General information
Instructor
Here is more information about Prof. Lotz
Class Meetings
Days: Mondays
Time: 6-8:50pm
Place: SK 530
Office & Office Hours
Phone: 517.355.4490 [dept.])
Place: SK 503
Hours: Mondays, drop in, 3-5:45pm
Other Contact
E-mail: lotz@msu.edu
Home Phone: please ask
Webpage: http://christianlotz.info
Box
You will find my box in the front office of the philosophy department (SK 503)
Schedule
Block I: DESERTS
Jan 8, Introduction: Abstraction and Experience
Crisis of Experience:
Benjamin, Experience and Poverty
Benjamin, On some Motifs in Baudelaire, sections, I-IV, IX-X
Simmel, Metropolis and Mental Life
Adorno, Minima Moralia, section 33
Real Abstraction:
Marx, Grundrisse, excerpts, 156-168
Simmel, Philosophy of Money, pp. 78, 127-128, 186
Reification:
Adorno, lecture 17, Introduction to Sociology
Lukács, History and Class Consciousness, pp. 88-89 & 184-185
Benjamin, Arcades Project (Expose 1939), 25-26
Eslie, Walter Benjamin. Overpowering Conformism, pp. 9-10
Cybernetics
Heidegger, The Provenance of Art and the Destination of Thought (1967), section II-III, pp. 122-128
Overview: Lotz
Jan 15, No Class
Holiday
Jan 22, Lukács
Lukács, The Phenomenon of Reification (section I of “Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat), 83-110
Background
Lotz, “Categorial Forms as Intelligibility of Social Objects. Reification and Objectivity in Lukács,” in Confronting Reification. Revitalizing Georg Lukács’s Thought in Late Capitalism, ed. Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker, Leiden: Brill/Chicago: Haymarket Books 2020, 25-47
Protocol: Pincus
Jan 29, Husserl
Husserl, Crisis, sections 1-14, pp.1-68
Background
Angus, Groundwork of Phenomenological Marxism. Crisis, Body, World, chapter 1-5
Mazijk, Corijn, “Heidegger and Husserl on the Technological-Scientific Worldview,” Human Studies, 42/2019, 519-541
Presentation 1: Levkowitz
Marcuse, On Science and Phenomenology, here: http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/marcuse7.html
Aron Gurwitsch, Comment on Marcuse, here: http://www.autodidactproject.org/other/marcuse8.html
Protocol: Michaud
Feb 5, Heidegger
Heidegger, The Question Concerning the Thing. On Kant’s Doctrine of the Transcendental Principles, sections 1-20, pp.1-82
Protocol: Vlasov
Feb 12, Heidegger
Heidegger, The Age of the World Picture
Presentation 2: Krieger
Marcuse, chapter 6, One-Dimensional Man
Protocol:
Feb 19, Heidegger
Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology
If you have time, also read the chapter “Positionality” in Bremen and Freiburg Lectures, 23-43
Background:
Diego Martínez-Zarazúa, “When Things Impoverish: An Approach to Marx’s Analysis of Capitalism in Conjunction with Heidegger’s Concern over Technology,” Rethinking Marxism, 34:1, 6-24.
Hoerl, Erich, “The Technological Condition,” Pharrhesia, 22, 2015, 1-15.
Protocol: Arellano
Feb 26, No Class
Spring Break
Mar 4, Marx
Marx, Capital, Vol 1, chapter 1&6 (Penguin edition!)
Background
Lichtenstein, Eli B., “Adorno, Marx, and abstract domination,” Philosophy and Social Criticism, 49/8, 2023, 998-1023.
O’Kane, The Critique of Real Abstraction: From the Critical Theory of Society to the Critique of Political Economy and Back Again
Engster, Frank, “Sohn-Rethel’s Unity of the Critique of Society and the Critique of Epistemology, and his Theoretical Blind Spot: Measure, Historical Materialism, 2023 (online first), 1-46
Presentation 3: Vlasov
Marx, Capital, chapter 6
Protocol: Pincus
Block II: THINKING AS DEREIFICATION
Mar 11, Husserl
Husserl, Crisis, sections 28&33-52, pp. 103-111 & 121-178
Presentation: Michaud
Husserl, Crisis (Life-World)
Protocol: Levkowitz
Mar 18, Adorno
Adorno, Negative Dialectics, Introduction (Redmond translation)
Presentation 4: Arellano
Adorno, The Essay as Form
Protocol: Krieger
Mar 22, Additional Session
3pm, Meeting with Prof. Ferguson in connection with the graduate conference.
Readings: Ferguson, S., “Exploring the Matter of Race: A Materialist Philosophical Inquiry,” in Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Race, ed. Naomi Zack (Oxford University Press, 2017), 261-270 & Ferguson, S., “Introduction,” in Ferguson, C., The Paralysis of Analysis in African American Studies. Corporate Capitalism and Black Popular Culture (Bloomsbury, 2017), 1-10.
Mar 25, Adorno
Adorno, Notes on Philosophical Thinking (Critical Models, 127-134)
Adorno, Why Still Philosophy? (Critical Models, 5-18)
Adorno, Marginalia to Theory and Praxis (Critical Models, 259-278)
Presentation 5: Pincus
Adorno, On Subject and Object (Critical Models, 245-258)
Protocol: Arellano
Apr 1, Heidegger
Heidegger, What is Called Thinking?, part II.1-5
Block III: EXPERIENCE
RETREAT, 4/12-4/14, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Lake Higgins
https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/places/ram-center
Arrival: Fr, 4/12, by noon
Departure: Su, 4/14, after lunch
Program will be sent out via email
Session I: Intellectual (geistige) Experience (Adorno)
Adorno, Towards a theory of intellectual experience, In: Lectures on Negative Dialectics, Appendix
Adorno, Meditations on Metaphysics, In: Negative Dialectics, sections 1-4
Session II: Thing Experience (Heidegger)
Heidegger, Building, Dwelling, Thinking (In: Basic Writings)
Session III: Thing Experience (Heidegger)
Heidegger, The Country Path
Heidegger, The Thing, version I (In: Poetry, Language, Thought)
Adorno, Handle, Pitcher, and Early Experience (In: Notes on Literature II, 211-219)
Voluntary: Heidegger, The Thing, version II (In: Bremen and Freiburg Lectures)
Session IV: Memory & Historical Experience (Benjamin)
Benjamin, The Storyteller, 3:143
Voluntary: Benjamin, Unpacking my library, 2:486; Benjamin, Eduard Fuchs. Collector and Historian, 3:260
Session IV: Memory & Historical Experience (Benjamin)
Benjamin, On the Concept of History, 4:389
Voluntary for Benjamin Aficionados: section N, Arcades Project
Session V: Wrap-Up
Open discussion
April 26, Final Paper
Final paper due via email by the end of April 26.
Key Insights
“Man stares at what the explosion of the atom bomb could bring with it. He does not see that the atom bomb and its explosion are the mere final emission of what has long since taken place, has already happened. […] The terrifying is unsettling; it places everything outside its own nature. What is it that unsettles and thus terrifies? It shows itself and hides itself in the way in which everything presences, namely, in the fact that despite all conquest of distances the nearness of things remains absent.” (Heidegger, The Thing)
“The experience of the loss of experience is one of the oldest motifs of Critical Theory, which even outsiders from the circle around Max Horkheimer like Kracauer and Benjamin had already expressed in the 1920’s.” (Detlev Claussen)
“Not the least fault for the dying out of experience is due to the fact that things assume a form under the law of their purposiveness which restrict their interaction to mere application, without the surplus – were it that of freedom of behavior, were it that of the autonomy of the thing – which might survive as the kernel of experience, because it is not consumed by the moment of action.” (Adorno, Minima Moralia)
“The experience of our generation: that capitalism will not die a natural death.” (Benjamin, The Arcades Project)
“Wiener’s definition of the human being is as follows: ‘Man [is] an information [device].’ Wiener goes on regarding the human being: ‘Nevertheless, one characteristic distinguishes man from other animals in a way which leaves no doubt: Man is an animal that speaks. . . . It also will not do to say that man is an ensouled animal. For, unfortunately, the existence of the soul—whatever one may take it to be—is not accessible to scientific methods of inquiry’. As an animal who speaks, the human being must be represented in such a way that language can be explained scientifically as something computable, that is, as something that can be controlled.” (Heidegger)
“These external relations are very far from being an abolition of ‘relations of dependence’; they are rather the dissolution of these relations into a general form ; they are merely the elaboration and emergence of the general foundation of the relations of personal dependence. Here also individuals come into connection with one another only in determined ways. These objective dependency relations also appear, in antithesis to those of personal dependence (the objective dependency relation is nothing more than social relations which have become independent and now enter into opposition to the seemingly independent individuals; i.e. the reciprocal relations of production separated from and autonomous of individuals) in such a way that individuals are now ruled by abstractions, whereas earlier they depended on one another. The abstraction, or idea, however, is nothing more than the theoretical expression of those material relations which are their lord and master.” (Marx)
“The image of life without experience is finally the image of life without history, as if the meaning of life were in its eternal cessation: death. There cannot be historical life without experience; only lives articulated through experience can be fully and self-consciously historical.” (J.M. Bernstein)
“Dialectical thought opposes reification in the further sense that it refuses to affirm individual things in their isolation and separateness: it designates isolation as precisely a product of the universal. Thus it acts as a corrective both to manic fixity and to the unresisting and empty drift of the paranoid mind, which pays for its absolute judgements by loss of the experience of the matter judged.” (Adorno, Minima Moralia)
“A thinking that approaches its objects openly, rigorously, and on the basis of progressive knowledge, is also free toward its objects in the sense that it refuses to have rules prescribed to it by organized knowledge. It turns the quintessence of the experience accumulated in it to the objects, rends the veil with which society conceals them, and perceives them anew. Were philosophy to beat bad, the fear caused by the tyranny of the prevailing philosophical movements-the ontological intimidation not to think anything that is not pure, and the scientistic intimidation not to think anything that is not ‘connected’ to the corpus of findings recognized as scientifically valid-then it would be capable of recognizing what that fear prohibits, what an unmarred consciousness in fact would be intent upon. The ‘to the things themselves’ that philosophical phenomenology had dreamed of like a dreamer who dreams he’s waking up can only come true for a philosophy that stops hoping to acquire knowledge with the magical stroke of eidetic intuition, and instead thinks through the subjective and objective mediations without, however, conforming to the latent primacy of organized method, which over and over again offers phenomenological movements only a series of fetishes, homemade concepts instead of their longed-for things. Had not all positivist locutions become deeply suspect, then one could imagine that only a consciousness both free and reflected in itself would be open to what traditional philosophy has obstructed by confusing itself with what it intends to interpret. Within traditional philosophy’s exhaustion at the succession of its variations lies the potential for a philosophy that could break the magic spell.” (Adorno, Why still Philosophy?)
Seminar Description
In this seminar we will approach the topic of reification from an unusual angle. The base assumption will be that the primary experience of early critical theorists (Lukacs, Benjamin, Bloch, Adorno) and phenomenologists (Husserl, Heidegger) alike is based on the diffuse experience that the capitalist world, i.e., the modern experience of things, became abstract, impoverished, frozen, cold, and emptied out. Whereas Marx grasped the essence of capital as a process of formalization and (real) abstraction, he does not go back to experience and it remains unclear how experience would be different without the abstract domination of capital. It is the hypothesis of the instructor that we need to understand the connection between societal formalization (the end point we see now in AI, complete military destruction, and an algorithmically produced social reality), the value form, experience and reality. I thereby read Marx’s value form through Husserl (and Sohn-Rethel). Put differently, we need to think about both the concept of (real) abstraction and the concept of experience because the social reality in fact is bifurcated; the Kantian distinction between intuition and concepts is (socially) real. Interpreting Kant’s concept of “thing”, then, can be done in a societal way. We need to ask what a thing is because, on the one hand, we have the modern paradigmatic Kantian position (as the first one that tries to mediate between both), and, on the other hand, Hegelian and Marxian inspired Critical Theory as well as Husserlian/Heideggerian Phenomenology as the attempt to get the two poles – in a world of real abstractions – together again. We will not be able to reconstruct all needed concepts systematically in this seminar, but we can put together pieces of such a task to better understand the underlying motivations of 20th Century philosophy in order to keep alive the dream of, as Adorno puts it, keeping “the autonomy of the thing […] as a kernel of experience.” Decisive for this task is Benjamin’s concept of historical experience (Eingedenken). I began to think about this issue a long time ago, in very confused ways, but in recent years it became clearer to me that we are staring into the same abyss today that the philosophers we talk about stared into 100 years ago. So, put paradoxically, we can see more clearly what’s going on and we are less able to see what’s going on, since the level of reification has now reached a dimension not imaginable for Lukács. Reification 2.0. Section I: How the world became abstract; section II: How do we think philosophically in such a world, section III: Back to the thing(s themselves).
Course Goals
This course should make you familiar with one – if not the – core motivation for 20th Century developments in Critical Theory and Phenomenology. Why reification 2.0.? Because we will not approach it directly through Lukacs’ History and Class Consciousness and Marx’s concept of commodity fetishism. Keywords: thing, thinghood, thinking, experience, abstraction, value form. Please note that this seminar is not an introduction to the topics discussed.
Note I
This graduate seminar is not based on a set of fixed knowledge and, as such, is not based on a behavioral idea of education; rather, we will try to learn together and critically examine the material. The material is the absolute center of this class. Free floating discussions about things unrelated to the material are to be avoided.
Note II
For me graduate seminar are PhD seminars; i.e., I conceive of them as genuine endeavors to ask genuine questions and to philosophically struggle to come up with answers. I cannot give an introduction to the thinkers and issues discussed. We will begin in medias res. I will try to be as clear as possible, but if you have never studied the thinkers selected for this seminar, expect an intellectual challenge.
Orientation
The best way to approach a topic with complex contexts and backgrounds are handbooks, philosophical dictionaries, etc. In Germany two outstanding works are Das Historische Wörterbuch der Philosophie (HWPh) and Historisch–kritische Wörterbuch des Marxismus (HKWM, partly translated). Luckily, for our topic, many excellent works have been produced in recent years in the Anglo-American world. So, if you need orientation, it is best to begin with those. To name a few:
- The SAGE Handbook of Frankfurt School Critical Theory
- The Routledge Companion to the Frankfurt School
- The Critical Companion to Contemporary Marxism
- Heidegger and Hegel dictionaries (Inwood)
- Routledge Handbook of Marxism and Post-Marxism
Commentaries, Husserl, Crisis
- Moran, Edmund Husserl: The Crisis of the European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction
- Dodd, Crisis and Reflection. An Essay on Husserl’s Crisis of the European Sciences
Phenomenological Marxism
- Marcuse, Heideggerian Marxism
- Angus, Groundwork of Phenomenological Marxism. Crisis, Body, World
- Angus, Ian, “The Problem of Form. Recovery of the Concrete in Contemporary Phenomenological Marxism,” In: Westerman, R. and Smyth, B. (eds), Marxism and Phenomenology. The Dialectical Horizons of Critique (Lanham: Lexington Books 2022), 31-52.
Digitization
Jonathan Beller: https://www.boundary2.org/2018/08/beller/ & https://muse-jhu-edu.proxy2.cl.msu.edu/pub/1/article/635542
Reification
- Zucker (ed.), Confronting Reification. Revitalizing Georg Lukács’s Thought in Late Capitalism
- Oliva, ván Novara (eds), Marx and Contemporary Critical Theory. The Philosophy of Real Abstraction
- Metodo. International Studies in Phenomenology and Philosophy, issue on reification: https://metodo-rivista.eu/pub-255760
Crisis of Experience in Adorno and Benjamin
- Foster, “The Theory of Spiritual Experience,” In: Foster, Roger, Adorno. The Recovery of Experience (New York: SUNY Press, 2007), 1-30.
- Jay, Martin, “Lamenting the Crisis of Experience. Benjamin and Adorno,” in: Jay, Martin, Songs of Experience. Modern American and European Variations on a Universal Theme (Oakland: University of California Press, 2005), 312-360. Foster, Adorno. The Recovery of Experience
Lotz
- The Capitalist Schema. Time, Money, and the Culture of Abstraction, Lanham: Lexington Books 2014
- “Categorial Forms as Intelligibility of Social Objects. Reification and Objectivity in Lukács.,” in Confronting Reification. Revitalizing Georg Lukács’s Thought in Late Capitalism, ed. Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker, Leiden: Brill/Chicago: Haymarket Books 2020, 25-47
- Capitalist Schematization. Political Economy, Exchange, and Objecthood in Adorno, Zeitschrift für Kritische Theorie, 36/37, 2013, 110-123.
- “Fiction without Fantasy. Capital Fetishism as Objective Forgetting,” Continental Thought & Theory, 2, 2017, 364-382
Texts
- https://monoskop.org/Theodor_Adorno
- https://monoskop.org/Walter_Benjamin
- https://monoskop.org/Martin_Heidegger
- https://www.beyng.com/hb/gesamt.html
- http://think.hyperjeff.net/Heidegger/
Requirements
Course Requirements
- 1 protocol, write-up, up to 900 words, take questions in class
- 1 presentation, write-up, up to 900 words, 20-25 minutes, leading class discussion
- Final paper, conference style, 3600-4500 words
- Regular participation, you are expected to attend every week, except in cases of reasonable excuses
Protocol
The class protocol should cover our discussion in class. Protocols should have a length of 2-3 pages (no more than 900 words), and they will in and outside of the classroom force us to have an ongoing reflection on our texts that we study for class. They can also include problems or questions that the writers had either with our class discussion or with the texts itself, but above all protocols should cover what I lectured about and what we discussed afterwards. Protocols should clarify and discuss selected issues in question. They can raise questions. Protocols have to be sent out to everyone by Sundays at noon. Everyone will read the protocols before class. Please avoid late turn ins. The student who wrote the protocol will address questions during the first 15-20 minutes of the next class meeting.
Presentation & Write-Up
Each student will be responsible for working out introductory presentations, which should function as a platform for our discussions. Please focus on selected aspects of the readings; desired length of presentations: around 25 minutes. Please distribute a brief write-up/overview of what you will be talking about by Sunday at noon. Your write-up should have a length of 2-3 pages. A write-up differs from a handout (used during a presentation); i.e., the write-up should consists of a coherent text that either interprets, reflects on, or explains the primary material. Let’s call it a “miniature-paper” that everyone reads before class. Try to be as clear as possible and help everyone in class to understand the point from which you approach your topic, issue, text, or philosopher. Note: the reading material should be the absolute focus of your presentation; everyone will gain from hermeneutic virtues! Free floating discussions that are completely unrelated to the readings are to be avoided by all means.
General Remark
Given that this is a graduate seminar, I expect self-motivation, autonomy, civility, as well as self-responsibility. My seminars are completely open: you can always bring in your own positions, criticize others, or ask questions. There are no boundaries. My job is to think via clarifying thoughts of others. The attendance requires the willingness to intensively study the texts selected for class.
Final Paper
The class essay should be well researched and should present a substantial reflection on some parts of the material discussed in class. I expect excellent papers in regard to research, form, and content. The paper should be accompanied by an abstract of no more than 150 words. The paper should be “conference style,” i.e., it should have a length of around 12-15 pages and, ideally, could be presented at a conference or be used as a seed manuscript for the summer scholar fellowship competition.
DFs
I will refuse giving DFs in this class, unless you find yourself in an emergency situation (health issues, etc.)
Course Evaluation
Assignments (traditional)
| 1 protocol + class discussion | pass/fail, 10pts |
| 1 oral presentation + write-up | pass/fail, 10pts |
| final paper | 80 points |
| ——– | |
| 100 points | |
Grading
| 4.0 (=A) | 100 – 93 |
| 3.5 | 92 – 87 |
| 3 (=B) | 86 – 82 |
| 2.5 | 81 – 77 |
| 2 (=C) | 76 – 72 |
| 1.5 | 71 – 65 |
| 1.0 (=D) | 64 – 60 |
| 0.0 | < 60 |
GENERIC SYLLABUS (might not be applicable to each class)
Laptop/Cell Phone/Tablet Policy
You are not permitted to use laptops or cell phones in class, unless needed for medical reasons. Flat devices, such as tablets, are permitted if you have purchased the literature required for class electronically. Please do not text under the table. Cell phones should be removed from tables. Failure to follow this policy will lead to unannounced assignments in class or loss of points (at the digression of the instructor).
Laptops in the Classroom
- So you think you can multitask? from the University of North Carolina
- How your phone reduces your ability to think even when only in glancing distance from Psychology Today
- Barak, L. (2012). Multitasking in the university classroom. International Journal for the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6 - Ellis, Y., Daniels, W. and Jauregui, A. (2010). The effect of multitasking on the grade performance of business students. Research in Higher Education Journal, 8
- Fried, C. B. (2008). In-class laptop use and its effects on student learning. Computers and
Education, 50 (3), 906-914. - Kraushaar, J. M. and Novak, D. C. (2010). Examining the affects of student multitasking with
laptops during lecture. Journal of Information Systems
Education, 21 (2), 241-251.
Class Attendance
As mentioned above, I do not employ in my classes a class attendance policy. Having said this, you should be aware that class attendance is very important. When engaging in a philosophical and humanistic dialogue it is necessary to be an active and present participant in the ongoing discussion. If you miss class please do not email me asking if you missed anything important. Every class is important. You should get a study buddy for the class; a student in class who will inform you of what you missed. If you miss a class you can come to my office hours or make an appointment to discuss the material, providing you have read the material and you simply want to see if your understanding of the material is on target. Time in office hours will not be used to repeat the class lectures.
Grading Criteria + Paper Writing Tips
Check out this page for grading criteria, example of assignments, etc.
Online Research Sources
Unfortunately, some people think that the internet as such is a reliable source of information. If you decide to use online sources for additional information or your paper then do not just use one of the common internet search engines, such as Google; rather, use reliable academic sources, such as Britannica Online, or the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The Internet Ecyclopedia of Philosophy isn’t very good, but still acceptable. Check out MSU’s library resources! And, as with other sources, you must cite any online sources to which you refer in your essay.
Writing Center Information
MSU’s writing center offers excellent help on all matters regarding writing and learning. Check the website at http://writing.msu.edu for an overview and hours. For more information, please call 517.432.3610 or send an e-mail to writing@msu.edu.
Grief Absence Policy
I follow MSU’s general grief absence policy, which can be found here.
Integrity of Scholarship and Grades (Plagiarism)
The following statement of University policy addresses principles and procedures to be used in instances of academic dishonesty, violations of professional standards, and falsification of academic or admission records, herein after referred to as academic misconduct. [See General Student Regulation 1.00, Protection of Scholarship and Grades.]
Academic Honesty
Article 2.3.3 of the Academic Freedom Report states that “The student shares with the faculty the responsibility for maintaining the integrity of scholarship, grades, and professional standards.” In addition, the (insert name of unit offering course) adheres to the policies on academic honesty as specified in General Student Regulations 1.0, Protection of Scholarship and Grades; the all-University Policy on Integrity of Scholarship and Grades; and Ordinance 17.00, Examinations. (See Spartan Life: Student Handbook and Resource Guide and/or the MSU Web site: www.msu.edu) Therefore, unless authorized by your instructor, you are expected to complete all course assignments, including homework, lab work, quizzes, tests and exams, without assistance from any source. You are expected to develop original work for this course; therefore, you may not submit course work completed for another course to satisfy the requirements for this course. Students who violate MSU rules may receive a penalty grade, including but not limited to a failing grade on the assignment or in the course. Contact your instructor if you are unsure about the appropriateness of your course work. (See also https://www.msu.edu/~ombud/)
Plagiarism, from the Ombudsman’s page
Plagiarism (from the Latin plagiarius, an abductor, and plagiare, to steal) is defined by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on Misconduct in Research (take that!) as “ . . . the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit.”
Accidental or Unintentional
One may not even know that they are plagiarizing. It is the student’s responsibility to make certain that they understand the difference between quoting and paraphrasing, as well as the proper way to cite material.
Blatant
Here, students are well aware that they are plagiarizing. Purposefully using someone else’s ideas or work without proper acknowledgment is plagiarism. This includes turning in borrowed or bought research papers as one’s own.
Self
Turning in the same term paper (or substantially the same paper) for two courses without getting permission from one’s instructor is plagiarism.
The Spartan Code of Honor
Student leaders have recognized the challenging task of discouraging plagiarism from the academic community. The Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) is proud to be launching the Spartan Code of Honor academic pledge, focused on valuing academic integrity and honest work ethics at Michigan State University. The pledge reads as follows:
“As a Spartan, I will strive to uphold values of the highest ethical standard. I will practice honesty in my work, foster honesty in my peers, and take pride in knowing that honor is worth more than grades. I will carry these values beyond my time as a student at Michigan State University, continuing the endeavor to build personal integrity in all that I do.”
The Spartan Code of Honor academic pledge embodies the principles of integrity that every Spartan is required to uphold in their time as a student, and beyond. The academic pledge was crafted with inspiration of existing individual college honor codes, establishing an overarching statement for the entire university. It was formally adopted by ASMSU on March 3, 2016, endorsed by Academic Governance on March 22, 2016, and recognized by the Provost, President, and Board of Trustees on April 15, 2016.
SIRS Evaluations
Michigan State University takes seriously the opinion of students in the evaluation of the effectiveness of instruction and has implemented the Student Instructional Rating System (SIRS) to gather student feedback (https://sirsonline.msu.edu). This course utilizes the online SIRS system, and you will receive an e-mail during the last two weeks of class asking you to fill out the SIRS web form at your convenience. In addition, participation in the online SIRS system involves grade sequestration, which means that the final grade for this course will not be accessible on STUINFO during the week following the submission of grades for this course unless the SIRS online form has been completed. Alternatively, you have the option on the SIRS website to decline to participate in the evaluation of the course. We hope, however, that you will be willing to give us your frank and constructive feedback so that we may instruct students even better in the future. If you access the online SIRS website and complete the online SIRS form or decline to participate, you will receive the final grade in this course as usual once final grades are submitted.
Social Media and Sharing of Course Materials
As members of a learning community, students are expected to respect the intellectual property of course instructors. All course materials presented to students are the copyrighted property of the course instructor and are subject to the following conditions of use:
- Students may record lectures or any other classroom activities and use the recordings only for their own course-related purposes.
- Students may share the recordings with other students enrolled in the class. Sharing is limited to using the recordings only for their own course-related purposes.
- Students may post the recordings or other course materials online or distribute them to anyone not enrolled in the class with the advance written permission of the course instructor and, if applicable, any students whose voice or image is included in the recordings.
- Any student violating the conditions described above may face academic disciplinary sanctions.
Mandatory Reporting
Michigan State University is committed to fostering a culture of caring and respect that is free of relationship violence and sexual misconduct, and to ensuring that all affected individuals have access to services. For information on reporting options, confidential advocacy and support resources, university policies and procedures, or how to make a difference on campus, visit the Title IX website at civilrights.msu.edu.
Limits to confidentiality. Essays, journals, and other materials submitted for this class are generally considered confidential pursuant to the University’s student record policies. However, students should be aware that University employees, including instructors, may not be able to maintain confidentiality when it conflicts with their responsibility to report certain issues to protect the health and safety of MSU community members and others. As the instructor, I must report the following information to other University offices (including the Department of Police and Public Safety) if you share it with me:
- Suspected child abuse/neglect, even if this maltreatment happened when you were a child;
- Allegations of sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, or sexual harassment; and
- Credible threats of harm to oneself or to others.
These reports may trigger contact from a campus official who will want to talk with you about the incident that you have shared. In almost all cases, it will be your decision whether you wish to speak with that individual. If you would like to talk about these events in a more confidential setting, you are encouraged to make an appointment with the MSU Counseling and Psychiatric Services.
Student Support Program (SSP)
Michigan State University is offering all MSU students access to counseling support 24/7/365 through My SSP: Student Support Program. My SSP is free to all MSU students. My SSP is confidential, and can help with:
- Adapting to new challenges
- Being successful at school
- Relationships with friends and family
- Practical issues with studying
- Stress, sadness, loneliness, and more
The My SSP professional counselors are available to help anytime, anywhere with:
- Immediate support by phone and chat
- Ongoing support by appointment via phone and video
- In addition, culturally relevant support is available in the language of the caller’s choice.
There are multiple options for connecting with a My SSP counselor:
- Download the free My SSP app on Google Play or iTunes
- Chat online at http://us.myissp.com
- Call 1-866-743-7732
- From outside North America, call 001.416.380.657
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities should contact the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities to establish reasonable accommodations. For an appointment with a counselor, call 353-9642 (voice) or 355-1293 (TTY)
Drops and Adds
The last day to add this course is the end of the first week of classes. The last day to drop this course with a 100 percent refund and no grade reported is (see Academic Calendar). The last day to drop this course with no refund and no grade reported is (see Academic Calendar). You should immediately make a copy of your amended schedule to verify you have added or dropped this course.
Note on Attendance
Students who fail to attend the first four class sessions or class by the fifth day of the semester, whichever occurs first, may be dropped from the course.
Christian Lotz 