Students will have the opportunity participate in the class both during and outside of classroom hours. Each student will be assigned to three days during the semester in which they will co-author a short memo comparing and contrasting that day’s readings and posing questions for discussion. These memos should be posted in the forums on the course website by 8 PM the day before the readings are to be discussed. The posters will also start off the next day’s session with a short presentation and will open up discussion. ALL students are required to read the memos and be prepared to answer the questions the next day in class; they are also encouraged to respond to the memos in the forum as part of their participation.

The memos should touch on the following points: What are the theoretical assumptions (explicit or implicit) contained in each theoretical piece, such as who the relevant actors are and what their aims are? What are the theoretical concepts, such as balance of power, power transitions, or motivated bias, that each theoretical piece introduces? What evidence is presented in the theoretical pieces (or in the empirical pieces) that supports these theories? Evidence that undermines these theories? Questions for discussion should focus on comparison across authors in a given day or with previous weeks.