LATI 180

Community Guidelines & Academic Integrity

Learning Community Principles

Black feminist thinker bell hooks talks about using the classroom to create a learning community. This is a community dedicated to transforming everyone in it – teachers and students alike. It is a community that comes together to share new knowledge but also to transform behaviors, to challenge each other, to take risks, to express and address conflict, and to support each other. It is a community that takes trust and work. I want you to think of your participation in this class in terms of responsibility not simply to yourself but to a learning community. This will take time, effort, courage, and generosity – the ability to listen, the ability to talk and share, the ability to critically engage with yourself, the texts, and each other generously. Empower yourself to question. Learn to ask better questions. Challenge yourself as much as you challenge others and me.

A few principles for making a learning community:

Time and Effort – Participation includes lots of things. First, it includes attendance. Come to class. Make use of these resources. Second, participation includes preparation. Do the readings ahead of time, come with questions. Do the assignments, let them challenge you, enjoy them.
Courage and Generosity – Take responsibility for the learning community with courage and generosity. This means being aware of how many people have talked and allowing space for everyone to participate. Talk less if you talk a lot, try to talk more if you are shy. Listen to what others say, try to understand where they are coming from. Take risks and be willing to change. Race and racism are contentious issues that affect our lives differently. If we encounter conflict, don’t shy away. Trust we can work through it honestly, even if we disagree. Again, be willing to change.

Moreover, effective written communication and open academic dialogue are crucial for sustaining a learning community that is respectful, considerate, relevant, creative, and thought-provoking. Inside and outside of the classroom, expressions, meaning, and tone can easily be taken out of context, making it imperative that all members of our learning community adhere to the communication guidelines below:

Be respectful. Be sensitive. Be aware.

Treat your classmates with respect.
Be thoughtful and open in discussion.
Be aware and sensitive to different perspectives.
Build one another up and encourage one another to succeed.

The following behavior should be avoided:

Using insulting, condescending, or abusive words.
Using all capital letters, which comes across as SHOUTING.
Contacting learners or posting advertisements and solicitations.
Posting copyrighted material.

Our classroom abides by these principles:

UCSD Student Conduct Code

Standards of Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity is expected of everyone at UC San Diego. This means that you must be honest, fair, responsible, respectful, and trustworthy in all of your actions. Lying, cheating, or any other forms of dishonesty will not be tolerated because they undermine learning and the University’s ability to certify students’ knowledge and abilities. Thus, any attempt to get, or help another get, a grade by cheating, lying or dishonesty will be reported to the Academic Integrity Office and will result in sanctions. Sanctions can include an F in the class and suspension or dismissal from the University. So, think carefully before you act. Before you act, ask yourself the following questions: a: is my action honest, fair, respectful, responsible, and trustworthy, and b) is my action authorized by the instructor? If you are unsure, don’t ask a friend, ask your instructor, instructional assistant, or the Academic Integrity Office. You can learn more about academic integrity at academicintegrity.ucsd.edu.

(Source: Bertram Gallant, T. (2017). Teaching for integrity. UC San Diego Academic Integrity Office.)

GenAI Conditional Use Policy: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools like Chat GPT, DALL-E, or GitHub CoPilot, that generate output may be used in this course in limited ways with proper documentation, citation, and acknowledgement.

Permitted use: In accordance with our course learning outcomes, you may use GenAI for specific tasks that enhance your learning such as Drafting an outline to brainstorm and fine-tune your ideas or checking for grammar or style, as you find most helpful, to support development of critical analytical and writing skills. We will also allow the use of GenAI tools to summarize or paraphrase key ideas from the readings, as a supplemental study guide.
Not allowed: Specific tasks that do not enhance your learning (and thus are not permitted in this class) include:
- Using GenAI tools for portfolio entries (unless prompted to do so during the free-write exercise in class);
- Using entire sentences or paragraphs without providing quotation marks and a citation on course assignments such as discussion boards or your class projects, just as you would to any other source, and/or
- Using an app to write a draft (either rough or final) of an assignment submitted for credit towards your final grade in any area of assessment.

Any use of GenAI for graded course assignments must be accompanied by a disclosure statement documenting use, along with a reflection on how its use supported (or possibly undermined) learning outcomes for this class. Chat history may be requested and inappropriate use of GenAI must be reported to the Office of Academic Integrity. See GenAI Course Policy and Effective Use and Citation of GenAI handouts before using GenAI for any graded assignments.

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