esource: Ch. 11 & 12 of Working in Groups

Create an agenda for a virtual team meeting on a topic of your choice. Draw from your own experience working within a group with the goal of achieving a specific task. You may use your experience as a student working in a group, or develop a plan for a future learning team. Your agenda should include specific items requiring group discussion and consensus.

In addition to the agenda, write a 200- to 350-word summary of the following:

• In a virtual meeting, how can you ensure a group is communicating effectively?
• How can you ensure that each team member understands what the next steps are required to achieve the meeting’s goals?

Click the Assignment Files tab to submit your agenda and summary.

Both are 1~2 pages long.

Unit 1 Writing Assignment (WA)1

Why was Rome/Byzantium interested in ruling the Middle East and what were the main effects in the Middle East of her rule?

Be sure to use information in the module including one of the three online selections (one of Kennedy, Mango, Millar). Don’t forget to look at all of the parts of the module. In unit 1, these include the three “sub modules” at the bottom – on various aspects of Roman society and state system. The module and the sub-modules serve in this online course as my “lectures”. All are essential to your learning what I expect you to learn. You may choose to focus on Imperial Rome or Byzantium depending on which of the 3 selections you chose.

You should submit your assignment in the WA1 Dropbox, found in the tabs for Unit 1. Please place at the top of your assignment – whether you cut and paste it into the dropbox space or whether you upload a document – your name and which WA this is – in this case WA1.

Be sure that you have read thoroughly the Frequently Asked Questions and their answers in the Lessons Tab for the course. If you have trouble finding these, please email us immediately. It is there that I provide my rules for submitting assignments in this course.

Unit 2 – Sasanian Empire and the Middle East

WA 2

Answer the following question and submit in your Dropbox for Unit 2. It will be difficult to write a good assignment in fewer than 8 paragraphs I would think. Be sure to use information in Donner (you will need to look back at the assignment in Donner for Unit 1), the modules including the online readings and especiallytheir sub units! And the online reading you have selected will help you to produce an excellent submission.

This question asks for a comparison with topics from Unit 1. In an historical comparison, it is important to avoid making two lists – characteristics of one and then of the other – and leaving the actual comparison to the reader. We want YOU to make the comparison. So it is always best to pick a couple of topics to include – we are here asking for 2. In future assignments we may ask for 1 or 2 or even more. And we will usually be asking you to go back and use information you learned in previous units.

At the top of the assignment, you should include the “password” I assigned you in my comments on your first writing assignment – I will increase your grade for WA 1 by 2 points if you do this.

I would think that 8 – 10 paragraphs would be a good target for this assignment.

Compare the policies of the Byzantine and Sasanian Empires in the Middle East. You should choose at least two aspects of their societies, for example: governmental system, religion, treatment of religious minorities, economy and international trade.

i need on sunday at 7pm

Students will write an essay, 500-750 words in length, on a topic selected from the list below. The purpose of the project is to give students an opportunity to discuss a key political science concept, and to show a basic understanding of academic research and reporting skills. The project consists of producing a 500-750 work essay on one of the provided topics (see below), as well as a works cited page for sources containing information used in the essay. The assignment is to be formatted according to the Modern Language Association (MLA) style. Students should research this style in order to properly format the assignment; papers not formatted properly will not receive a passing grade.

Students should use Courier or New Courier 12 point as the paper’s font, double space the text, and create one inch margins on all four sides of the page. In addition, the assignment should be formatted according to MLA style for papers with no title page.

Please choose one of the following topics for your Writing Assignment 2 essay.

1. After reading Chapter 4, “Civil Liberties,” in its entirety, focus specifically on the discussion of “the Bill of Rights: Origins and Evolution.” The Bill of Rights was written to secure our civil liberties with respect to the actions of the national government. With passage of the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, and subsequent judicial interpretation of its language, many of the protections in the Bill of Rights have been extended to protect individuals from state action (a process referred to as “incorporation”). Thus, just as the national government may not deprive us of our liberties without due process, the Fourteenth Amendment provides us with the same due process protection of our liberties from state government action. For over a century, and on a case-by-case, right-by-right, basis, the Court has been “incorporating” rights from the Bill of Rights into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Include the following:

• Provide an understanding of the origins of the Bill of Rights.
• Explain the Court’s original ruling of nationalization of the Bill of Rights, as expressed in Barron v. Baltimore (1833).
• Define incorporation theory.
• Describe the Court’s implementation of incorporation (nationalization) of the Bill of Rights.
• Provide your perspective on incorporation; do you believe the Court has made the rights decision by interpreting the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to limit state action with regard to individual liberties that are expressed in the Bill of Rights?

2. In Chapter 5, “Civil Rights, Equality and Social Movements,” the authors define civil rights as, “those positive rights, whether political, social, or economic, conferred by the government on individuals or groups.” As such, they are rights that are conferred upon us based on legislative action (i.e., the right to marry, the right to vote, the right to drive, etc.). The Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause requires each state to not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Thus, there is some restriction on a state when it provides civil rights, to do so in an equal manner. After reading Chapter 5 in its entirety, focus specifically on the discussion regarding, “The Women’s Movement and Gender Equality.”  Include the following:

• Provide an understanding of the Court’s initial opinion as to whether the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause required states to apply the law equally, without regard to gender. Use Muller v. Oregon (1908), Goesaert v. Cleary (1948), and Hoyt v. Florida (1961).
• Beginning with Reed v. Reed (1971), explain the shift in the Court’s opinion with regard to the Fourteenth Amendment’s application to laws that discriminated based on gender.
• Understanding the difference between the formal amendment process and the informal amendment process, explain how the Court’s decisions relating to gender equality, beginning in the 1970’s, may have achieved results similar to the goals of the Equal Rights Amendment.
• Explain whether you believe that passage of the Equal Rights Amendment would have provided additional, or different, protection from laws that discriminate based on gender.

3. After reading Chapter 10, “Public Opinion,” study the material related to political socialization (in the section, “How Does Public Opinion Form”?). Complete the following assignment:

• Explain “political socialization” and “agents of political socialization.”
• Describe your personal political socialization. Briefly discuss your current political values, beliefs, and opinions, and explain how (through political socialization) you have acquired these opinions.
• Discuss which/how social agents played a role in your political socialization and, as a result, how your current political opinions have become informed.

4. In Chapter 11, “Interest Groups,” the authors discuss, “Iron Triangles, Issue Networks, and the Influence of Groups.” Complete the following assignment:

• Define the “iron triangle” of policy making.
• Explain what constitutes the three groups involved in the iron triangle, and describe the role of each group.
• Identify a policy issue, other than one explained in the chapter, and list the groups that would fall within the iron triangle for that policy issue.
• Explain whether you believe the close working relationship between the three groups is beneficial or damaging to the policy making process.

5. In Chapter 13, “Political Parties and Voting,” the authors discuss the expansion of voting rights in the United States, in the section, “Toward Universal Suffrage.” If we understand voting rights as the result of states’ determining eligibility requirements and registration procedures, then expansion of suffrage (the right to vote) must be understood in terms of changes in eligibility requirements and changes in registration procedures. Complete the following assignment:

• Define the terms, “franchise” and “suffrage.”
• Describe the three amendments to the U.S. Constitution (15th, 19th, and 26th) that prohibited states from denying individuals the right to vote based on specific criteria. Explain how these amendments expanded suffrage.
• Detail state actions (policies, such as poll taxes and literacy tests), subsequent to passage of the 15th Amendment, to reduce the ability to vote of African Americans. Explain how these laws affected suffrage.
• Describe actions at the national level (such as, passage of the 24th Amendment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993). Explain how these national actions affected suffrage.