All students are expected to respect the ideas, opinions, and comments of other students, the professor, and any guest speakers.

Students will be encouraged to think about their own cultural assumptions, explore the ways in which these differ from those held by others…

The classroom should be a place for passionate, engaged discussion. Everyone will be encouraged and expected to express views freely and to dissent with others, including and especially me. Everyone will also be expected to respect others’ rights to express themselves freely.

We will engage in critical yet respectful dialogue that values multiple perspectives. Your ideas, perspective and experiences are a valuable part of our course dialogue.

Class activities will vary day to day, including informative lectures, engaging simulations, thought provoking multimedia presentations, passionate discussions, and student centered group activities. You will be active participants in the course and much of the learning taking place throughout the semester will happen through interactions in the classroom. You need to ask questions, present your ideas, raise issues, and otherwise contribute to an informed and substantive classroom discussion, all the while respecting the ideas and worldviews expressed by students that may differ from your own.

Freedom of expression is at the root of academic discourse and the advancement of knowledge. This course will deal with a wide range of topics, some of which may challenge a student’s deeply held beliefs and perhaps even cause offense. While no topic will be censored simply because it has this effect, students are expected to treat the differing views of others with respect. While tolerance toward the opinions of others does not preclude expressions of disagreement, which are, indeed, encouraged, it does require that these expressions be based on the content of the ideas expressed and not on personal traits or values of the speaker. All class participants will be expected to tolerate the expression of opposing views and to engage in reasoned discourse about them.

I will endeavor to insure that the classroom is free of any conducts that has the purpose of effect of creating an intimidating or hostile environment. Furthermore, I will attempt to give each student an opportunity to express his or her own opinion and to treat student pinions with respect. Any student who believes that he or she has not been given adequate opportunity to contribute to class discussions is encouraged to bring this to my attention. Adapted from previous SPA syllabi