Spring 1999
You will automatically logged on this term.
If you enroll and then decide not to take the class,
follow instructions below to log off class list.

LOGGING ONTO MAILING LIST

In order to be on the instructor's class roster, you must be registered on the class mailing list. Important information is communicated via the mailing list. The address for the Mailing List is:

soc257-relmov@virginia.edu

To get on the mailing list, address your request to: "owner-soc257-relmov@virginia.edu" and include the following in the order specified:

SUBJECT LINE: Subscribe Soc 257

LINE 1: You e-mail address [This should be your official address and not an alias]

LINE 2: Your full name

LINE 3: The following message: "I am enrolled in your Soc 257 course, New Religious Movements. Please include me on the class mailing list."

If you have tried to enroll in this class through ISIS and found the class is full, you can do two things: (1) before classes begin, continue to try ISIS, as someone may decide to cancel their enrollment; and (2) you many also send an e-mail message to the instructor and request to be placed on the waiting list.

The ISIS system will remain operative until the first class meeting. Thereafter, ISIS will be closed and the instructor will admit students on the waiting list as space is available. Address your request to be placed on the wait list to "hadden@virginia.edu" and on the SUBJECT LINE line write "wait list request Soc 257." Include your full name and e-mail address. If there is a long wait list, an e-mail message will be sent out before classes begin advising students of the chances of their being able to get into the class. Otherwise, plan to come to the first day of class. There will be a full presentation that will not be repeated. Students on the wait list who do not attend the first class will be dropped from the list.

IMPORTANT: At the end of the term (or if you drop the class) you are responsible for removing your name from the class mailing list. To do this, write to and send the following message:

unsubscribe soc257-relmov

Do not send your request to be removed from the mailing list to the instructor or the class mailing list.

UNIX ACCOUNT

You must have a Unix account to be enrolled in this class. Creation of a Web page is a central task for the course, and it cannot be completed without a Unix account. If you do not have a Unix account, you may register for an account on-line or you may go to the Help Desk in Wilson Hall (one floor down from the class room at the other end of the corridor). If you don't know whether you have a Unix account, fill out the short form to create a new account. If you already have one, you'll get a message back informing you that your account already exists. Any student who does not register for a Unix account before the third class session will be dropped from the class.

HOUR EXAM

Mastery of the conceptual material presented during the first two segments of the term is essential to understanding everything that follows. You may be able to obtain a passing grade by cramming for the exam, but mastery of the materials requires that you keep up with readings and the lecture notes. Both the readings and the lecture notes are available on-line. Both are essential to master the material that will be on the examination. More importantly, failure to master the material will handicap you in the preparation of your web page. You must be able to grasp the concepts to understand what you are looking for with your Internet searches and the writing of your material. So keep up with the readings. I recommend that you review lecture notes before class and then again after each class period. The mid-term hour exam is comprehensive covering both lectures and readings.

There will be no make-up exam. Persons with an excused absence (illness or family emergency) may be given (a) an oral examination, (b) additional work to demonstrate comprehension of the material, (c) additional questions on the final examination, or (d) all of the above. Which option(s) will be determined by the instructor. Persons missing the mid-term will be required to take the final examination. Unexcused absences count zero for 20% of the course grade. Similarly, unpledged work will not be graded and will count zero. In most instances, a person with an unexcused absence or an unpledged exam will be counseled to withdraw from the course. CHECK YOUR CALENDAR. If you have a conflict with another course, extracurricular activities (including varsity athletics), or discretionary plans on the date of the mid-term, you should not be in this course!

ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION:

University policy specifies that class attendance is a vital part of the education process. Most of the lectures are available for viewing on the class home page.

Attendance will be taken each day (except when the instructor forgets to pass the roll) and it is your responsibility to sign in. Attendance will count 15% of your total grade. Perfect attendance will be rewarded with a 100; 1-2 absences will result in a loss of 4% of your attendance grade per absence; 3-4 absences will result in 5% reduction in your grade and, each absence beyond four will result in a 6% loss for each absence in the course.

"Excused" absences are not normally considered, but if you have extended health related absences or family emergencies, it is appropriate to call them to the instructor's attention. The instructor will take this information into consideration when reviewing your final grade. The best way to assure that this information does not get misplaced is to send an e-mail message. In the case of prolonged illness or family emergencies, it is important that you communicate this information to your Association Dean and request the he or she advise me and your other instructors of your status. If too much work is missed, it may necessary for you to drop the course

Absences for participation in athletic or other university events are not excused absences for this course. This is not to discourage students from paraticipation in extracurricular activities.

TERM PROJECT: WEB PAGE DEVELOPMENT

The Internet contains a vast reservoir of information from which we can learn about religious movements. Much of this information is still not well organized and, hence, not easily accessible. Over the past several semesters, the creation of Profiles of many religious movements by students of this class has contributed significantly to organizing web resources about religious movements. We plan to continue working on this task for several semesters. In developing a Web page, you will be contributing to this important task of bringing order to the Internet. The term project will also help you achieve four important personal learning goals:

1. develop the skills required to be a sophisticated user of the Internet;

2. enrich your knowledge about a specific religious movement; and

3. apply the conceptual/theoretical knowledge you will learn in this class to the group you study; and

4. acquire the basic skills necessary to build your own web page.

The large majority of the Profile pages on this web site were created by students in this class. With only a few exceptions, when the students began their project, they were neither familiar with the group they researched, or with web page construction. The substantive quality of the pages has varied, but no student has failed to master the technology of creating a web page.

Several factors are important for creating a quality web page: (1) an early start in locating a group you want to learn more about; (2) a desire to develop your knowledge of, and skills to effectively use the Internet; (3) a willingness to take the time and accept the challenge to master substantive information about the group you choose.

This course is not recommended for students who are merely looking for an elective and lack the interest and motivation to do independent research on a religious movement and learning electronic communication skills.

Benchmarks for Web Site Development

Below is a schedule of the benchmark dates for the web site development. It is important that complete the homework assignments associated these benchmarks on schedule:

Jan 21

Brief overview of the term project in the introductory remarks at the first class meeting.

Jan 26

Guided tour of the class web page and internet materials. List of religious movement groups that we'll be developing pages on this term will be distributed. You should begin your examination of web materials available for groups that may be of interest to you. Groups will be assigned on a first come, first assigned basis. To claim a group send an e-mail message to the instructor. The subject line of your message should read: "Claim: [name of group]" Failure to follow this procedure could result in someone else being assigned a group that is of particular interest to you.

Jan 28

Deadline for establishing UNIX account if your don't already have one.

Feb 2

Information on preparing your prospectus (term project proposal) will be posted on this page. A few minutes of class time will be devoted to showing you other resources for developing your web site.

Feb 11

Deadline for claiming a group. Students who have not claimed a group will have one assigned by the instructor.

Feb 16

Confirmation of your web page project. Hand in a list of URLs and a print bibliography which demonstrate that you have located sufficient materials to permit you to proceed with the project. Submit materials in a minila folder with the name of the group written on the tab and your name and e-mail address on the outside of the folder. The contents of the folder should be organized in the following order: (1) a printed list of URLs [organized hierarchially from pages of greater to lesser significance]; (2) a printed bibliography of items you believe will be helpful to your research [these need not be organized alphabetically, but use an *, a highlighter pen, or some other means to single out items that seem of particular interest to you]; and (3) a print out of the front page of each URL that you have located for the group [submit in the same hierarchially order as the printed list of URLs].

You will receive freeback your submission, but these materials will not be returned. They will be the instructor's baseline information to assess how well you follow-up on your initial work.

Feb 23

Workshop on web page development. You'll be creating your own web page in class today. To successfully accomplish this, you will need to prepare your materials before class time. Written instruction will be posted as to what you should prepare and how to accomplish this. Bring this information in both hard copy and on a clean floppy disk. For those few students who do not get their web page launched during class, they will need the disk to save their work.

Feb 23-26

Extended office hours for students who need assistance with developing HTML skills or with uploading material to their Web page.

Mar 4

Prospectus and Draft Profile Page due by not later than 5 p.m. for your term project. Submit this assignment by uploading it along with your Draft Profile Page to your web site. The Prospectus should follow the Draft Profile Page. Create a link to the Prospectus at top of the Draft Profile just beneath the navigation tool bar.

When you have successfully completed this task, advising your instructor by e-mail. So that your work doesn't get lost amidst ohter mail messages, use the following protocol for your subject line: "257 UP [you're last name]." The message should include: Line 1: your name;
Line 2: the name of your group and;
Line 3: the URL of your page.

If you need to communicate additional information, leave a couple of spaces and then add it beneath this information.

This is the most important milestone in the development of your term project. Specific instructions for the preparation of the prospectus are available on the class page (they will be updated and announced here and by an e-mail message ont he class list).

To properly prepare your prospectus, you will need to have identified the information required to complete most of the basic profile for your group, located significant web sites and print bibliography. In addition, it is important that you will present a discussion of additional work you plan to do. The Prospectus communicates to me that you have gone beyond merely filling in information in the Draft Profile to explore resources and consider what needs to be done to create a page that exhibits excellence.

This will count for 10-15% of your total grade. You will receive written feedback, and a provisional grade. It is provisional pending final submission of your work. Students who respond positively to critique may have their provisional grade adjusted upward. Students who excell at this point can both lock in a proportion of their grade and, at the same time, be in a position to have their grade adjusted upward if the final product so warrants. Students who fail to take the feedback seriously should recognize that they have received an early warning that their work is not satisfactory. A low grade can be offset substantially if the final product achieves excellence.

March 23

Feedback on prospectus. Most students will receive written feed-back on the Draft Profile and Prospectus. Occasionally, there may be compellings reasons to review your work in a personal consultation. If students who definitely plan to work on their project over Spring Break will notify me when they submit their Prospectus, I will make every effort to get comments back before the break.

PROJECT SUBMISSION AND FEEDBACK DATES:

Three dates are offered for the submission of your project which I have identified as "Invited" (April 15), "Requested" (April 22) and "Required" (April 29).

This staggered submission serves several important functions. First, it provides students who get on top of their work early an opportunity for feedback which, if followed, will improve the quality of their product and result in a higher grade. The fine tuning that occurs as the result of feedback is often the difference between a good and an excellent page. Second, spreading the work out over several weeks allows your instructor more time to carefully evaluate and prepare feedback that would not be possible if all the projects were due near the end of the term. The penalty for failing to submit early is that you forfeit the opportunity for this feedback.

April 15: Invited

Students who have completed their web page project are invited to submit their work on this date. Materials submitted on or before this date will receive feedback by not later than April 22. On occasion, the feedback will be "congratulations, your project is accepted as is." Most students can expect to receive some recommendations for improving their product. Usually, early work is good work and does not require extensive reworking. Final submission will be due on the last day of class (May 4) Early submission is intended for completed work; interim submission for the purpose of receiving feedback on unfinished work is not appropriate.

April 22: Requested

Students who submit their final product on this date will receive feedback not later than the last day of classes (and hopefully sooner). If the revisions recommended should require more than a few hours, I'll work out a final due date during the exam period on an individual basis.

April 29: Required

Students submitting on this date are not entitled to the benefit of feedback and resubmission, although projects received at this time may be returned for additional work as a condition of acceptance. Failure to submit by this date may result in a significant late penalty.

PROJECT EVALUATION:

Three criteria will guide the grading of your term project: (1) substantive content, (2) technical presentation, and (3) comprehensiveness. In addition to following the criteria spelled out below, it is recommended that you carefully review the memos available on SOC 257 HTML Resources Page as they contain additional information regarding expectations.

Substantive Content:

Contents must be complete, clearly written, and carefully documented; contents of link abstracts should be appropriate; bibliography should reflect a grasp of significant resources available.

Technical Presentation:

Carefully following presentational format; completing metaatags, development of appropriate links in the profile text; external links should all be in working order; successful uploading of your page to your own web site; and a copy of the same version of the site in hard copy and an archive copy on a new disk which contains no other information.

Comprehensiveness:

There will necessarily be an element of subjective appraisal here. I will not likely know everything that is out there on the Internet about your group. The information is much richer for some groups than others. If I think you work is thin and quickly locate resources you have missed, you'll be graded down on comprehensiveness. On the other hand, if there are not many resources for the group you selected, you'll not be graded down for this. Assessing comprehensiveness is also a matter of how creatively you used the resources available. (See: Synchronicity Meditation for an example of very creative use of limited resources).

GRADING YOUR PROJECT

1. Including the project prospectus, your web project will account for somewhere in the range of 35-55% of your total course grade.
2. The instructor reserves the right to determine that some projects do not warrant a full 55% of the student's grade. (This advice might be forthcoming if it becomes evident that there simply is very little information either in print, or on the web to do a good job with a particular group. It is not the responsibility of the instructor to warn a student that his of her effort does not merit maxium credit).
3. Accept as noted above [2], it is the student's responsibility for deciding what proportion of their grade should be allocated to their web site work
4. Your prospectus will count for 10%-15% of your total grade. This grade will include an assessment of the Draft Profile and Prospectus submitted (provisional grade) and a determination of how well you responded to the critique in your final product.
5. Failure to respond to criticism and constructive suggestions offered in the written comments on your prospectus submission will negative impact the final grade.
6. There will be no provisional grade for early submissions, but I will be happy to discuss my assessment of your work if my written comments have not provided adequate guidance.

FINAL EXAMINATION

A final examination will be given for this course, but individual students will have the option of earning adequate credit to satisfactorily fulfill the requirements of the course without taking the final. [See: "Final Grade Determination" below for details on how you can elect not to take the final]. The final examination will be comprehensive of the course and will include both objective and essay components. As long as an examination has to be given, I have no personal stake in what you do, but my recommendation is that you invest your time and intellect earlier in the semester so that you can earn the grade you aspire to achieve without having to cram for a comprehensive final examination.

CREDIT-NO CREDIT OPTION

University regulations permit individual instructors to determine what level of performance constitutes a passing grade for students electing the credit/no credit option. To receive "credit" for this course, a grade of 75% or greater must be earned on the mid-term examination and the student must satisfactorily complete the Web site development project. "Satisfactory completion" is operationally defined as authoring a page the instructor judges as worthy of being uploaded to the class site. It is highly recommended that students electing this option consult with the instructor before claiming a group for Web page development.