1	Analyse the major concepts and debates in political thinking relating to political ideology and discourse
2	Understand the relevant social, historical, economic, and international context in which those debates occur.
3	Understand the role ideology and discourse play in shaping and constraining real world political and policy options.
4	Understand a range of approaches to issues of ideology and discourse and reflect critically on the character of political concepts and issues
5	Engage confidently in written and oral public debate in a range of social and cultural settings
6	Communicate and cooperate in a range of group activities
7	Undertake independent research in the field of ideology and discourse
8	Produce analytically sophisticated, well substantiated and cogently argued written material

There is no suitable textbook. We produce Politics, Ideology & Discourse Tutorial Readings. These can be purchased via  the university's online shop.

There is an extensive Reading List available on MyUni, which also provides key information regarding how to find additional sources.

Copies of lecture slides and recordings, the course Reading List and some additional materials will be posted on MyUni.

The key teaching & learning mode is lectures supported by problem-solving tutorials developing material covered in the lectures via a process of analysis, discussion and debate.

Students undertaking a Humanities and Social Sciences subject such as Politics, Ideology and Discourse are expected to spend at least 156 hours work per semester on the subject, of which 36 hours are allocated for attending classes (lectures and tutorials). So that leaves 120 hours to be allocated to this subject across the semester. We would expect students to spend approximately 2-3 hours each week preparing for their tutorials (say 33 hours in total). We would expect students to spend at least 10 hours researching and answering their bibliographic assignment (it may be more depending upon the difficulty of your topic and how advanced you are with your essay preparation – remember this work feeds directly into your major essay but is only meant to be an initial go at looking for sources). That leaves approx. 77 hours, of which we suggest approximately 27 hours should be spent researching, thinking about and writing your tutorial paper and approximately 50 hours should be spent researching, thinking about and writing your essay (though less if you spent more time on your bibliographic assignment). Precisely how you break those figures down further will depend upon your topic, the speed with which you write etc.etc.. However, do allocate sufficient time to polish your written drafts. How much time you spend in particular weeks will also depend on your other commitments but we would urge you to spend at least some time every week in finding and collecting research material for your written assignments.

These figures can only be approximate and you should use your own judgment. However, they do at least give you some idea of the time commitment we expect from you. Note that we expect full-time students to be organising their employment and leisure activities, as much as possible, around their university commitments – not the other way round! In particular, we suggest you work out a careful plan for the semester which allocates your time in advance and takes into account that many of your final assignments, exams etc will invariably be due around the same date.

Schedule (provisional, see MyUni) Lecture                        Tutorial

Week 1	Intro & key ideologies- e.g. variants of liberalism (from social to neo), socialism and social democracy and radical islamist thought.	No Tutorial. Learning Task: Reading Course Outline; materials on My Uni and tutorial reading for week 2.
Week 2	Ditto	Key ideologies as per lectures
Week 3	Critique of capitalist Ideology - Marx	Key ideologies as per lectures
Week 4	Discourse & Power - Foucault	Capitalist Ideology & its critics – from Marxist to social democratic ideology
Week 5	Towards Better Communication - Habermas SGDE activity facilitated by Course Coordinator	Discourse & Power - Foucault
Week 6	Postmodern critiques - Lyotard	Towards Better Communication - Habermas
Week 7	Critique of ideology & discourse – feminist & queer critiques	Postmodern critiques - Lyotard
Week 8	Race, ethnicity, religion & constructions of the ‘other’	Critique of ideology & discourse – feminist & queer critiques
Week 9	Ideology, discourse & environmental critiques.	Race, ethnicity, religion & constructions of the ‘other’
Week 10	Further contemporary theoretical developments	Ideology, discourse & environmental critiques.
Week 11	Revision & Essay preparation. SGDE activity facilitated by course coordinator.	Further contemporary theoretical developments: The case of 21st century technology.
Week 12	Coordinator available in her office for indivdiual Essay consultations	No Tutorial, Learning task: working on major essay.

TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY and attendance in your group is included in your tutorial participation mark. If you do not attend regularly, your tutor can refuse to accept your essays and tutorial papers so that you fail the subject. If you miss more than two tutorials per semester, you should give your tutor an adequate explanation in writing (e-mail is a good form) or marks will be deducted from your tutorial participation grade. If your tutorial attendance is poor, your tutor will give you a low mark for tutorial participation, even if they do allow you to submit work.

Two Small Group Discovery Experience sessions, facilitated by the Course Coordinator, will occur in the lectures in weeks five and eleven. The first session is designed to assist you in understanding key concepts in the course, e.g.  regarding the barriers to, and possibilities for, improving political communication. The second focuses more directly on research skills, e.g. how to find and assess quality resources for your major essay. Neither will be assessed. Students wil also be encouraged to participate in SGDE exercises during selected tutorials and these  will be able to contribute towards a student's tutorial participation grade. 

ASSESSMENT TASK	TASK TYPE	WEIGHTING	COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Tutorial Participation	Formative and Summative	10%	1,2, 3,4,5,6
Bibliographic exercise	Summative	5%	1, 2, 3, 4, 7
Tutorial paper	Summative	30%	1,2,3,4,5,7,8
Essay	Summative	55%	1,2,3,4,5,7,8

Students are required to produce 1 bibliographic exercise, 1 essay and 1 tutorial paper. These are all summative forms of assessment i.e. contribute to your final result in this subject.

Tutorial participation - 10% 
Source/Bibliography exercise – 5% (Due beginning week five, exact date on MyUni).
Tutorial papers - Approx 1,250 words, 30% (Due one week after verbal presentation, except that students undertaking the first and second topic presentations can have up to two weeks).
Essays (Research Projects)- approx. 3,250 words, 55% (Due Swot week, exact date on MyUni).

Further information regarding your bibliographic assignment, tutorial and essay (research project) topics will be posted on My Uni.

A lengthy Reading List will also be available on MyUni 

Please note that the above word lengths DO NOT INCLUDE your footnotes and bibliography.

Students should aim to meet the above word lengths, however, they are only approximate. Nonetheless, it is most unlikely that a piece of work substantially under these lengths would be of adequate standard. Note that this course does not have a policy of automatically deducting marks for students who go over the word length for the above assignments. However, marks will be deducted if e.g. students “waffle” and do not have a tightly structured argument. We will also endeavour to ensure that students who go massively over the word lengths are not unfairly advantaged over students who have kept to the above word lengths.

See later in this outline for information regarding the grading system used and what to do if you disagree with a mark.

You'll find information regarding citation styles, footnotes, quotation marks, plagiarism etc. later in this outline.

You’ll also find information regarding how to submit work, apply for extensions and penalties for late work on MyUni.

TUTORIAL ATTENDANCE IS COMPULSORY and attendance in your group is included in your tutorial participation mark. If you do not attend regularly, your tutor can refuse to accept your essays and tutorial papers so that you fail the subject. If you miss more than two tutorials per semester, you should give your tutor an adequate explanation in writing (e-mail is a good form) or marks will be deducted from your tutorial participation grade. If your tutorial attendance is poor, your tutor will give you a low mark for tutorial participation, even if they do allow you to submit work.

INFORMATION ABOUT TUTORIALS

Tutorial participation - role of all students in group: All students are expected to read the tutorial reading for each week and to participate in the general discussion on the topics covered in those readings. It is not sufficient to just talk generally about the topic in tutorials, you also need to show your tutor that you have read the readings for that week and can critically engage with them. In addition, every student attending a tutorial should come to the tutorial prepared with either (a) a brief (i.e. two to three line) written comment on one of the tutorial readings or (b) a written question arising specifically from one of the tutorial readings — and be prepared to elaborate on this in class. Normally you will just be expected to incorporate these in your spoken contributions but you may be asked to hand the written document up, so please have your name on top in case. 
 
Remember tutorial attendance is compulsory.


Role of the student presenting the tutorial paper: In addition to participating in tutorials, you will be required to produce one tutorial paper per semester. Tutorial questions will be allocated in the first tutorial of the semester, so come with preferences worked out.

Once you are allocated a question it is your responsibility to do two things, one as part of a small group and one individually:

(1.) You and the other students presenting that week need to work together, in a small group,  to develop a group verbal presentation that introduces the discussion of the tutorial question/questions to the class (needless to say you are welcome to use powerpoint slides etc if you wish). Your group presentation should take no longer than ten minutes at the absolute maximum Your group presentation should take no longer than ten minutes at the absolute maximum and all members of the group should have an active part in the presentation. Note that your tutor will tell you to stop the presentation mid-stream if it goes too long. Your group can: (a) discuss main points (b) organise a tutorial discussion around 4-6 sub-questions arising from the tutorial question and which you wish the tutorial to address (c) read out sections of a group presentation (d) allocate differing political positions for other students and your tutor to role-play or (e) some combination of the above (e) design a form of Small Group Discovery Experience. Whatever you decide to do, the point of your group verbal presentation is to try to stimulate an interesting exchange of information and views. 

Your verbal presentation may influence your tutorial participation mark (but note that the latter is assessed taking into account your participation in all tutorials during the semester – and an excellent presentation will not stop you being marked down for poor participation in other classes).

(2.) You are required, separate from your  group work above, to produce an individually  written tutorial paper which should take the form of a formally written short essay, answering the tutorial question you have been allocated for that week.

The written paper should be handed up within seven days after your group's verbal presentation. See the submissions sectionand My Uni  for details of how to hand work in, extensions and penalties for late work. See the assessment summary section  for word length.

However, students whose tutorial topic is scheduled for close to the end of semester are welcome to hand their paper in before the presentation if they wish in order to receive feedback early  (and that will be taken into account when assessing it). 

Tutorial papers should be based on wider reading than just the set readings for that week — see the reading list on MyUni. Remember that the tutorial paper is worth 30%. Tutorial papers or essays handed up without proper footnotes will not normally be accepted for marking. If the lack of referencing constitutes plagiarism (see later in this outline), the work will be dealt with following the procedures set out in the university’s plagiarism policies/guidelines. It is your responsibility to provide proper referencing as set out in the Essay Writing Instructions that are mentioned above — indeed that is one of the things you are being assessed on.

TUTORIAL SCHEDULE AND QUESTIONS

A detailed list of tutorial questions will be available on MyUni and will be reporduced in the front of the Tutorial Readings.

Two copies of the Tutorial Readings will be available on Reserve (the number is limited by library policy).

NOTE THAT THE RELEVANT LECTURES FOR A TUTORIAL TOPIC ARE NORMALLY GIVEN THE WEEK BEFORE THE TUTORIAL. HOWEVER, SOME RESCHEDULING MAY BE NECESSARY TO FIT IN GUEST SPEAKERS.

Don’t forget the Reading List on My Uni!!!!!


INFORMATION ABOUT ESSAYS/BIBLIOGRAPHIC ASSIGNMENT
INCLUDING DUE DATES AND PENALTIES FOR LATE WORK.

The Sources/Bibliographic assignment is due to be handed in by the beginning of week 5 (exact date on My Uni). You will find an electronic copy of the assignment posted on MyUni. Assignments should be submitted as set out in the instructions on My Uni.

You should obtain a copy of the a copy of the Politics and International Studies Department's Essay Writing Instructions from the Department's website before starting work on your assignment, essay and tutorial paper and should read it again before you start writing. Please note that we require footnotes, rather than the Harvard (brackets) system in this course, because footnotes are easier for markers to consult and work better for citing politicians’ speeches and government documents (e.g. you may be citing large numbers of speeches by a politician that were produced in the same year, so the author/date system is difficult to use).

The DUE DATE for essays is during swot week (exact date on My Uni). See the submissions section for information on method of submission, how to apply for an extension and penalties for late work..




ESSAY AND TUTORIAL PAPER WRITING, CITATION, REFERENCE AND PLAGIARISM ISSUES

REFERENCES
The Politics and International Studies Department's Essay Writing Instructions, available from the Department's website, give full details of how to use other people's material properly and how to avoid plagiarism. I will also post additional information on My Uni. (Note that we require students to use footnotes as their referencing system in this course, rather than the Harvard system of references in brackets, because that is easier for marking and better for citing sources such as politicians’ speeches  — see above. However, you may use short titles for subsequent references, rather than op.cit or ibid. if you wish) i.e. author’s surname, short title, p. no (as long as your first footnote gives the full details) as per below:

For example, the first reference would be

Julia Baird, Media Tarts: how the Australian press frames female politicians. Melbourne: Scribe 2004, p. 10


Subsequent references

Baird, Media Tarts, p. 12


Please include a separate bibliography of references cited – you can also add a separate list of references consulted but not cited if you wish.

When citing internet sources please give as much of the following information as possible: author and/or organization , title, organization/publisher, date of speech or document if available, web address, date you consulted the source.

If you have queries regarding how to cite material that are not answered by the above, please consult Snooks & Co, Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 6th edn, rev (Snooks & Co., John Wiley & Sons, Canberra, 2002).

PLAGIARISM
Plagiarism is a very serious offence and involves major integrity and academic honesty issues. It is the academic equivalent of fraud, e.g. embezzling funds, and is treated accordingly. We need to be able to assess how well YOU have understood material; how well YOU can write and argue etc. — not how well the person you have ripped off can do these things. (In other words, the specific way in which a person combines words reveals their knowledge and expertise. Those specific combinations of words belong to them. The original ideas they develop also reflect their abilities. The facts they have collected reflect their hard work. So you need to use the proper way of acknowledging whenever you are knowingly using somebody else’s words, ideas, or facts). Plagiarism is also treated so seriously because it can falsely increase a student’s marks. Plagiarised work will be dealt with according to the strict procedures set out in the University’s plagiarism policies/guidelines – see www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/230

Plagiarism generally takes two main forms. The first form is copying the work of other students and we have various checks to guard against this possibility. The second form is copying the work of authors published in print or electronically. Please note that all quotations (i.e. use of someone else's words) must be surrounded by quotation marks or clearly indented, as well as acknowledged by footnotes. Using footnotes alone, without quotation marks or indentation, still constitutes full plagiarism and will be treated accordingly. Use of other people's ideas, figures etc. must be acknowledged by a footnote even if you are not quoting directly (see Politics Department Essay Writing Instructions for details).

Ignorance is not a sufficient excuse. It is your responsibility to ensure that you don't plagiarise. It is part of our assessment requirements that you know how to acknowledge sources properly. If you have any doubts about what constitutes plagiarism (or other forms of cheating) ask your tutor/lecturer. If you are seriously behind with your work or unable to understand things NEVER resort to plagiarism. Ask your teachers for help instead. If you come to us, we’ll do our best to help you get through. We are happy to assist students who ask us for help. We are definitely not happy to waste many hours, or even days, tracking down the sources of people who are trying to dishonestly increase their marks by cheating.

The high reputation of a University of Adelaide degree depends on us taking a strong stand against plagiarism and in supporting academic honesty. Doing so not only protects honest students from unfair competition, it also ensures the quality and high status of your degree.



WHAT WE LOOK FOR WHEN MARKING ESSAYS AND TUTORIAL PAPERS
(THIS WILL BE ELABORATED UPON IN LECTURES AND TUTORIALS)

Essays and tutorial papers should:

· Reveal very wide reading (even more for big essays than tutorial papers). Make good use of both primary sources (e.g. actual examples of liberal ideology, the writings of key thinkers ebing analysed such as Marx, Foucault, Lyotard) sources from politicians and secondary sources (e.g. analyses by academics).

· Reveal your ability to find the information you need by using library and other sources. (Good library research skills are essential , see reading list on MyUni for assistance).

· Reveal the ability to assess the reliability and quality of different types of information e.g. material from internet commentaries, media sources etc as opposed to good quality primary or secondary sources (many of which are available online).

· Be substantiated with evidence, examples, footnotes. We need evidence - not assertions.

· Show that you know how to use the scholarly conventions properly e.g. how to use footnotes, cite quotations etc.

· Be in your own words except for judicious use of acknowledged quotations. Never plagiarise (see previous page in course outline).

· Be clearly argued. We want your own, well substantiated views showing your ability for original, independent thinking and analysis.

· Analyse a range of views.

· Be polished. Write more than one draft!

· Reveal knowledge of relevant background material covered in a wide range of lectures e.g. how different views studied in the course impact on your topic.

· Generally reveal the relevant skills outlined in the Course Learning Objectives and Graduate Attributes.

.
ESSAY (RESEARCH) – RANGE OF TOPICS


Students must do their tutorial paper and essay on substantially different topics. In other words, you cannot do both on globalisation, or both on popular culture (film or news media), or both on race. If in doubt, ask your tutor. See section 5.1 for information regarding word lengths.

Devising your own essay (research) topic.
A few suggestions for topics will be posted on My Uni (and if you choose one of these set questions, you needn’t get your tutor’s approval). However, one of the things we want to do in this course is to encourage you to follow up your own interests (as long as they are relevant to the course and enough material is available) and develop your own research projects. So feel free to negotiate an alternative topic with your tutor.

Tutorial papers or essays handed up without proper footnotes will not normally be accepted for marking. In those cases where the lack of referencing constitutes plagiarism (see earlier in this outline), the work will be dealt with following the procedures set out in the plagiarism policies. (Remember, it is your responsibility to provide proper referencing as set out in  the Politics and International Studies Department's Essay Writing Instructions from the Department's website
See note regarding citing internet sources in the citation section of this outline.

Don’t forget the lengthy Reading List on MyUni!!!!!


GRADING SCHEME CRITERIA ,  APPEALING MARKS AND REDEEMING WORK 

Please see the information regarding these issues in the Grading section below. 

Information regarding how to submit work, penalties for late work and applying for extensions is given on MyUni.

Faculty of HUMSS Generic Guidelines for Assessment

General Grading Scheme

Pass 50-64%
Credit 65-74%
Distinction 75-84%
High Distinction 85+%

Pass 50-64%
• Adequate articulation of argument, theme or guiding problematic (stated problem)
• Adequate understanding and application of analytic concepts and theoretical issues
• Adequate adherence to scholarly conventions in citations
• Adequate scope of reading informing the argument
• Adequate understanding of that reading
• Adequate skills in written expression and presentation

Credit 65-74%
• Clear articulation of a theme or guiding problematic
• Clear understanding and application of analytic concepts and theoretical issues
• Argument reasonably well structured, developed and concluded
• Adequate adherence to scholarly conventions in citations
• Adequate scope of reading informing the argument
• Clear understanding of that reading
• Adequate skills in written expression and presentation
• Critical use of sources

Distinction 75-84%
• Clear articulation of a theme or guiding problematic
• Clear understanding and application of analytic concepts and theoretical issues
• Argument well structured, developed and concluded, displaying clear evidence of original thinking
• Consistent adherence to scholarly conventions in citations
• Wide scope of reading informing the argument, with evidence of directed independent reading
• Clear understanding of that reading
• Developed skills in written expression and presentation
• Critical use of sources

High Distinction 85%+
• Very clear articulation of a theme or guiding problematic
• Clear understanding and application of analytic concepts and theoretical issues
• Argument exceptionally well structured, developed and concluded, displaying ample innovation and originality
• Ample evidence of the critical use of sources
• Consistent adherence to scholarly conventions in citations
• Wide scope of reading informing the argument, with strong evidence of directed independent reading
• Sophisticated understanding of and reflection upon that reading
• Highly developed skills in written expression and presentation.


Return of work and appealing grades.
Staff will, whenever possible, endeavour to return assessed bibliographical assignments and tutorial papers within two weeks of submission (during semester teaching periods). However, the final essay will only be returned after course results have been collated, approved and submitted by the examiner’s meeting. Please note though that essays that we do not receive a stamped self-addressed envelope for will normally receive minimal comments since this is taken as an indication that you do not wish to obtain feedback. If you haven't submitted a stamped self-addressed envelope and wish to obtain feedback from your tutor, please email them. 

Appealing grades.
Students who disagree with a mark should first should consult the material given above, in the Course Outline and in lectures regarding what we expect in regard to assessment in this course. If they still feel they deserve a higher mark, they should present their case to their tutor who may be prepared to reconsider the mark they have given.

Students who genuinely still feel that their grade should be substantially higher can make a case in terms of the grievance procedure set out at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/grievance/process/stage-two/academic/#assessment

(which could result in a lower, rather than higher, mark being given). However, this is a serious step to take and should only be undertaken in cases where you genuinely believe you have substantial grounds and can make a detailed case as to why this is the case. Please remember that your tutor has read far more student essays than you have done and generally has a far better idea of the overall standard in the subject.


Redeeming Work.
In exceptional circumstances, it may be possible to redeem your major essay by writing an essay on another topic. Tutorial papers and bibliographic assignments are not normally redeemable. Talk to your tutor in the first instance and make a detailed case as to why you think exceptional circumstances apply.

Academic Grounds
Students who fail but receive 45% or above for their final result will normally be eligible for additional work (what used to be called a  supplementary exam) on academic grounds – it will take the form of an additional essay.

Politics, Ideology and Discourse is continually reviewed in response to SELT feedback. Changes made in response to previous feedback include the following: (a) the word lengths for essays and tutorials were reduced (b) changes have also been made in response to some comments on content – e.g. in regard to explaining material that some students found harder to understand. Unfortunately, not all changes to content asked for could be made, partly because students have wildly differing views on their favourite and least favourite topics in the course and partly because of educational grounds e.g. what we need to cover in a one semester course that introduces students to a wide range of issues about Ideology & Discourse. However, topics are changed and/or updated each year, so please give feedback.

School of Social Sciences  Occupational Health & Safety contingency plan & emergency procedures, see: http://arts.adelaide.edu.au/socialsciences/hsw/