Professor Eve Darian-Smith
Dept. of Legal Studies 115 Gordon Hall 418 N. Pleasant Street 413-577-0614 darian-smith@legal.umass.edu
Professor Thomas Hilbink
Dept. of Legal Studies 110 Gordon Hall 418 N. Pleasant Street 413-545-2003 hilbink@legal.umass.edu
Office Hours:
Professor Darian-Smith -- Thursdays 10-12
Professor Hilbink --Wednesdays 3-5 (or by appointment)
Anna Curtis -- Tuesdays 2:30-4:30
Brittnie Aiello -- Tuesdays 12-2
WebCT Discussion Board
Now Open!
Paper One -- spring 2007
Paper Prompt (Paper is due at the start of class on March 6th)
Presentation on Paper Problems & Grade Scale (from 3/27/07)
Model Papers: one, two, three, four, five
Paper Two -- spring 2007
Paper Prompt (Paper is due at the start of class on April 10th)
12 Angry Men stage play (if you wish to quote from it in papers)
Grade Scale for paper and for course thus far
Papers:
We warn you at the outset (and you may have heard from others) that we are demanding graders, particularly on papers. Why? You are college students. If you don’t graduate with good writing skills, you have missed out on one of the most essential skills you are expected to have upon graduation (see the article we’ve included at the front of the reader if you don’t believe us). For those involved with the law, good writing is the difference between getting a job and not, between winning a case or not. Writing is the central form of communication in the law, and thus we emphasize it here.
What do we expect? Observation of basic rules of grammar, syntax, and style to begin with. But in addition, you should turn in well-structured, well-corrected papers that clearly state a thesis, defend that thesis with supporting arguments and evidence from the readings, and demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of the issues we are dealing with the course. You might find Kate Turabian’s book on writing helpful as a guide.
Rare are the students who can complete an acceptable paper begun the night before it is due, so keep up with the readings as we go and give adequate time to reflect, outline, draft, and rewrite all papers. We will facilitate this for you by giving a great deal of lead time, distributing writing assignments well in advance of their due dates.
Due dates are strict. Because we give lead time in distributing assignments, we will grant extensions only in cases of documented illness or death in the family. Penalties for late papers will be laid out in the paper prompts.
• Here's a helpful guide to writing research papers.
• Here's a paper that got 100%. Read and see what it is we're looking for. Here are two others (from spring 2006): one & two.
The Final Exam:
The final will be similar in format to those of the past (with the exception of the shorter essay questions, which will still be essays, but on different readings). We are posting past exams so that you can see what they were like and practice at home before the in class exam.
Fall 2004 exam
Spring 2005 exam
Model exam for spring 2005 (and another)
Fall 2005 exam
Spring 2006 exam
Model exams for spring 2006 (one and two)
Fall 2006 exam
Plagiarism and Other Forms of Academic Dishonesty
We have zero tolerance for plagiarism. Aside from the clichés about cheaters only cheating themselves, plagiarists are beyond contempt and should be treated as such. If you are caught plagiarizing you will automatically receive an F for the entire course and we will pursue disciplinary proceedings to the fullest extent allowed by University Policy. If you are unclear as to what constitutes plagiarism, consult the University Policies in the University Catalog: http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/code_conduct/acad_honest.htm
If you still aren’t sure, talk to one of us. If you’re writing a paper and think something might be plagiarism, assume it is. Knowing the law of plagiarism and other forms of academic honesty is your responsibility. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.
Extra Credit
You may earn up to ten percent of your total grade by attending talks/events related to law & society scholarship that will be presented around the Five College area this term. You must then write two-page reflection papers on the substance of the talk/event and relate it to themes and issues in the course. Each paper is equal to 5% of your total grade (and thus you can only get credit for two papers/talks).
Expectations
Do not simply write a summary of the talk (or article). We want you to engage with the substantive questions and issues raised by the talk, your reactions to it, and most importantly how you see the talk relating to themes in the course. In short, your paper should demonstrate that you can take the ideas discussed in class and apply them in a different context. Last term students made suggestions of talks to add to this list. We are open to suggestions. If there is a talk you would like to attend that you think is germane to the issues discussed in this class, please bring one of us a flyer, email, or other description of the event with time and place so that we may decide whether or not to include it on this list.
Grading extra credit
Your reflection papers will receive a check (4 points), check plus (5 points), or check minus (3 points) grade. You will not be able to do rewrites of these submissions.
Check Minus: A paper that simply recounts the substance of the events or offers a synopsis of the content will receive a check minus
Check: A paper that summarizes the content of the event and analyzes that content through the lens of the themes of this course will receive a check.
Check Plus: A paper that summarizes the content of the event, analyzes the content through the themes of this course, and pulls in discussions of course readings to further explore themes from the event, lectures, and reading, will receive a check plus.
• The extra credit assignments for this class must follow a specific guideline as outlined on this form.
• This is a talk reflection that is a model of what we expect on extra credit.