Last revised: 12/29/03

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Course Objective	Textbooks	Semester Grade	Grade Chart	Prof's Office Hours	Attendance Adjustment Form	Make-up Requests	Honor Code
Requirements:	Attendance	Exams		Paper Presentation	Class Participation		GWU  Campus Shop

The student demonstrates understanding of the history of the interpretation of the New Testament.

Religion 492 is the study of the history of the interpretation of the New Testament. The demonstration of this understanding will be evidenced by tests over class lectures and discussion, as well as over presentations on assigned topics. The Schedule page in the course room will contain links to the various topics to be studied; each of these will contain a lecture manuscript along with assigned readings for that topic. Thus these need to be studied and followed very carefully. 

Bray, Gerald. Biblical Interpretation: Past & Present. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

This text can be purchased in the GWU Campus Shop at the beginning of the semester, or online via AddAll.com.  Reading assignments will be made from this text, as well as other sources both printed and online, for each topic in the course. Each student will be expected to come to class prepared to discuss the ideas found in the assigned readings.

• Attendance:

Students are expected to attend all class periods. University policy will allow no more than 25% absences from this course. This means a maximum of 11 absences for classes meeting three times each week; 7 absences for one meeting twice; and 4 evenings (or 9 class sessions) for one meeting once weekly. For the summer term with two class periods each for five days each week, a total of 11 absences from the 48 total class periods is the limit. Note also: absences due to officially sponsored activities, such as athletic contest will count toward the maximum allowable number of absences but will not be factored into the grade adjustment. Each student is responsible to notify the professor of the reason for each absence to determine whether it is an excused absence; until the online Request for an Excused Absence form is filled out and approved for each class absence, every absence will be considered an unexcused absence, thus subtracting 5 points from the Class

Participation Grade. The Class Participation grade (up to 10% of semester grade) is predicated on unexcused absences(- 5 pts), excused absences (- 1 pt), tardies (-3 pts), leaving class early (-2 pts), sleeping in class (-3 pts), participation in group assignments (+ 2 pts), answering oral questions in class (+2 pts), etc. Points ranging from 1 to 5 are deducted for every negative activity defined in the preceding sentence! Additionally, preparedness for class assignments etc. will play an important role in this grade. See the Semester Grade below for an explanation and chart. For Religion Majors, each attendance at the C.M.A. meetings during the semester erases one absence per C.M.A. meeting.
 

• Exams:

Two major exams shall be given in the duration of the semester. All of these are 'take-home' exams that will be turned in at the specified time in the exam instructions page. Click on the hyperlinks for specific instructions regarding Exam 1, and Exam 2. See Schedule page for exact dates. The grading of the major exams will be completed over a two week period after the test date.

Grading of Exams:  Failure to correctly fill out the header information in the Exam Instructions is minus 10 points.

• Paper Presentations:
• Presentation Guidelines:

A formal presentation on an assigned topic will be a part of the course requirement. The student will submit an online request for an assigned topic from the provided list of topics by the beginning of the semester. The precise listing of possible topics is contained in the online Presentation List page. The presentation will consist of the following requirements:
• (1) 15 minute summation of the subject to the class;
• (2) 10 minute class discussion of the subject;
• (3) a summary of a minimum fifteen page formal paper of the subject presented to each member of the class one class period in advance of the presentation along with a bibliography of the subject. An automatic grade reduction of 10 points will be imposed for failure to adhere to this guideline.
• Paper Guidelines:
• A minimum fifteen page formal paper on the assigned presentation topic.
• The paper MUST strictly follow the latest edition of the Turabian Manual of Style for all aspects of format.
• You will want to check a copy of this style guide in Dover Library for specifics. The internet listings for Turabian contain only instructions for Bibliography and Footnotes.
• For a few, a web site called Style Ease Software contains utility software programs for sale (app. $35 to $40) designed to work with MS Word. These will automatically format your paper document with either Turabian or APA style requirements. Of course, the Nota Bene word processing software that I have been using for years comes with the ability to format a paper document automatically into one of almost two dozen different style guide requirements.
• The core divisions of the Body of the paper will include the follow items:
• The Method (s)
• A detailed description of the interpretation method or methods being investigated, including the history of its development.
• Key Contributors
• An in-depth discussion of the contributions of key NT scholars to the development of the method(s) under consideration
• Application to the New Testament
• An application of the methodology to the exegesis of a selected NT scripture text illustrating how the method(s) impact the understanding of the text.
• Bibliography
• The starting resource for researching the assigned topic is the relevant chapter in the Bray textbook
• A minimum of ten sources must be vigorously utilized in the writing of the paper.
• This included both primary and secondary sources;
• A mixture of these should be the goal.
• Total dependence on secondary sources will significantly reduce the presentation grade
• Paper structure according to Turabian:
• Title Page
• Introduction
• Body
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Submission of the paper:
• By midnight of Monday of the scheduled presentation date, each student will submit an electronic copy of the final draft of the paper to Dr. Cranford via email attachment or on a floppy disk.
• The paper MUST be done in either Microsoft Word doc or Word Perfect wpd format. No other formats will be accepted.
• The electronic version can be sent to GWU@cranfordville.com as a email attachment.
• By Tuesday before the scheduled presentation on Thursday, a PDF formatted version of the paper will be posted in both the Schedule page and the Bulletin Board for class members to download and print out their individual copies of the paper. The presenter is not to make zeroxed copies of his/her paper for the other members of the class.
• Each class member is REQUIRED to bring a hard copy of the paper to class on the presentation day that has been carefully read and evaluated prior to the presentation class period. NOTE: the professor at roll call will check to determine that each student has his/her copy of the paper. An automatic deduction of 10 points from the Participation Grade will be imposed each time a student fails to bring a copy of the paper to class.
• Grading of the paper presentation
• The major part of the grade will be based on the paper and a secondary part on the summary oral presentation in class.
• This ratio will shift somewhat according to individual situations of strengths and weaknesses on each part of the assignment.
• Rigid adherence to the above Presentation and Paper guidelines will comprise a significant part of the assignment grade.
• The expectation is that each student will combine insightful quotation of sources with thoughtful reflection on the subject being investigated. Remember this is a senior level course with commensurate requirements.
• Assignment Request procedure:
1. From the List of Presentation Topics page select your first and second choices.
• Do not select a topic that has already been assigned.
• The assignments are made on a first-come-first-served basis exclusively through the online request form below.
2. Submit these online by filling out the online Request of Presentation Assignment form.
3. Check your email to receive a confirmation email making the assignment. This should come within 24 hours of submitting your request. Also you can check the List of Presentation Topics page to see if your name appears by a specific topic.

The semester grade will be determined from an average of the following sources: major exam 1, major exam 2, and the presentation, counting a 90 per of the semester grade. Additionally, class attendance, participation, and attitude will count for 10 percent of the semester grade.

The adjusted average of the above numerical grade will then be converted into a letter grade according to the following curve: A = 90-100; B= 80-89; C = 70-79; D = 60-69; F = below 60. The numerical grades are not rounded off; see example below.

Note the following illustration of the above:

 

Grade Sources:	R492:
Exam 1	20%
Exam 2	30%
Paper Presentation	30%
Class Participation:	20%
Sem Avg:	100%
Semester Grade:	.

After each major exam, at mid-term, and before the final exam, each student will receive an individualized Grade Report listing his/her grades and the semester average to that point in the course, as well as the class averages. Information about the semester grade or final exam will be available from the professor's office soon after the final exam in the form of Grade Report Five.

The GWU Student Handbook defines these actions as follows on pages 50-51. Read them carefully, because they will be enforced to the limit in this class.
"Definition of Academic Dishonesty:
Academic Dishonesty is the deliberate and knowing misrepresentation of one's academic work. A student is dishonest when two circumstances occur: (1) The student could reasonably be expected to know that his/her professor would disapprove of some aspect or circumstance of the student's academic work; and (2) the students submits work to the instructor for evaluation while hiding that particular aspect or circumstance from the instructor. To do so is clearly dishonest because the instructor will evaluate the work as what he/she understands it to be. The student has deceived the instructor by misrepresenting the work, and the evaluation has not been rightly earned. From another perspective, academic dishonesty may be viewed as the use of unauthorized assistance in any work which is to be evaluated --"unauthorized" meaning that the professor would not approve of the form of assistance received and is unaware of its use. The student is being dishonest if he/she deliberately hides this assistance from the instructor while knowing the instructor would not approve of this assistance. If the instructor is unaware of the assistance that has been received he/she will evaluate the work as being entirely the student's own. Thus, the evaluation has not been fairly earned by the student. Furthermore, any student who knowingly gives unauthorized assistance is also guilty of academic dishonesty. On tests and examinations academic dishonesty occurs when a student receives any assistance that the professor has not expressly permitted. It may take the form of looking on another student's test paper or bringing into the test site any information or materials not expressly permitted by the professor. Both of the above definitions of academic dishonesty apply: The student has misrepresented the test as being entirely his/her own work. Furthermore, the student has received unauthorized assistance.
     On research papers, reports and other written assignments a form of academic dishonesty is plagiarism, which is the use of someone else's information or exact words without properly "documenting" or identifying that source. Whenever someone else's exact words are used those words must be properly punctuated as a quotation and the source fully identified. Also, any information or ideas which have been taken from a source other than the student's own personal knowledge – book, article, interview, etc. – must be properly documented, even though the student may be rephrasing the information in his/her own words. A student should not hesitate to consult the professor about any question or uncertainty regarding proper documentation of research information. A professor may often allow and even encourage students to work together on assignments or receive assistance from other students, other faculty members, other university staff members, friends, family or others. However, if the professor has not expressly allowed such assistance and expects the assignment to be done entirely by the student, to do otherwise would be dishonest. The student should consult the professor if there is any doubt about outside assistance being allowable....
     "The examples above are not intended to be a full list of cases of academic dishonesty, but they illustrate the definition. Ultimately, academic dishonesty amounts to deliberately hiding something from the professor. So the best advice is this: Whenever in any doubt, consult the professor."

     In addition to the bringing of charges against the student for academic dishonesty and plagiarism as outlined in the paragraphs following the above quote in the Student Handbook, the university authorizes each professor to set additional policies not less stringent, but more stringent than the above stated policy. In this class, the following policy will be strictly enforced:

The minimum penalty for cheating or plagiarism will be a zero for the work submitted.  Violations of an egregious or repeated nature may, upon investigation, result in the offender's receiving an F grade for the entire course.

Please remember that the purpose of an honor system is not to seek out cheaters, but to ensure the integrity of the hard work that each of you will be contributing to this course.  Good, honest students deserve to have their hard work and preparation protected against the rare individual who hopes to slide by on someone else's efforts.

Special Needs. If you require accommodations for a special need, please contact the professor. Your request will then be processed through the NOEL Program for the Disabled.

Career Opportunities. The Career Services Office has marvelous services available to GWU students and alumni for job assistance. You need to get your resume posted with them and take advantage of the services Holly Sweat and her assistants provide. Career Services is proud to announce that the majority of their resources can now be accessed via their web site: www.careers.gardner-webb.edu.  Upcoming events, career fairs, campus employer recruitment and the Jobs Bulleting are just a few of the resources available on the site.  Be sure to take advantage of all Career Services has to offer Contact the office at 704 406-4562, their web site at http://www.careers.gardner-webb.edu, or go by their office at Suite 204 in the Dover Campus Center.

Class Cancellation Notices. When classes are canceled due to bad weather, you can find this information posted on GWU's web site or call 1- 877-GWU-SNOW. Additionally, area radio -- especially the university's radio station WGWG at 88.3 FM -- and TV stations will be notified of the closing. Very rarely will classes on the Boiling Springs campus be closed for bad weather.