Books and tech

There are no books to buy or rent for this class. In fact, everything we read’ll be provided to you as either a link or a downloadable PDF. That said, some of what we’ll read and discuss during this semester touches on some complex issues of systemic oppression and dispossession (or the deprivation of rights, opportunity, etc.). Please do what you need to do to prepare yourselves for conversations on and around these themes, and I’ll make an extra effort to note any texts that may be triggering.

For this class, we’ll be using Discord, your Qmail accounts (as a back up for announcements and updates), and whichever word processing app you’re most comfortable with (e.g., Google Docs, Microsoft Word, etc.). All of these things are accessible/available on both phones and computers.

If you don’t have access to an internet-enabled device, the college can provide you one via the Provost’s office, and I’m happy to help you figure this out––just let me know as soon as possible!

Accessibility

Access is a cornerstone of this course’s design and your needs are of the utmost importance to me. (It’s why we’re using Discord, which is one of the more accessible platforms available, unlike Blackboard.) Let’s hold space for physical disabilities, mental & emotional health, neurodivergence, illness, injury, grief & loss, and any other needs that I haven’t listed. Let me know how I can best support you and your learning.

If you need support in other classes, please reach out to Dr. Mirian Detres-Hickey at the office of Special Services for Students with Disabilities via email at qc.spsv@qc.cuny.edu. I’m also happy to help you navigate this process. Additionally, mental health services are available to all students via the Counseling, Health & Wellness Center, which offers confidential peer support and counseling for free.

Attendance

So, my position is that you’re all adults and I trust you to make your own decisions about your time. I don’t formally take attendance and I don’t hold absences against you, grade-wise. That said, this course moves fast and a huge part of our work will necessitate interacting with one another and actively engaging in various activities and discussions in class, on our Discord server, and in your writing.

If joining our class regularly is going to be difficult for you, whatever the reason, let me know and we’ll figure something out.

Late work

Simply put, there’s no official grade penalty for late work or missed deadlines in this class. However, there are some assignments that kind of require you to be on time (e.g., workshops) out of fairness and consideration to your classmates, but I’ll be extra clear about which ones these are and which dates they should be submitted.

Regardless of the assignment, I’ll still recommend deadlines because we do have a finite amount of time together and maintaining a sense of schedule can help you and me better manage it. That said, if you can’t submit something by a recommended deadline, it’s okay. Just keep me updated on your progress so I can support you.

We’ll also do a fair amount of writing during our scheduled time together, so hopefully the pressure that often comes with deadlines will be lessened.

Grading

I could give you a whole speech about my approach to grading, but I’d like to keep it simple. If you do the work, and by that I mean engage in the process (in class and out of class) and submit it, you’ll get an A. If you do some of the work you’re asked to submit, you’ll get a B.

​We can talk about what this looks like in practice, but my goal for us is to really use this time together to consider new perspectives, try some different approaches to thinking and writing, and see what we can gain by emphasizing process over product.

Extra writing support

If you find yourself in need of additional writing assistance, something beyond what you’re getting from me and your peers, you can make an appointment with the Queens College Writing Center. They offer one-on-one assistance, small group tutoring, and larger workshops that can help you address your specific writing goals. I can also offer you some extra resources, if needed.

Plagiarism and academic integrity

Citing your sources is a practice in respect and care. In this class (and beyond!), let’s be deliberate and thoughtful in our work, and freely acknowledge those who came before us, those who’ve influenced our thinking, and those who we are in conversation with in our own writing.

We’ll talk a lot about citational practice within the larger context of whiteness and cultural appropriation, but we’ll also look at some of its formal conventions and how we can best use them as a tool to support the ethical and equitable sharing of knowledge.

Submitting your work

Because our class will be largely paperless, I want to give a little guidance around sharing your work (with me and your classmates). Now, this may go without saying, but you actually need to include some basic information in the file/document name and in the document itself so that your reader knows that it’s your work!For me, those basics include

• Your full name;
• The date you’re submitting your work;
• The assignment type (e.g., Weekly exercises, Cumulative exercises, Workshop worksheets, etc.);
• The assignment number (e.g., #1, #3, #7, etc.);
• And an original title, which doesn’t have to be super clever or creative, but it should reflect the content of your writing.

It’d also really help me and your other readers if you could make a real effort to save your document with an actual file name (instead of “Untitled Document”). I recommend you combine your name and the assignment type and number, so it reads like this: Full name_Assignment type and number.docx (or without the extension for GoogleDocs).

And when you’ve readied your assignments for submission, you can either send me a DM on Discord with your document attached (or linked) or share it with me via Dropbox. You can find a direct link to the Dropbox submission folder pinned in the #assignment-info channel on our Discord server or via the button at the footer of this site.