Paul Brandon wrote:
>
>
> In this case it does not appear that there was anything controversial 
> about what he was teaching.
> The only question is whether he was requiring specifics not specified 
> in the syllabus.

I guess my syllabi are going to become much, much longer now that I know 
that everything that I plan on teaching must be totally laid out in the 
syllabus in detail!  And forget about assigning that mind-blowing 
research article that comes out after the syllabus already has been 
distributed.  We certainly don't want students reading the research or 
even news articles that are hot off the presses ;-)

Perhaps, this is why I include the following statement on my syllabi: 
This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor's discretion. All 
changes concerning course requirements will be provided in writing. 
Changes concerning exam dates may be made at the instructor's discretion 
and communicated verbally to the class.

The latter is largely because of snow, flood, earthquake, and tornado 
days in St. Louis.  I should note that I rarely make any changes to my 
courses but there have been times when students have suggested some 
alternate forms of assessment and it was appropriate. This is 
particularly true for my peace psychology and political psychology 
classes where world events prevent unique opportunities for study and 
analysis.  It is also easy for me to do at Webster as all classes are 
capped at either 18 or 25 students with many upper division classes 
having a smaller number of students. It is a wonderful educational 
environment.

Best,

Linda


-- 
Linda M. Woolf, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychology and International Human Rights
Past-President, Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, & Violence 
(Div. 48, APA) <http://www.peacepsych.org>
Steering Committee, Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR) 
<http://www.psysr.org>
Secretary, Raphael Lemkin Award Committee, Institute for the Study of 
Genocide <http://www.instituteforthestudyofgenocide.org/>
Webster University
470 East Lockwood
St. Louis, MO  63119

Main Webpage:  http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/ 
<http://www.webster.edu/%7Ewoolflm/> 
[EMAIL PROTECTED]

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's (and woman's) best friend. . . .
Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."
                  -             Groucho Marx

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