INTA 489
SEMINAR IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
FALL 2005
Dr. Jessica R. Adolino
Phone: 568-6413 (o), 433-2968 (h)
Office: Maury 215
Email: adolinjr@jmu.edu
Office Hours: T 9-11:30 and by appointment
This seminar is the four-credit capstone course for international affairs majors. The course
requires students to complete an individual research project focusing on their area of
concentration in the major. It also asks students to draw on their experiences in the major to
reflect on areas of international concern that, while primarily political in nature, also cross
disciplinary boundaries.
Required Texts:
Peter Baker and Susan Glasser. 2005. Kremlin Rising: Vladmir Putin’s Russia and the End of
Revolution.
Sarah Erdman. 2003. Nine Hills to Nambonkaha.
Peter Hessler. 2001. River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.
Samantha Power. 2002. “A Problem from Hell” America and the Age of Genocide.
Jeffrey Sachs. 2005. The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.
Occasional contemporary politics articles available online via the course blackboard.
All books are available in the JMU bookstore, through Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com and
should also be available in most larger bookstores.
The professor reserves the right to alter this syllabus as circumstances demand.
Attendance and Participation. Requirements for all participants in the seminar are as follows:
1. Attendance at all seminar meetings (see policy below).
2. Completion of all assigned readings prior to class.
3. Informed participation in discussions.
Active participation in seminar discussions is a vital component of this course. The seminar is unique
in that the quality of class participation is weighted more heavily than in other international affairs
courses. I realize that meeting this requirement will prove more difficult for some students than
for others. Any student who anticipates difficulty in this regard should speak to me as soon as
possible so that I can try to help you overcome this obstacle.
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You will be expected to arrive at each class session with a written prepared question or comment
about the day’s reading. You should expect to be called upon to discuss either your question or
comment sometime during the class—your ability to do so will figure prominently into your class
participation grade. Failure to arrive in class sufficiently prepared in this regard may result in a
move to a required blackboard posting before each class session.
For obvious reasons, class attendance will be extremely important to success in this course.
Unexcused absences from more than three class sessions will result in a reduction in the final grade
of one-third of a letter grade per absence. Good attendance also will be taken into consideration in
determining the final grade in borderline cases.
An overall assessment of your contribution to class discussions will be made at the end of the
semester. Attendance, reading and class participation will constitute 15 percent of the course
grade. If it becomes apparent over the course of the semester that some students are not
sufficiently prepared for class discussions, i.e., they have not done the readings, daily quizzes and a
final exam may become part of the course requirements. Students should expect course readings to
average about 250 pages per week over the course of the semester (although it will be heavier than
this some weeks and lighter others)—keep in mind that this is a four-credit hour and writing
intensive course—the reading and writing load is intended to be heavier than other upper-level
courses.
Course requirements: Students will conduct an individual research project for this course
consisting of a 10-15 page research design and a 25-35 page final paper (that incorporates the
original research design). You will also write three 5-7 page analytical book reviews and prepare an
e-portfolio over the course of the semester. Full descriptions of all assignments can be found on
the blackboard via the assignments button.
Evaluation Summary
Research Paper
Research Design
Analytical Book Reviews (3)
e-Portfolio
Reading and participation
40%
20%
15%
10%
15%
Grading criteria: All assignments for this course will be evaluated based on the following:
 Accuracy of information presented
 Thoroughness/specificity of information presented
 Thoughtfulness of analysis
 Clarity of presentation
 Conformity to assignment requirements
 Correctness of format/syntax and grammar
Grading scale: The following scale will be used in this course to assign letter grades:
A+
97 and above B+
87 and above C+
77 and above D+
67 and above
A
93-96
B
83-86
C
73-76
D
63-66
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A-
90-92
B-
80-82
C-
70-72
D60-62
F59 and below
Written Work. All papers submitted for credit in this course must be original work; i.e., they may
not be papers written to fulfill the requirements of another course or an honors thesis. Students
who are contemplating using research designs that were written for INTA 295 should speak to me
before doing so, as should students completing an honors thesis. All written work submitted in this
course must comply with the instructor's writing guidelines.
All written work (essays, research design and paper) for this course must conform to the following
guidelines:
 Type size: 12 point Times Roman, double spaced
 Margins: No justified right margin, maximum one-inch margin top, bottom, left and right
(Note: MSWord default is 1.25 inch margins—be sure to change this!)
 Indentation: half-inch indentation beginning each paragraph; no extra space between
paragraphs.
 References: provide a complete bibliography using MLA, Chicago, APSA or Turabian style
manual.
 Citations: use in-text citations only; no endnotes or footnotes. Follow style presented in
writing guidelines document.
 Pagination: number all pages except title page. Pages must be stapled or butterfly clipped.
Absolutely no plastic covers or other bindings. Title page should include your name,
professor’s name, course number and name and date.
 Structure and organization: paper must be organized around assigned questions and should
use section titles/headings and subsections throughout.
Honor Code. All work in this course is bound by the JMU Honor Code as outlined in the Student
Handbook. A summary of this code is included on the course blackboard—please read this before
completing any work for the course. If you have any questions concerning what is permitted and
what is prohibited, please ask. Please include an honor code statement on all written work.
Late Work. Late work will be penalized by five points plus an additional give for every additional
24-hour period. Papers may not be submitted electronically unless you are specifically requested to
do so. Materials turned in late because of technological problems will be subject to the late penalty.
Save your work in different locations and save it frequently!
Contacting me: If you need to reach me beyond my office hours, send me an e-mail. I will respond
to all e-mails as soon as possible. I am unlikely to respond to messages left on my office voicemail.
If you have an emergency please call me at home (at a reasonable time) or leave me a message in the
political science department office (568-6149).
Classroom etiquette: Please turn off any beepers, cell phones, and CD players prior to the beginning
of class.
Course Blackboard: All course materials are available on the course blackboard. The blackboard
may be accessed using Internet Explorer only at http://blackboard.jmu.edu. Included on the
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blackboard are the course syllabus, paper assignment and other relevant course materials. Please
check the blackboard regularly for announcements—I will use the board to keep you informed of
developments outside of class and will consider anything I announce on the board binding.
Late adds policy: Students are responsible for registering for classes and for verifying their class
schedules on e-campus. The deadline for adding a Fall Semester class without instructor and
academic unit head signatures is Monday, September 5, 2005. Between Monday, September 5,
2005 and Thursday, September 15, 2005, instructor and academic unit head signatures are
required to add a class for Fall Semester 2005. No student will be allowed to register for a Fall
Semester class after Thursday, September 15, 2005. No exceptions will be made to these
deadlines.
Course withdrawal policy: The Political Science department will not allow students to
withdraw from a course after the official university withdrawal date of October 27.
IMPORTANT DATES:
RESEARCH PAPER:
 Paper topic statements due in class, Tuesday 15 September
 In-class paper topic discussions, Tuesday 15 September
 Research designs due, Friday 14 October, 4:30 p.m. (hard copy in my mailbox AND in
digital dropbox)
 Required individual research design meetings, Tuesday 18 October, Thursday 20
October—no regular class meetings for these two days
 Revised research design due, Monday 7 November, 4:30 p.m. (hard copy only in my
mailbox)
 Final paper due Friday 9 December, 4:30 p.m. (hard copy AND in digital dropbox)
OTHER ASSIGNMENTS:
 Power book review due, Friday 21 October, 4:30 p.m. in digital dropbox only
 Second book review due, Friday 11 November, 4:30 p.m. in digital dropbox only
(review of either Hessler or Erdman)
 Third book review due, Tuesday 13 December, 4:30 p.m. in digital dropbox only
(review of either Baker and Glasser or Sachs)
 e-Portfolio due, Wednesday 23 November, 4:30 p.m. in digital dropbox only
COURSE OUTLINE AND READINGS
TUESDAY 30 August
Syllabus
THURSDAY 1 September
Assignments
TUESDAY 6 September
Research process discussion
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THURSDAY 8 September
Review of research papers
TUESDAY 13 September
e-Portfolio/topics discussion
Paper topic statements due, Thursday 15 September (in class)
THURSDAY 15 September
In-class paper topic presentations
TUESDAY 20 September
Power Chapters 1-5
THURSDAY 22 September
Power Chapters 6-8
TUESDAY 27 September
To be determined
THURSDAY 29 September
Power 10; view Rwanda documentary
TUESDAY 4 October
Conclude Rwanda documentary
THURSDAY 6 October
Power 9, 11, 12
TUESDAY 11 October
Power 13, 14, Darfur articles
THURSDAY 13 October
Research design due, No class
Research designs due, Friday 14 October, 4:30 (hard copy in my mailbox AND in digital
dropbox)
TUESDAY 18 October
Research design meetings, No class
THURSDAY 20 October
Research design meetings, No class
Power book review due, Friday 21 October,4:30 (in digital dropbox ONLY)
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TUESDAY 25 October
Hessler Part One
THURSDAY 27 October
Hessler Part Two
TUESDAY 1 November
Erdman pp. 1-148
THURSDAY 3 November
Erdman pp. 149-338
Revised research designs due, Monday 7 November, 4:30 p.m. (hard copy only in my mailbox )
TUESDAY 8 November
Baker and Glasser Chapters 1-5
THURSDAY 10 November
Baker and Glasser Chapters 6-11
Second book review due, Friday 11 November, 4:30 p.m. (in digital dropbox only—review of
either Hessler or Erdman)
TUESDAY 15 November
Baker and Glasser Chapters 12-Epilogue
THURSDAY 17 November
Sachs Foreword-Chapter 4
e-Portfolio due, Wednesday 23 November 4:30 p.m. (in digital dropbox)
TUESDAY 22 November
Research paper meetings
TUESDAY 24 November
Thanksgiving, No Class
TUESDAY 29 November
Sachs Chapters 5-10
THURSDAY 1 December
Sachs Chapters 11-18
TUESDAY 6 December
Research paper meetings
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THURSDAY 8 December
Research paper meetings
Final paper due Friday 9 December, 4:30 p.m. (hard copy in my mailbox AND a copy in the
digital dropbox)
Third book review due, Tuesday 13 December, 4:30 p.m. (in digital dropbox only—review of
either Baker and Glasser or Sachs)
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