Final grades

have been handed in and should work their way through the system soon. Let me know if there are any problems.

It was an interesting term. I particularly enjoyed reading your exams, especially the final question.

Have a good summer and best of luck with future courses.

Final

In case you haven’t yet seen the schedule, the final exam for this class will be on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 7:00PM in WC31. As I said earlier, the format will be much the same as the mid-term (a mixture of types of questions; considerable choice) and you will be able to bring in one sheet of paper, 8 1/2 x 11 ”, written or printed on one side. I will schedule three hours but design it to be closer to two. You will have the extra time, though, if you need it.

We can talk more about it in the final class.

Exam grades

are posted on WebCT; we will go over the exam in class. Thank you for your patience.

There was a question from one of you after last class about the final, and I thought I would share it here: the question was about how much of the term work was to be covered on the exam: all, or just the second part. The specific questions will focus on the second part, though you will be expected to make connections with the course as a whole and when there is a choice of topics you are welcome to use material from the whole term unless it’s specified otherwise. So bottom line: focus on the second part of the term but don’t forget the course as a whole. The format will be similar to the mid-term: a mixture of short and long questions, with considerable choice.

Re. the last class: as you know I am making copies of The Laramie Project available for individual viewing, but that means that we will loose the possibility of having a group discussion of the film and related issues. I am happy to schedule a make-up class specifically for that purpose, if people are interested. Or, we could fold it in to the final class as you all will have had a chance to see the film by then. Let me know which option you would prefer.

Projects

Reminder: the group presenting on AIDS Awareness will have an invited speaker this Friday at 10am in the Whitebone Lounge. If at all possible please attend, and bring your friends (and could a member of the group contact me re. your A/V needs?).

The group working on  Transgender issues has released a pamphlet around campus (check the Women’s Resource Centre; they should have them) and has put together an informational website. Please visit and leave comments.

The second group working on Domestic Violence plans to put up posters next week, so keep an eye out. (The first group, as you know, had a guest speaker in January.)

The group (okay, the person) working on Date Rape will be putting out a pamphlet; further details to follow.

If I have left anyone or anything out, please let me know. I have been having some email problems and think I have missed some messages, so if you don’t hear from me in a timely fashion, send another message, speak to me, or post a comment to this blog.

To reiterate what was said in class,

a video and a DVD of The Laramie Project are both available for you to borrow (for anyone not in class today, the sound didn’t work well and the video was unwatchable; it should work, however, in a smaller, quieter setting). The film lasts about two hours; watch it when convenient but sometime before the end of term. Use the comments of this post to make arrangements to pick up and drop off the movie. Specify if you need one format in particular.

Changes

Dr. Chalmers has been called out of the province due to family illness, so I have had to rearrange the next two weeks of classes. Please check the schedule.

Opportunity to acquire culture and extra marks

As some of you might know, UNBSJ’s own Emily Davidson will be performing this week in Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. And next week — will the thrills never stop?!? — Drs. Bell, Goud, and I will appear, along with Tim Turnell, in Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit. Go and see both plays. That is the culture part.

Here is the marks part: mere attendance at the play will garner you 1 per cent added to your final grade for the course (2 plays = 2%). A short review of a paragraph or so, with an emphasis on gender, will garner you an extra point, for a total of two per cent (two plays = 4 %).

It’s win-win.

Exam format

The exam is organised as follows:

A. There are some terms to match (choose one term from one column and match it to the most appropriate term from the other column. Choose ten from a possible fifteen). Worth 10%.

B. Definitions (choose ten from a possible fifteen) . Worth 40%.

C. Short essay questions (choose two from a possible three; each question itself allows considerable choice). Worth 50%.

Remember, you can bring in one sheet of paper, 8 1/2 x 11 “, written or printed on one side.

You will have the whole class period to write.

Study link

Here is an abridged version of the script of the film we saw in class, Tough Guise, as a PDF file.

Two Decades on the Front Lines in the Struggle Against Domestic Violence

A public lecture by Susan Brasier

Friday Feb. 16th, 2007
4pm in HHLT

Free. All are welcome.

Ms Brasier, an attorney from Dayton, Ohio, has devoted nearly twenty years to work in the area of domestic violence, both representing victims in civil cases, and as a prosecutor. Approaches for the prosecution of cases in which the victims refuse to cooperate as well as policies and practices which she had developed have become widely used in Ohio, as a result of the training that Ms Brasier has done for the Ohio Attorney General’s office and various police and community associations. Ms Brasier also addresses domestic violence as a human rights issue and the hopes for safer, more peaceful, and more civil communities.

(Arrangements are being made for a group of students to meet with our speaker informally, probably over lunch on Friday. If you would like to be included, please let me know!)