Participation emails to the professor <joseph.kunkel@notes.udayton.edu>, or in a few weeks as posted on WebCT, are due on most (ten total) Tuesdays. Check for an asterisk on assigned days in the course syllabus. For full credit your participation reflection must be posted before 11:00 a.m.on the assigned days; for partial credit it can be turned in later in the day of these Tuesdays--nine are due on Tuesdays and the last one is due on the Thursday after Thanksgiving. No credit is given for late entries, unless there has been a mechanical problem. See below for how the grading and extra credit aspect work.
    Under participation, students are expected to read the assigned readings either for the Tuesday in question or for the previous Thursday. If a significant part of the readings or follow-up discussions are unclear, then you may request a fuller explanation. Each participation reflection is to contain a single detailed question or statement that the student wishes to ask or state about the week's readings. Each question or statement should entail two average paragraphs to give proper background information perhaps with an example, and to adequately explain the student's concern or position. The best questions or statements normally relate to particular passages in the reading; accordingly students are asked to indicate the page number of the respective passage(s) on their participation reflections. Check the updated course syllabus on your professor's homepage if you are not sure what material is germane for a particular week's participation reflection. (The prof will try to update the syllabus, should we get behind in the class.) The questions are intended to be significant concerns more than answers, and if you know the answer, then the question is probably not too significant. Moreover, saying where you are helps to explain why the question or statement is of concern to you. Keep in mind too that this is a philosophy or ethics course, more than a political science course; we are more concerned with why actions are taken than with how they are carried out, although sometimes how military actions are carried out is germane to why they are done. These reflections let the professor (and later under WebCT the whole class) know what kind of interpretation others are giving to the material that is covered in class. The prof, in turn, will comment on themes running through the reflections during class. He will also reply to you via email if your reflections are subpar. (Otherwise you can see him after class every few weeks for an update on your participation grade.) In any case, save your responses in case you total up your term participation points differently in late November than does your professor.
     The first set of questions is due on Tuesday, August 30. The reference will be on the meaning of ethics and on Hobbes's view of power politics. There is no easy way to tell you what to write on a particular day. Each of you brings to class a particular set of views, beliefs, and convictions, ethical orientations, and attitudes about violence and wars. So speak from your center and say where you are on the issues before our class. Sometimes the professor will ask you to address a particular issue or question, instead of a reading. Such a question will be included on the syllabus a day or two before you are asked to comment. So always check the syllabus before posting your participation reflection.

Participation reflections will be graded on, first, what time they are turned in and whether they are apropos of the material assigned, and second, the quality of the way they are presented. The reflections will be assigned three points for having been sent before 11:00 a.m., and two points when sent between 11:01 and 12:00 midnight on the assigned days. The three points also presume that the content is relevant for the week's material that is under consideration. No points will be given for reflections that are sent later than the day assigned. The professor will also give 0-2 points for the quality of the reflections. One or two points will be given if a reflection is judged as significant by the professor. Of these quality points one will be the norm, and two points, very well done. Zero points will be given for okay or subpar reflections. Quality involves your grasp of power politics, the workings of various ethical systems, and your ability to logically critique a viewpoint. This is a course about the implications of power and ethics as applied to wars, violence, and terrorism, not about whether one or another candidate for the U.S. presidency has previously served his country well in one of our wars. So think about what you want to ask before writing out your question or statement. If you do poorly on several reflections, then please bring them to my office and we can discuss them together, so you approach future reflections in the same frame of mind as I do.
    In the course description handed out on August 23, participation is listed as totaling 30 points. So there is some leeway in the grading for participation as well as an opportunity to gain extra term points to offset a poor grade in one of your other course assignments. Students accumulating more than 30 points for the regular participation questions--each of ten reflections can earn as many as five points--may acquire 12 additional points (up to a maximum of 42 total points) as extra credit. No student will be given more than a total of 42 points for regular participation questions/statements (out of a possible 50 points) for participation for the entire term.
    Students are always asking, as the term goes on, whether they can do extra work to make up for a poor grade. Please note that the extra points for these reflections of questions/statements can be used to raise low grades for other assignments. For example, the grade for this course is based on a total of 200 points, of which you need 184 points for an A course grade, 180 for an A-, 176 for a B+, and 164 points for a B course grade. If you do poorly on a test or a paper you can redeem some of your lost points by using these extra participation points to raise your total grade 5-12 points. So do not take these weekly assignments lightly.
    The worst you can do is to sit out these reflections and get several zero grades. Since I intend to comment on reflections received before 11:00a.m., let me assure you that I do read them. If you think I am misunderstanding what you are saying and asking (in your reflections or in class) please come and see me. By participating in this part of the course you also allow me as the professor to hear what is standing out for you as a member of the class. Whenever I think most of you are not getting the point of the assigned readings I will further develop the respective ideas in class, even if I have to skip later material. (Hence too keep checking the syllabus before turning in your Tuesday reflections.) I will also repeat questions in class whenever I think the point needs to be further explained.