PHIL3211 Philosophy of Law, OL 38, SP2021

Dear Class, 

This is a reminder that argument paper 3 is due tonight, before 6pm, on turnitin.com. You should be writing on either the reading by JS Mill or the one by Patrick Devlin. The assignment is the same as it has been in the past–you can see it under “Assignment Overview” here on OpenLab. 

See you tonight!

Best, 

Dr. M

Please check turnitin.com for grades. The papers were interesting, and I’m looking forward to finishing our discussion of property next Tuesday! 

Don’t forget to read my comments carefully, they should help you improve for the final paper, due a week from Tuesday. 

Best, 

Dr. MacDougall

 

Dear class, 

As we discussed last night, the readings for next class have changed. I have removed the reading by Wertheimer. Please just read the case, which we will discuss in class: 

Williams vs Walker-Thomas Furniture Co (1965)

See you next week!

Dr. M

Dear Class, 

This is just a reminder that Argument Paper 2 is due tonight, on turnitin.com, before 6pm. Remember, you are writing on EITHER the Locke or the Marx reading. You can see the assignment here: 

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/macdougallphil3211sp2021/assignments/

See you tonight!

Dr. M

 

Dear Class, 

This is just to remind you that Argument Paper 2 is due next Tuesday, before class! Please submit it to turnitin.com. It is the same assignment as last time (you can find details on the “Assignment Overview” page), but the readings are new. You will need to write on EITHER of the readings on property (either the one by Locke or the one by Marx), found in the schedule. Now is a great time to get started! 

Remember to review any comments I made on your last argument paper, and incorporate changes into the new paper if needed.

Let me know if you have any questions. 

Dr. M

Dear Class, 

I have finished grading for the first half of the semester. You can see your assignment grades from turnitin.com (for homework and papers) by visiting turnitin.com. You can see your midterm exam grade and other grades on Blackboard, by going to: Tools—My Grades. 

“Midterm Grades” reflect your performance in the class so far. These are based on all available grades up until now. You should receive one of the following letters: 

P: Passing (>65%)

BL: Borderline (55%-65%)

F: Failing (<55%). 

I strongly suggest arranging a meeting with me on Zoom if you received a BL or F. 

Please note that only about 42% of the points available for the semester have been determined so far. This means there is still significant opportunity to change your grade!

I have also added a category to the grade center for class participation. You can see the participation policy in the syllabus. These are percentages (so, a score out of 100). If your participation grade is low, it is usually because you are either not attending class (or in some cases you are coming late) and/or you are not verbally participating in class. Changing these patterns of behavior can significantly increase your score, and in many cases it is still possible to raise this score to 100%!

Please let me know if you have any questions. 

Dr. M

Dear Class,

Midterm grades are now posted!

You can see your score for the midterm by going to “Tools,” then “My grades.” You can see which answers you got wrong and right by clicking on “Midterm,” then clicking on the “Calculated Grade.”  

If your grade ends in .9999 or something like that, please round up to the nearest whole number. 

Let me know if you have any questions!

Dr. M

Don’t forget about the exam tonight. See the earlier post for details on the midterm, which will be available on Blackboard. 

Also, please remember to log in to our regular Zoom session by 7:20pm, when I will call roll. See you then!

Dr. M

Our Mid-term Exam is coming up next Tuesday, 3/23!!

The test will be 75 minutes long and will be administered on Blackboard. You should receive an announcement to your email at 5:00pm, when it becomes available. You can also find it under “Content” in Blackboard after 5:00pm. 

The exam is open book and open notes. I recommend that you study carefully for it by filling out the study sheet ahead of time. Most of the questions require understanding concepts, not simply repeating answers from the study sheet. I will be available in our regular Zoom forum or on email from 6pm on, if you need to contact me for some reason.

You can start it any time between 5pm and 7:20pm. However, please try to start by 6pm at the latest, so that you can take the full 75 minutes and still be on time to our 7:20pm session. I will take attendance for our class session on Zoom at 7:20pm sharp!

Do NOT plagiarize from the internet. Utilizing answers from class materials and lectures is acceptable. Plagiarism from the internet is grounds for a zero score on the test.

If you need a special exception you need to contact me. If for some reason you don’t contact me and also don’t take it at the appointed time, you will need a documented excuse (either medical or related to bereavement) for permission to take it at another time.

Don’t forget to download the review sheet and fill it out before the test! And let me know if you have any questions.

Dr. M

Dear Class, 

The midterm exam study sheet has now been posted. You can find it under “Exam study sheets,” or here.

We will go over this study sheet in the second half of class next Tuesday. Please fill it out ahead of class so that we can identify any questions that you are having trouble with. 

See you then. 

Best, 

Dr. M