HIST 1513 Western Civilization to 1648 Syllabus 010 Fall 2026

When do the Essential Assignments need to be turned in if you want to pass the class?

Students must pass all Essential Assignments to pass the class. Students who do not pass the first time are able to retake their exams or revise their papers in order to pass them. Mr. Kistler is glad to help with the revising process.

To keep students on track to pass the class and prevent a rush to turn in Essential Assignments at the end of the term, these are the deadlines:

• By 11:59 pm on Thursday, October 8, the Rhetorical Situation Analysis. Module 1 Assessment, and Module 2 Assessment must be turned in. Students not meeting this requirement will receive an F for the class. Please note, students who do not pass an Essential Assignment the first time are able to improve their assignments to get a passing grade. Mr. Kistler is glad to help you pass!
• By 11:59 pm on Monday, December 7, all Essential Assignments must be turned in. Students not meeting this requirement will receive an F for the class. Please note, students who do not pass an Essential Assignment the first time are able to revise their assignments to get a passing grade. Mr. Kistler is glad to help you pass!
• If you want to avoid getting an Incomplete grade for the class, all revisions of Essential Assignments must be turned in by noon on Thursday, December 10.

Any exceptions to these deadlines must be requested by the student and approved by Mr. Kistler. Documentation may be required.

Late Work Policy

• Quizzes and in-class assignments can only be made up with a documented excused absence. Mr. Kistler drops the lowest scores as explained above, recognizing that things do come up.
• Assignments of 30 points or more: There is an automatic 1-day grace period. After that:
  • Up to 1 week late: 10% of points taken off
  • Up to 2 weeks late: 20% of points taken off
  • And so on, for each additional week late

Quizzes

Quizzes are held at the beginning of most classes. Students will be given 10 minutes (or more, if Mr. Kistler decides it is necessary). Students who are late will not get additional time. Students may use notes on paper if they wish to, but not electronic devices. You can only make up quizzes with a documented excused absence, but your lowest scores will be dropped.

If you leave class early without a documented excuse, you will receive a score of zero on the quiz.

If you are disconnected from class and not participating (readings closed, on phone or laptop rather than paying attention, headphones on or earbuds in), you will lose 50% of your quiz score.

Discussion Responses

Each discussion will conclude with an in-class discussion response, as noted on the class schedule. Students will need to pass each exam with at least a 70% in one of two ways:

• Getting a passing grade the first time.
• Talking with Mr. Kistler during office hours or another appointment and showing an understanding of the areas for improvement. If you do this, your grade will be changed to a 70%.

Class Cancelation

If class is canceled because of bad weather or another reason, Mr. Kistler will either move the material to an online lesson or reschedule the material for another meeting. Mr. Kistler will communicate with you as soon as he can if class is canceled.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism is defined in Code of Conduct in the KCC Catalog as "taking, reproducing, and/or using as one’s own, without proper attribution, the ideas, writings, paraphrases, data, reports, graphic designs, or computer codes of published or unpublished work of another person in completing an academic assignment. Prohibited conduct may also include the unauthorized submission for credit of academic work that has been submitted for credit in another course." All instances of intentional plagiarism on any assignment for this course will lead to the failure of the assignment. The instance of plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Student Development. If the student has a second instance of plagiarism reported to the Dean of Student Development, the student may be suspended from the institution.

Cheating (including using artificial intelligence tools on assignments in ways not allowed by the instructor), fabrication, intellectual property dishonesty, and facilitation of academic dishonesty are also violations of the Code of Conduct and have the same consequence as plagiarism. You can find the KCC catalog here: https://kcc.smartcatalogiq.com/current/Academic-Catalog. Search for the section on "Academic Misconduct."

Penalties for plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, or the inappropriate use of artificial intelligence tools on Essential Assignments:

• First instance during the semester: student receives a zero but can revise the assignment
• Second instance during the semester: student can receive a maximum grade of C in the course; the student still must revise it to pass
• Third instance during the semester: student fails the course

Credit Hours and Coursework

This course earns those who complete it 3 credit hours. This means that you would expect to spend about 9 hours per week on work for this course (3 hours that you would normally spend in class and about 6 hours outside of class). It also may vary depending on your specific abilities relating to the class. I did not make up this ratio; it is the standard way of calculating out-of-class work in college-level classes. It's your responsibility to figure out if you have enough time to succeed in this course while also fulfilling your other responsibilities.

Make-Up Policy

If you miss a assignment deadline due to an emergency and need more time to complete the work, you must have documentation and contact me beforehand, if possible, or as soon as possible after the deadline. Those not meeting these requirements will receive a late penalty of one grade or more at the discretion of the instructor.

Questions about Grades

If you have a question about a grade on an assignment or exam, follow the “1 day, 1 paragraph, 1 week” policy: wait one day before you contact the instructor, write one paragraph explaining why your grade should be changed, and contact the instructor within one week of the date on which you received your grade. The instructor will then consider your explanation and get back to you as soon as possible.

Incompletes

Incompletes are designed to help a student who is successfully completing a course deal with a personal emergency that arises at the end of the semester. A grade of Incomplete will only be assigned in the case of emergencies such as a death in the immediate family or an illness that requires hospitalization. The student must currently have a passing grade and must still meet the attendance requirements of the course. Official documentation will be required to verify the validity of the student's need for an incomplete.

Incompletes will NOT be given in the case of vacation plans, job conflicts, apartment lease problems, social engagements, missing too many deadlines, or forgetting to take exams. If you need an incomplete, you must speak with me and provide the necessary documentation so that I can make the decision.