UCI Global Trafficking Universalism & Relativism & Child Sex Trafficking Discussion

Instructions for Assigned Discussion Posts

• Counts for 10% of your grade.
• Purpose: To assess your participation in the class and engagement with the course content.
• Each student has been assigned to post on the discussion board once in the quarter.
• Length: One short paragraph, 5-8 sentences (maximum).
  • Do not exceed this length.

What to post about:

• You will mainly be expected to respond to what was covered in lecture.
  • Respond to either or both lectures of the week.
• I will provide discussion prompts/ questions for each week, but you don’t have to restrict yourself to them. You can also post other (related) thoughts or questions, post links to related videos, podcasts, articles etc. you might have come across.
• Do not “summarize” the lectures. Discuss what you found interesting, what you learned that was unexpected, what you might disagree with in the material, what you want to understand better, etc.
  • If you are asking a question: Explain specifically and in some detail what you didn’t understand or were confused by.
• You will not be required to reference all of the reading for that week, but make sure to reference at least one.
• I need to see that you have at least grasped how that reading was explained in lecture.
• If it’s a week when a film was assigned, you still need to reference at least one of the assigned readings. i.e. You cannot substitute the film for a reading.
• I strongly encourage you to also respond to other group members’ posts, though you are not required to do so.

Guidelines for Discussion Board: Please be respectful, polite, sensitive, and calm in your posts. Our class includes sensitive topics such as race, class, gender, sexuality, immigration, and politics. To understand these pressing issues and how they shape trafficking and anti-trafficking, it is essential that everyone feel welcome to participate. We will not target or stereotype people, which means we trust each other not to make racist, sexist, classist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, or hateful comments of any kind.

GRADING

• You will be graded on the quality of your response. Merely doing the submission will not guarantee a good grade.
• Assigned Discussion Posts will be graded out of 10 points and will count for 10% of your assessment in this class.
• See grade scale and rubric on the next page.

Grade Scale

Grading Rubric

A+ Outstanding: Student has reviewed lectures, dipped into the reading, makes insightful comments/ asks engaged questions, draws interesting connections to other issues/ current topics, followed instructions for the assignment.

A Excellent: Student has reviewed lectures and at least references one reading from the week as covered in lectures, makes insightful comments/ asks engaged questions, perhaps draws interesting connections to other issues/ current topics, followed instructions for the assignment.

A- Good: Makes a couple of good points, but lacks clarity/focus, some error in following instructions.

B+ Average: Weaker version of A-.

B Okay: General response, vague or minimal engagement to the class, considerable error in following instructions, or substantial lack of clarity in writing.

B- Lacking: Weaker version of B

C Weak: General response with no connection to the class, demonstrates the student has barely skimmed the lecture (just wrote something for the sake of it), substantial lack of clarity in writing, barely followed the instructions, etc.

D Poor: Plagiarized, unconnected to the topic, complete lack of clarity in writing, did not follow the instructions at all, etc.

F Failed: No submission.

I will also upload materials provided,

and two videos:

1. http://www.kevinbales.net/videos.html

2.

Thank you!!