COURSE DESCRIPTION The International Studies Public Forum (ISPF) is a lecture series hosting speakers from UCI, from across the county, and from around the world working on international and global issues of public importance. Students, faculty, the UCI community, and the general public are welcome to attend. Students enrolled in the ISPF course are required to attend the lectures, ask questions of the speakers and write papers analyzing the lectures and associated readings. The course is designed to expose students to issues of international importance, to enhance their practical understanding of global issues, and to develop their ability to analyze and write about these topics. The course is required for the International Studies Major and the Conflict Resolution Minor. REQUIRMENTS · Follow international issues in a major newspaper (i.e., Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post); · Read the material posted on the course web site ahead of each forum; · Attend and participate in the introduction and wrap-up sessions, and five of the course’s six guest speakers (50 points); · Write five (5) papers of 500-600 words each (50 points). PAPERS For five of the six public lectures, you must write a 500-600 word essay (word count includes the title as well as the in-text citations, but excludes the header and the end-of-the-paper bibliography [if included]). Please double-space your essays. You will only be graded on five papers; if you write six, the last paper will not be graded. There is no extra credit for writing additional papers and no replacing the lowest grade with a sixth paper. Each week, before the week’s talk (around Tuesday), the TAs will post and/or send out a pre-talk comment to help prepare students for the upcoming talk (these comments are NOT the essay prompts). Shortly after the Thursday talk, the TAs will post and/or send out one essay prompt based on the pre-talk comment, which will ask students to present an original argument on the topic. Essays should effectively synthesize (and demonstrate understanding of) the content from both the talk and required reading(s). The objective of these papers is for you to critically engage with the substance of the course readings and the speaker's talk and make an argument.You will lose points if your paper does not make one clear, coherent argument. Each paper should draw on the presentation given that week and the associated readings; you will lose points if you do not draw on both. You do not need to draw on outside sources for your papers. However, you may want to consider the implications of what the speaker has said for issues that you have studied in other classes or that you are reading about in the news. If you do draw on outside sources, make sure you cite them properly. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and carries serious penalties. Concerning citation and references: · Please use in-text citation, following these formats · For lectures: .

1. COURSE DESCRIPTION
The International Studies Public Forum (ISPF) is a lecture
series hosting speakers from UCI, from across the county, and
from around the world working on international and global
issues of public importance. Students, faculty, the UCI
community, and the general public are welcome to attend.
Students enrolled in the ISPF course are required to attend the
lectures, ask questions of the speakers and write papers
analyzing the lectures and associated readings. The course is
designed to expose students to issues of international
importance, to enhance their practical understanding of global
issues, and to develop their ability to analyze and write about
these topics. The course is required for the International
Studies Major and the Conflict Resolution Minor.
REQUIRMENTS
· Follow international issues in a major newspaper (i.e., Los
Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post);
· Read the material posted on the course web site ahead of each
forum;
· Attend and participate in the introduction and wrap-up
sessions, and five of the course’s six guest speakers (50 points);
· Write five (5) papers of 500-600 words each (50 points).
PAPERS
For five of the six public lectures, you must write a 500-600
word essay (word count includes the title as well as the in-text
citations, but excludes the header and the end-of-the-paper
bibliography [if included]). Please double-space your essays.
You will only be graded on five papers; if you write six, the last
paper will not be graded. There is no extra credit for writing
additional papers and no replacing the lowest grade with a sixth
paper.

2. Each week, before the week’s talk (around Tuesday), the TAs
will post and/or send out a pre-talk comment to help prepare
students for the upcoming talk (these comments are NOT the
essay prompts). Shortly after the Thursday talk, the TAs will
post and/or send out one essay prompt based on the pre-talk
comment, which will ask students to present an original
argument on the topic. Essays should effectively synthesize
(and demonstrate understanding of) the content from both the
talk and required reading(s).
The objective of these papers is for you to critically engage
with the substance of the course readings and the speaker's talk
and make an argument.You will lose points if your paper does
not make one clear, coherent argument.
Each paper should draw on the presentation given that week and
the associated readings; you will lose points if you do not draw
on both. You do not need to draw on outside sources for your
papers. However, you may want to consider the implications of
what the speaker has said for issues that you have studied in
other classes or that you are reading about in the news. If you
do draw on outside sources, make sure you cite them properly.
Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated and carries serious
penalties.
Concerning citation and references:
· Please use in-text citation, following these formats
· For lectures: (Lafayette presentation, October 11, 2012)
· For all articles and books: (Lafayette 2011: 3)
· You do not have to include a bibliography if you only cite
course readings and lectures. If you cite other sources, please
include a bibliography with the full reference to the additional
books or articles that you cited. You may use any standard
format – MLA, APA, Chicago etc.. Please be consistent and use
page numbers.
You must upload your paper to the assignment dropbox on EEE
by 5pm on the Monday following each presentation. Please

3. send your assignments as Microsoft Word files. Other file
formats will not be accepted. We will use Microsoft Word’s
“Comments” feature to offer feedback and indicate the grade for
each assignment. An electronic copy of your papers will be
returned to you via the EEE dropbox. If you do not know how
to use Word’s “Comments” feature or are having trouble
viewing your comments and grades, please contact the TA.
GRADING
Students have the option of taking the class either for a grade or
as “pass/no pass.” You make this choice on WebReg when you
register for the course.
You are required to attend and participate in seven of the eight
class meetings.
Each paper is worth 10 points. You will lose one-half (½) of a
letter grade (½ point out of 10) if you hand in your paper after 5
PM on Monday, and will lose an additional one-half (½) of a
letter grade (½ point out of 10) for every additional day your
paper is late. The latest we will accept papers is 5 PM the
Friday of the week the paper was originally due.
All papers will be graded on the basis of your advancement of
one clear argument; how persuasive your argument is; how well
you use evidence; whether you consider alternative viewpoints;
how much knowledge of lectures and readings you demonstrate;
and your attention to detail. Please consult the grading
guidelines email (to be sent out separately) for more details on
how papers will be graded.
Common mistakes include: telling the reader what you “feel” or
“believe” rather than what can be demonstrated empirically or
logically, failing to anticipate obvious counter arguments, your
argument lacking a clear and logical progression, and sloppy
writing and grammar. (You can evaluate the readings and
arguments to which you are exposed in class on these same
parameters.)

4. Developing an argument in a 500-600 word paper is
challenging. Therefore, get to the point quickly. Don't spend a
lot of the paper summarizingthe readings or presentation – only
recap what is relevant to your argument. And don't try to say
too much – focus on developing a single argument well, as
opposed to making various different points.
Readings: The readings associated with each talk will be posted
on the course website each week. Reading and thinking about
these materials ahead of time will give you an introduction to
the topic to be covered, help you develop good questions to ask
the speaker, and help you perform better on your writing
assignments. Readings are REQUIRED.
The Fine Print
Please check the EEE assignment return drop box to view
comments on your returned/graded essays.
To maintain fairness, in cases of tardiness, absences, missed
assignments, etc. due to extenuating circumstances, we require
prior notice or notice immediately after the fact. In certain
cases, we may ask for supporting documentation.
Send general email questions or concerns to BOTH TAs and
reader(s).
Send specific grading questions and concerns to the GRADER
listed on the returned/graded essay.
It is your responsibility to periodically check your gradebook to
ensure that there are no discrepancies in your grade, and bring
any discrepancies to our attention as soon as possible; please
note that although attendance and speaker question grades may
not be compiled and posted until the end of the quarter, essay
grades will be posted as soon as they are graded.
Please utilize our office hours (to be announced) – no

5. appointments are necessary during these hours, so just drop by.
Due to the size of the class, we cannot accept and return rough
drafts through email, but drafts and ideas can be discussed
during office hours.
Academic dishonesty and plagiarism will not be tolerated, and
carelessness is not a justification; so if in doubt about whether
to cite a paraphrased idea, cite it. Carelessness/forgetfulness is
not an excuse for the improper usage of other peoples' ideas.
Please properly cite all sources you reference, and for details on
how to do this, please see the syllabus and consult the grading
guidelines.
3
S15 ISPF Rubric/grading guidelines
Main rubric criteria:
1) Cogency (Is the paper cogent? Is there a clear and well-
articulated argument?): 3 pts. total (poor: 1 pt., average: 2 pts.;
good: 3 pts.)
2) Synthesis (Does the essay adequately synthesize content from
both the required readings [some or all] and the talk? Outside
sources are not required, but students must at least draw on both
the assigned readings and the talk): 3 pts. total (poor/none: 1
pt., average: 2 pts.; good: 3 pts.)
3) Originality (Is the essay simply the regurgitation of
information, or is originality demonstrated and substantiated
with relevant information?): 3 pts. total (poor/none: 1 pt.,
average: 2 pt.; good: 3 pts.)
4) Length (word count from the title to the end of the essay

6. body, including in-text citations; does not include headers and
the end-of-the-essay bibliography if there is one): 1 pt. total
(500-600 words, 1 pt.; 450-499 and 601-650 words, 0.5 pt.;
<450 and >650 words 0 pt.)
***Please include your full name on your essays (not part of the
word count).***
Other deductions when applicable:
Proper references/citations: partial point deductions (up to 1
pt.) if there are inadequate or no necessary citations
If there are so many careless spelling, punctuation, etc.
mistakes that impede the reader’s understanding of the essay,
partial points will be deducted (up to 1 pt.). Points will not be
deducted for non-native English mistakes if it is evident that the
mistakes stem from English being the student’s second language
(and not carelessness).
Timeliness: partial point deductions for late submissions (up to
2 pts.) (e.g. -0.5 pt. if late [after 5pm] on Monday, additional -
0.5 pt. each additional day late until Friday after due date; up to
-2 pts. max [we will accept late papers until Friday at 5pm, but
timeliness will already be 0 pt. if submitted any time on
Thursday or Friday].
Max essay score: 10 points
Note: You may see something like this (below) on your
returned/graded essays (please check your EEE return drop box
every week to access and read our comments/feedback). The
numbers correspond to the criteria numbers above.

7. 1) /3
2) /3
3) /3
4) /1
Word count:
Additional deductions (if applicable)
References/Citations:
Spelling, punctuation, etc.:
Time stamp:
Total:
Comment(s):
Grader: