.

Late Work: I will accept work no more than one week late. All late work will lose 10%. If you know that you won’t be able to get work in on time, see me before the due date, and we may be able to make arrangements for an extension.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is the passing off of another's work (whether quoted, paraphrased or summarized) as your own without proper documentation, including on take-home exams. If you are caught plagiarizing, you are subject to a variety of punishments, including expulsion from the university. Do your own work. See the University’s policy below for details on the Academic Dishonesty policy.

Grading Scale: The number percentages will be calculated as follows for letter grades:

Cell Phones: Cell phones must be turned off (not just put on vibrate or silent) for the duration of the class period. If your phone rings in class, you will be asked to leave. Do not use class time to text message. If I catch you texting in class, you will be asked to leave. If you believe you should be excluded from the cell phone restriction, see me individually.

Emergency Evacuation/Shelter-in-Place Procedures: In the event of an emergency evacuation (i.e., fire or other emergency), classes meeting in this building are directed to reassemble in the IRC Lobby so that all persons can be accounted for.  Complete details of the College’s emergency evacuation, shelter-in-place and other emergency procedures can be found at <http://www.oneonta.edu/security/>.

University Policies: The following policies can be found in your Student Handbook or the Code of Student Conduct (both available online) and are particularly applicable to this class.

Flagrant Non-Attendance
• Students missing 25% or more of class, any time from the second week of class up until the last day to withdraw from an individual course (see Keydates and Deadlines or Faculty Reference Guide for specific dates) may be removed from the course by the instructor.
• The Registrar will assign a “WI” (Involuntary Withdrawal) grade.
• Students appearing on the final grade sheet will be assigned a final grade (not a “W”, Incomplete or Pending grade), regardless of student’s class attendance.

Final Exams
Instructors must follow the final exam schedule as posted in Keydates and Deadlines (www.oneonta.edu/registrar). The final exam week is part of the 15 class weeks required by the State Education Department. If an instructor does not hold a final examination, the final examination period must be used as the final class day. Exceptions to this may be made only in an emergency and only with prior approval of the department chair and the division dean. Under no condition shall a study day be used to administer a final exam. Students are held responsible for selecting a course schedule with the final exam schedule in mind. There is no policy preventing a student from having exams in one day.

Accessibility Resources
Students Diagnosed with a Disability—All individuals who are diagnosed with a disability are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. As such, you may be entitled to certain accommodations within this class. If you are diagnosed with a disability, please make an appointment to meet with Accessibility Resources, 133 Milne Library, ext. 2137. All students with the necessary supporting documentation will be provided appropriate accommodations as determined by the Accessibility Resources Office.   It is entirely your responsibility to contact Accessibility Resources and concurrently supply me with your accommodation plan, which will inform me exactly what accommodations you are entitled to. You will only receive accommodations once you provide me with an Accessibility Resources accommodation plan.  Any previously recorded grades will not be changed.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Academic dishonesty is defined as any act by a student that misrepresents or attempts to misrepresent to an instructor or any College official, the proficiency or achievement of that student or another student in any academic exercise for the purpose of influencing a grade on a piece of assigned work, on an examination or quiz or in a Course as a whole, or that is intended to alter any record of a student's academic performance by unauthorized means.
A Student deemed guilty of an act of academic dishonesty may, depending on the nature of the offense, be subject to one or more of the following measures: failure of the assignment or examination, failure of the course, or dismissal from the College. Furthermore, for a second offense, referral of the case to the Standing Disciplinary Board is mandatory. The penalties that may be assessed by the Board are listed under the Procedures of the Standing Disciplinary Board as published in this publication; however, the normal penalty is suspension or dismissal.
It is the Student's responsibility to read and understand the policy on all aspects of academic dishonesty as published in this publication and the Undergraduate Catalog. However, individual faculty members may wish to explain the policy as it relates to their courses. It is emphasized that a student who has any questions about what constitutes academic dishonesty has the responsibility of clarifying them by conferring with his/her instructors.

Examples of Academic Dishonesty:
The following examples, although not all-inclusive, are intended to help students understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. Other acts should not necessarily, be considered as falling outside the scope of this policy because of their absence from this list.
• Plagiarism that is, using materials from another's work without acknowledgment, using quotations without  identification as such or paraphrasing without specific identification of the source.
• Copying and/or modifying another person's computer file, program, printout, or portion thereof for use in an assignment without permission of the instructor.
• Knowingly permitting one's computer file, program, printout, or portion thereof to be copied or modified by another student for use in an assignment without permission of the instructor.
• Unauthorized giving or receiving of information on an examination, laboratory procedure, or other exercise.
• Taking an examination for another student or allowing another student to take an examination for you.
• Altering or attempting to alter a grade on any piece of graded work, a grade written in an instructor's personal records, or a grade written on any College form or transcribed in any official College record.
• Submitting a College form with a forged signature.

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