On Caring:
We are living in unprecedented, difficult times, and everyone is facing numerous struggles. Nobody signed up for life during a pandemic, and we do not know what this semester will bring. As such, Jason commits to try to be as caring and compassionate as possible, foregrounding flexibility, transparency, and an acknowledgment of our shared personhood in challenging times. He asks that each of you do the same toward all of us (including him!). If things become particularly difficult for you, please reach out to your Dean for assistance, and let Jason know that something is going on—whatever you feel comfortable sharing is fine, but it’s always better to inform faculty immediately that you are facing challenges rather than waiting until things have gotten severe.

Any student with a disability or who otherwise needs accommodation or assistance should make arrangements with Jason as soon as possible, and consult the Disability Resource Center for more assistance. If you know that you will have conflicts due to athletics or other college activities, you must notify Jason in advance and arrange to make up missed work – athletic absences are not excused and it is the student’s responsibility to make all arrangements.

Students are expected to check their Middlebury email accounts daily and monitor this site for information. Jason will check email and the class Discord regularly during the work week – if you message him asking for a response and do not receive one within one working day (M-F), assume that your message may not have been received and follow-up.

If you are feeling ill or have tested positive for COVID, do NOT attend class! Jason will work with you to catch-up with whatever you miss, but you should not risk the health and safety of others to attend class.

Active Attendance:
You are expected to attend all class meetings on time, having done the assignments, thought about the material, and prepared to engage in discussion and in-class activities. Students who miss a class should find out what they missed from their classmates and learn the necessary material.

Students are encouraged to actively participate in the online spaces designated for the course, both through postings on this website and the class Discord server. Posts and online conversations should be made in the spirit of mutual respect, constructive criticism and commentary, and a supportive learning community.

Conversations and presentations within the space of this class—both in-person and online—are considered private, to be shared only among those of us in the course. Any recording, photographs, and screen-capture of voices, images, and text produced by students and faculty alike cannot be shared without permission of those authors. If you wish to share your own work and ideas beyond the confines of the class, you are encouraged to do so.