YORK UNIVERSITY - Department of Equity Studies

AP/HREQ 1040 6.00A – Power and Society: Critical Issues in Social Justice Studies

Term: Y 2019 – 2020

Instructor: Dr. Claudio Colaguori e-mail: claudioc@yorku.ca

Lecture Location and Time: Vari Hall B on Wednesday evenings from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm (plus
tutorial seminar before or after class). This course runs from September 4, 2019 to April 1, 2020
inclusive.

PLEASE respect that our classroom is a scent-free zone. You are asked to please avoid wearing
perfumes, scented body sprays, colognes and strong third-hand smoke, as they may trigger
debilitating headaches for the instructor.

Course Description:
This course examines how power relations in our society are expressed in social institutions such as
patriarchy, consumerism, culture, and also through issues of injustice such as racism, war and
environmental destruction. The course also explores equity themes such as human nature, food
security, globalization, and social resistance to present a general overview of power relations in
society. The main course theme is that we live in a “socially constructed reality” – thus, human society
is the product of powerful and competing social forces, and subsequently our society is undergoing a
process of continuous change. The course is taught from a critical perspective with an emphasis on
social justice, equity and human rights.
As a General Education course, critical thinking, writing and reading comprehension skills are
emphasized. The course consists of four segments each with its own thematic focus: Society;
Culture; Conflict; Environment. The course inquires into areas such as: “How can we understand
some of the main social problems in our global society?” “What social forces maintain power relations
in our society?”
The course challenges many “taken-for-granted” beliefs about the nature of society. Part of
this challenge involves taking an open-minded approach to issues, and to question commonly held
assumptions about self and society, culture, human nature, and power relations. The critical approach
inevitably challenges us to look at the society with which we are familiar in new and often
controversial ways. Through ‘conceptual analysis’, students are invited to develop analytic thinking
skills which allow for a rigorous examination of the course themes, and the development of a critical
understanding of the social world. It is essential that students be in regular attendance at lectures and
tutorials, and to complete the required readings before each class so that one is prepared to
understand the lectures and films and to engage in the tutorial.

Course themes include the following topics:

• The ‘Social Construction of Reality’ Thesis / society as a human invention

• Culture, Socialization and Human Nature
• Power, Ideology and Social Justice
• Mass Media, Consumer Culture and Popular Ideology
• Food Security and Environmental Justice
• Competition as a basis of power
• Race, Racism and Imperialism
• The Tensions of Globalization

Note: This course satisfies part of your General Education requirement, thus it involves:
• a significant component of writing
• the development of critical thinking, reading and writing skills
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• an interdisciplinary approach to social issues
• a broad and inclusive approach to the subject matter

Required course materials:

1) One course reading kit, available at the York Bookstore consisting of selected text chapters,
essays and articles from various sources.

2) A number of films will be shown in class as well, as indicated in the lecture schedule. Please
note that the teaching team is not responsible for providing films for students who miss them.

3) Each week before lecture the Professor may upload an overhead file to the course website to
accompany the lecture. These are your guide to the weekly lecture topics and will help with
explaining the key themes and concepts in readings and lectures. It is essential that you follow
the overhead slide points to keep up with the lecture content and to formulate thorough answers
on tests.

NOTE: Students in this course agree NOT to upload any files, notes or other materials to any
third party note-sharing websites or internet platforms! This action constitutes a theft of
intellectual property and is expressly prohibited!

Course Website
The course website is at professorcola.com and click the courses tile and select your course by
title and then log in. You can access with the temporary password 1234 and then create your own
password. The purpose of the website is for you to download lecture point files that will be posted
on a weekly basis. This course has no Moodle site.

Grading and Evaluation:

Test 1 – 20%
Test 2 – 20%
Test 3 – 20%
Test 4 – 20%
Active and prepared tutorial participation including 4 reading reflection summaries – 20%

Tests: Four in-class tests worth 20% each. Each test consists of both multiple choice and long
written-answer type questions. All questions are based on material from lectures, course readings
and films. All tests are held during class time slots. There is no winter or final exam in this course.

Missed Tests: Students who miss tests are not automatically entitled to receive a chance at a
make-up test. Vacations do not count as valid reasons to be absent from a test. Students with a
documented reason for missing a course test, such as illness, etc., which is confirmed by
supporting documentation (e.g., doctor’s note) may request accommodation from the Course
Instructor. Further extensions or accommodation will require students to submit a formal petition to
the Faculty Registrar. Note that make-up tests may not be in the exact same format as the in-class
test that was missed.

Note about missed tests and procrastination: This is not the course for you if you have a
tendency to miss tests or are not timely with the submission of written assignments. There are four
tests in this course and four written assignments and we cannot hold make-up tests repeatedly
throughout the year. Requests to submit remedial work because one has neglected to submit the
summary assignments will be declined.
If you require special accommodations for writing tests it is up to you to make prior
arrangements with the alternative exam centre. Students with special needs must take action at the
very start of the course to register with the appropriate office (www.yorku.ca/altexams). Guidelines
 3
for the policy regarding students with disabilities can be accessed at
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/

Tutorials and Summaries: The tutorial grade is worth 20% and is based on 2 things: i) tutorial
attendance which includes active, prepared, intelligent participation and the ii) submission of
four reading summaries (2 per term) of approximately 500 to 1500 words per summary. If there
are two or three readings for that week you are to summarize all of them.

Reading Summaries for this course and when they are due:
This course has no formal research essay assignment. Instead your writing skills will progress on
the basis of summarizing selections of your choice of readings from the course. It is up to you to
choose the 4 classes for the readings you want to summarize and submit to your TA. Summaries
are due in tutorial the week we cover the topic/readings you have chosen. For example: If you
choose to summarize the readings for the class on The Question of Violence and Human Nature,
Oct 9, then you are to submit your reading summary to your tutorial leader at the start of your
tutorial for that week when that topic is being covered in the lecture – check the syllabus to confirm
dates. Do not summarize readings that are notes to a film – they are already summaries. Do not
summarize any films or videos.
YOU CANNOT SUBMIT A READING SUMMARY FOR A TOPIC AFTER THE WEEK WHICH
COVERED THAT TOPIC HAS ALREADY PASSED – IT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED – NO
EXCEPTIONS. If you miss a week then just pick another week to hand in a summary. Summaries
must be submitted in person at start of tutorial, and NOT BY EMAIL, nor are they to be dropped off
at any department or office. One point of the summary assignments is to ensure that students are
engaging with and doing the readings on a timely basis. Also, if you have not handed in your two
summaries in term one that does not mean you can hand in extra summaries in term two. If you
wait till the end of the term to do summaries and then fall ill and are then unable to do a summary
that is also not a valid excuse – that is bad planning caused by procrastination – Always plan for the
unexpected by doing things ahead of time. Again, summaries can NOT be accepted if the readings
you have summarized pertain to a class which has already passed – in fairness to others who do
keep up with course due dates we cannot make any exceptions, as this would violate the principle
of fairness to others in the course.
These summary assignments are not essays. They are written summaries of the main points of
the readings where you are to identify the main concepts, ideas and issues discussed in course
readings. Nor is your task in them to criticize the author’s ideas – simply identify what you feel are
the main points, concepts or ideas in an article and relate them back in a way that demonstrates
you understand them. Detailed instructions for completing the reading summaries are listed in a
separate section below. NOTE: It will not be possible for you to earn a grade of “A” in your tutorial if
you have not submitted all four reading summaries, two per term.

Schedule of lectures and weekly readings:

____________________________________________________________________________
1. September 4, 2019 – Introduction to the course
Explanation of the course outline: Structure of course and grading.
The value of social -scientific knowledge in understanding power relations from a broad
social justice perspective. Countering taken-for-granted views about society and human
behavior.
____________________________________________________________________________
2. September 11, 2019 The Social Construction of Reality
Kit # 1: C. Colaguori, “Sociology and the Birth of Modern Society”
____________________________________________________________________________
3. September 18, 2019 Power and Society
Kit # 2: C. Colaguori, “Power and the Organization of Society”
____________________________________________________________________________
4. September 25, 2019 Socialization, Human Nature & The Question of Biology.
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Kit # 3: C. Colaguori. “The Sociology of Human Nature”
Video clip online: Wild Child
Video: Born to be Good – 45 minutes
Youtube clip: I Told My Kid I Ate All Their Halloween Candy Again (Kimmel) 4.55 min
________________________________________________________________________
5. October 2, 2019 Patriarchal Power
Kit # 4: G. Lerner, “The Creation of Patriarchy”
Kit # 5: F. Engels, “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” – excerpts
Film: The Gods of Our Fathers
________________________________________________________________________
6. October 9, 2019 Culture and Human Nature
Kit # 6: C. Colaguori, “Understanding the Complexities and Contradictions of Human
Culture
October 16, 2019 Fall Term Reading Week – No Class Held
_________________________________________________________________________
7. October 23, 2019 TEST # 1 – 20% - multiple choice and written answer questions
_______________________________________________________________________
8. October 30, 2019 Mass Communications and Media Culture
Kit # 7: C. Colaguori, “Mass Communications Media, Information Bias and the Power of
Ideas”
Kit # 8: C. Colaguori, “Ideology: A Definition and Some Issues”
____________________________________________________________________________
9. November 6, 2019 Consumer Culture and The Culture Industry
Kit # 9: R. Robbins, excerpt from “Capitalism and the Making of the Consumer”
Kit # 10: John Berger, excerpt from Ways of Seeing
____________________________________________________________________________
10. November 13, 2019 Consumerism and Reification
Kit # 11: C. Colaguori, “Reification and the (De)formation of Self”
Kit # 12: Juliet B. Schor, “The Changing World of Children’s Consumption”
____________________________________________________________________________
11. November 20, 2019
Kit # 13: notes to Shop till You Drop
Video: Shop till You Drop
____________________________________________________________________________
12. November 27, 2019 - TEST # 2 – 20% - multiple choice and written answer
questions
____________________________________________________________________________
13. January 8, 2020 Competition as Conflict and Power
Kit # 14: excerpts from A. Kohn, No Contest: The Case Against Competition
Kit # 15: C. Colaguori, “Agon Culture: The Problem with Competition as the Organizing
Principle of Social Life”
____________________________________________________________________________
14. January 15, 2020 Competition, Violence and War
Kit # 16: notes to NOT JUST A GAME - Power, Politics & American Sports
VIDEO: NOT JUST A GAME - Power, Politics & American Sports
____________________________________________________________________________
15. January 22, 2020 War and Violence
Kit # 17: excerpts from H. Slim, “Killing Civilians: Method, Madness and Morality in War”
Video: After Hitler
________________________________________________________________________
16. January 29, 2020 Race and Racism
Kit # 18: Bolaria and Li, “Race and Racism” pgs 13-25
________________________________________________________________________
17. February 5, 2020 Test # 3 – 20% - multiple choice and written answer questions
 5
________________________________________________________________________
18. February 12, 2020 Environmental Protection as a Social Justice Issue
Kit # 19: I. Zeitlin, “Saving Our Planet” from The Social Condition of Humanity
Kit # 20: Rachel Carson, excerpts from Silent Spring (pgs 1-37)
Video: www.theoceancleanup.com/
Video: Our house is on fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjsLm5PCdVQ
Clip: Trailer for Anthropocene
_________________________________________________________________________
February 19, 2020 Reading Week – no classes held
_________________________________________________________________________
19. February 26, 2020 Environmental Destruction & Environmental Toxins as Human
Rights Issues
Kit # 21: P. Brown, “Preface” to Toxic Exposures
Kit # 22: R. Smith and B. Lourie, “Forward” and “Introduction” to Slow Death by Rubber Duck
Video: The Disappearing Male - 45 minutes
http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/Doc_Zone/1242299559/ID=1233750780
___________________________________________________________________________
20. March 4, 2020 Environmental Health and Food Justice
Kit # 23: R. Robbins, “The Environment and Consumption”
Kit # 24: Wittman et al, “The Origins and Potential of Food Sovereignty”
____________________________________________________________________________
21. March 11, 2020 Globalization as Intensifications of Power
Kit # 25: C. Colaguori, “The Growing Tensions of Globalization and the Future of Human
Rights”
Video clip: Michael Parenti, Terrorism, Globalization and Conspiracy (2002) excerpt
____________________________________________________________________________
22. March 18, 2020 Earth Democracy
Kit # 26: Vandana Shiva, “Principles of Earth Democracy”
Video: The Economics of Happiness
____________________________________________________________________________
23. March 25, 2020 – Final Review Class
____________________________________________________________________________
24. April 1, 2020 – Final Test – 20% - multiple choice and written answer questions
____________________________________________________________________________

I. TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION

Tutorial attendance is mandatory and students who miss tutorials or consistently arrive
late will be marked absent. Although your TA will appreciate knowing that you will be
absent, please do not ask for special treatment regarding such absences.
Attendance is important however it is not enough just to show up; you must
demonstrate your knowledge of course content. It is insufficient to merely share your
personal opinions: there is a difference between opinion and knowledge of course
content. Your comments should draw on the readings and lecture materials and show
consideration for opposing views. You should also not hesitate to ask questions about
the readings if you find them challenging or confusing. In order to become involved in
these discussions, please do the readings and read over your lecture notes before your
tutorial. Your participation grade will be determined by your TA based on your
involvement in tutorial discussions and your willingness to both ask and respond to
questions posed by the tutorial leader.

The tutorial grading scheme is as follows:

- If you attend every tutorial and say little or nothing, or miss more than three, with or
without reason, and have not handed in all four reading summaries: 0% - 50%
 6

- If you attend almost every tutorial and do not reference ideas relating to the course
and have not handed in all reading summaries: 40% - 60%

- If you come to every tutorial and discuss the readings and lecture themes with
academic rigour, and have submitted all reading summaries: 70% - 100%

II. MISSED CLASSES (LECTURE OR TUTORIALS)

You are responsible for your own attendance at lecture and tutorial. If you miss either,
you are also responsible for anything you may have missed. Tutorial leaders and the
course instructor will not provide notes for missed classes.

III. EMAIL POLICY

Email is a time-consuming task for instructors, and does not necessarily enhance the
understanding of the course material. Each student has approximately 3 hours of contact
time with instructors: a 2 hour lecture and a 1 hour tutorial. These contact hours may be
further enhanced through use of office hours, which allow for more specifically focused
contact for those experiencing difficulties, or who have additional questions or concerns
however you are encouraged to address any issues briefly at the end of tutorial, if time
permits. Email contact should be limited to basic information questions that have a “yes”
or “no” answer. For example, if you cannot attend your tutorial leader’s office hour, and
wish to speak to them at a different time, email may be used to ask if this is possible.
Ideally, this alternate arrangement will be made in person, either in lecture or in tutorial.
Email may also be used to communicate an absence, if you know that you may have to
miss class. Tutorial leaders and the course instructor will not review assignments, edit
your work, answer questions about course material, or help you study for tests over
email. When e-mailing your TA or course instructor, please include the course number
and title in the subject line and use formal protocol.

Reading summary assignment details, instructions and when they are due:
This course has no formal research essay assignment. Instead your writing skills will
progress on the basis of summarizing your choice of assigned readings from the course.
It is up to you to choose the 4 classes for the readings you want to summarize and
submit. For example: If you choose to summarize and submit the readings for
November 6, 2019 Consumer Culture and The Culture Industry, then you are to
submit your summaries of the readings (and not the film) at the start of your tutorial that
week. You cannot submit a summary on a set of readings the week after it has already
been covered in lecture – no exceptions.

Do not summarize videos, notes to videos or media clips.

Summaries are due at the start of your tutorial class the same week that the topic is
covered in lecture. Summaries will not be accepted if you are late for tutorial or at the
end of tutorial. Summaries are to be submitted by hard copy and NOT BY EMAIL, nor
are they to be dropped off at any department or office, in which case they will not be
accepted.

If you miss a week then just pick another week to hand in your summary assignment. Do
not pressure your TA or the Professor to accept late summaries, or to accept four
summaries in term two because you neglected to submit two summaries in term one.
Asking your instructor to make exceptions for you because you have procrastinated or
became ill at the end of term when you had planned to submit summaries is asking them
to compromise the integrity and equity of the course, and we will not make such
compromises under any circumstances. If you are ill and you fail to submit a summary
 7
no medical documentation or other excuse will suffice. Plan ahead and do summaries
early!

Students who ask to submit remedial work at the end of the course in order to make up
for missed summary submissions and/or poor performance on tests or tutorials will be
denied. The course is structured in a way that is fair to all students and making
exceptions will violate the integrity and equity of the course.

The point of the summary assignment is:

- to ensure that students are engaging with the readings on a timely basis, and
- to demonstrate your writing, citation and reading comprehension skills at the university
level

Summary assignments are not research essays so you are not to go beyond the
readings of this course. They are written summaries of the main points of the readings
where you are to identify the main concepts, ideas and issues presented in course
readings. Nor is your task to criticize the author’s ideas – simply identify what you feel
are the main points, concepts or themes in an article and relate them back in a way that
demonstrates you understand them, as if you were explaining the article to someone
else. If you want to mention how ideas in the readings relate to issues and themes in the
course you may do that as well.

How To Write Reading Summaries For This Course:

Your primary task for the reading summaries are as follows:
a) You are to re-present the ideas in the readings back by explaining them in your
own words or by citing the author directly. A combination of both is the best technique.
b) In addition to repeating the main ideas you are asked to add your own thoughts
by discussing why you feel the ideas are interesting or important or how you feel they
relate to issues in our society.

All good pieces of writing have a defined structure and clear organization and flow of
ideas. Just like when you are telling a story to a friend you start at the beginning and
then give details to explain further – good writing is the same way, it must flow logically,
and begin with the same points that the author begins with. The text should be 12 point
font single spaced with standard margins.

Cite the articles properly – do not plagiarize!

Begin the summary by stating in a sentence or two

- what the article is about,

- what the author is saying in general, or
- what issues are being discussed

Try to explain in your own words what the main ideas are. You can paraphrase and
quote directly but be sure to cite properly or it is considered plagiarism!*

When you quote an article simply do the following: As Bales states, “modern slavery is
characterized by…” (Bales, 2005: 13). All of the bibliographic information you need for
citations is contained in your course reading pack.

Summary Document Format

Include a separate title page with the following information:
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Title of lecture that the readings belong to, for example: Consumer Culture and The
Culture Industry

Summarized by: (Your Name, Student Number),

Submitted to: (name of your Teaching Assistant),

The date

Use page numbers starting with page 1 on the first page after the title page.

Staple it together before submitting it.

The title heading on the second page of your summary would be the title of the first
article you are summarizing. For example:

Richard H. Robbins. “Capitalism and the Making of the Consumer” from Global
Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, 2nd Edition. Allyn and Bacon. 2001.

Not:

HREQ 1040. Course Kit

Exact bibliographic listing is printed in the ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS page in your course

reading kit, which is three pages in from the start.

Divide your summary into separate sections for each article and then also into
subsections for each of them by using the same subsection title headings that appear in
the original article you are summarizing.

If the readings for the class you are summarizing include more than one reading then the
assignment should be divided into separately titled sections for each reading with the
reference for the reading at the start of each new section. If a class has three readings
this does not mean that you have to write three pages per reading, however if you want
to exceed the page requirement that is fine as long as you don’t make it too long beyond
2500 words.

If you are unsure about instructions just ask for clarification.

How do I choose which of the many points in an article to summarize?

Take a look at the start of the reading and figure out what the author is saying in general.
What does the title indicate? What are the main issues being discussed? This is easily
determined usually because the author will use subsection titles to organize their article
and these explain its content. Put the author’s thoughts and ideas into your own words
as best you can and cite their work directly when you find a clear passage that you want
to highlight. Quote directly if you feel the author gives a clear definition of an idea or
concept. The point is for you to summarize the main ideas by trying to put them into your
own words just as if you were explaining the article to someone else. It is a good idea to
discuss how ideas in the article relate to other ideas or themes in our course.
There is no way that you can include all of the ideas and points from lengthy
articles – you have to decide what to include based on what you feel is important or
compelling or what makes the most sense to you. Pick main themes and key concepts
and then some secondary information to explain further. Most of the readings
themselves are already organized into subsections so you should also approach the
 9
readings one section at a time. You do not have to summarize every section of each
reading – that will often be too much. When trying to decide if you should summarize a
point being made ask yourself the following: Does this point seem central to what the
article is about and does it make sense to me? Do I find it interesting enough to be able
to re-tell in my own words? If you find that a section of an article is confusing or difficult
for you to understand you can also state that and explain why.
You can read the material and do your summary at the same time or you can
read through, take notes and then write up your summary. It is up to you to decide
whether you want to focus on a few points and go into detail on them or focus on many
points and give only light details about them.
You do not need a formal introduction or conclusion of any sort – simply begin by
explaining what the article is about by describing the main concepts, concerns and main
ideas. The point of the exercise is for you to demonstrate your comprehension of the
course material, and not necessarily to critique it. No one is qualified to critique a point of
view unless they have fully understood that point of view.
You can say what you feel is important or problematic or interesting in the texts
you are summarizing and why you think this is so. This type of summary exercise gives
you important critical academic skills insofar as it teaches you how to identify main ideas
and extract such information from a scholarly article.

How are the reading summaries graded?

The reading summaries will be graded according to how well you follow the criteria
below:
- the clarity and precision of your writing and the accuracy of how you represent the
ideas in
the readings
- how well you are able to explain and identify the main concepts, themes and ideas
and connect them to other themes and concepts from our course
- all of the readings for that class are covered in the document that you submit
- the summary includes your name, the name of your tutorial leader, the date
submitted, page numbers, subsection titles etc. – basically how well you follow the
instructions listed in this syllabus
- the summary includes proper titles for each reading or chapter included in your
summary
- the quality of your writing, including punctuation, grammar and proper citation
style on quotes
- proper organization of writing through use of subtitles, proper titling and
citation
- how imaginative you are at connecting ideas together and explaining them back as a
flowing narrative
- the organization and flow of ideas

Your summary will be returned to you at the start of the seminar the week after it is
submitted with comments. Your graded summary will provide you with points of concern
so that these may be addressed or corrected by you in your future submissions in order
that your summary writing skills may improve and you demonstrate engagement with the
course readings.

Summaries are graded as: Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, Good and Excellent.

The written summary assignment grades will form part of your 20% tutorial grade.

If you do not perform well on the first summary but improve consistently on summaries
throughout the course the earlier low grade will not count against you. What we are
 10
looking for is a consistent improvement in writing quality so that by the end of the
course you are skilled at information extraction and accurate representation of someone
else’s ideas in written form.
Summaries are individual work projects NOT GROUP PROJECTS. DO NOT
submit any summary that has the same content as another student in the course as this
constitutes academic dishonesty.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
DO NOT PLAGIARIZE, COPY, OR SUBMIT SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK AS YOUR
OWN!! THERE ARE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES FOR PLAGIARISM & ACADEMIC
DISHONESTY.

If you are having trouble with your assignments please ask the Professor or your TA for
help and they will be glad to help you!

Student Code of Conduct Regarding Unacceptable Behaviour, Unreasonable

Demands, Aggression, Hostility and Harassment in the Teaching and Learning
Environment:

Your enrolment in this course constitutes a contract whereby you have agreed to
accept the dates and deadlines of tests and assignments and their terms, your
obligation in the tutorial component of the course, and other formal academic
requirements that are part of the course and are outlined in this syllabus. By
remaining enrolled in the course you agree to refrain from pressuring the course
instructor or teaching assistant to change or modify such terms or make any
demands that challenge the course instructor or assistants to compromise the
academic integrity of the course, or pressure them to violate the principle of
equity and fairness to all students in the course. This agreement extends to
include your right to be protected from unacceptable behaviour as well as to
refrain from engaging in unacceptable, aggressive or hostile behaviour towards
others, including students, instructors and staff. As detailed in part below the
University has established Codes of Conduct to which all members must abide:

The Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities requires students to uphold an

atmosphere of civility, honesty, equity and respect for others. This includes respect for
the perspectives of others even when there is disagreement, and a responsibility to
behave in a way that does not harm or threaten to harm another person’s physical or
mental well being.

Students and instructors are expected to maintain a teaching and learning environment
that is physically and emotionally safe and conducive to effective teaching and learning
for all concerned, and to be civil and respectful at all times within the learning
environment.

All members of the York community are expected to behave in a manner that does not
constitute workplace harassment. The term, “workplace harassment” means engaging in
a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker, instructor, teaching
assistant or a student that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome.

If activities cannot continue because of a disruption within or in the vicinity of a

classroom or other area where academic activities are conducted, course directors or
other supervisors shall determine the appropriate immediate response. Bearing in mind
the safety and security of all individuals, instructors shall take such steps as the
following: requesting that the disruption stop; briefly suspending activities; calling
campus security. Course directors or other supervisors shall inform the Associate Dean
 11
of their Faculty and chair of the applicable unit of any incident which has disrupted
academic activities.

Note that the University shall make reasonable and appropriate accommodations and
adaptations in order to promote the ability of students with disabilities to fulfill the
academic requirements of their programs. Students with special needs must take their
own actions to register themselves in a timely manner with the appropriate office.
www.yorku.ca/altexams

Derived in part and amended from:

http://secretariat-policies.info.yorku.ca/policies/disruptive-andor-harassing-behaviour-in-
academic-situations-senate-policy/

http://vpap.info.yorku.ca/guidelines-for-managing-disruptive-student-behaviour-in-
academic-settings/

http://secretariat-policies.info.yorku.ca/policies/workplace-harassment-policy/

Grading Scheme:

A+. 9. Exceptional - Thorough knowledge of concepts and/or techniques and exceptional skill or great
originality in the use of those concepts, techniques in satisfying the requirements of an assignment or
course.

A. 8. Excellent - Thorough knowledge of concepts and/or techniques with a high degree of skill and/or some
elements of originality in satisfying the requirements of an assignment or course.

B+. 7. Very Good - Thorough knowledge of concepts and/or techniques with a fairly high degree of skill in
the use of those concepts, techniques in satisfying the requirements of an assignment or course.

B. 6. Good - Good level of knowledge of concepts and/or techniques together with considerable skill in using
them to satisfy the requirements of an assignment or course.

C+. 5. Competent - Acceptable level of knowledge of concepts and/or techniques together with considerable
skill in using them to satisfy the requirements of an assignment or course.

C. 4. Fairly Competent - Acceptable level of knowledge of concepts and/or techniques together with some
skill in using them to satisfy the requirements of an assignment or course.

D+. 3. Passing - Slightly better than minimal knowledge of required concepts and/or techniques together
with some ability to use them in satisfying the requirements of an assignment or course.

D. 2. Barely Passing - Minimum knowledge of concepts and/or techniques needed to satisfy the
requirements of an assignment or course.

E. 1. Marginally Failing

F. 0. Failing