Department of Religious Studies
General Syllabus Statement
Welcome to Religious Studies at Georgia State University! GSU is home to a fantastically diverse student body, and our classrooms are spaces for respectful teaching and learning. As a student taking a class in Religious Studies, you are responsible for reading and understanding department, college, and university policies. Students in our classes are held to in the Student Code of Conduct and other policies discussed in the Student Handbook. If you have questions about the policies below or policies included in the Student Code of Conduct or Student Handbook, please ask your instructor.
Respect & Civility
Faculty and students in Religious Studies courses commit to supporting diversity and inclusion. We strive to construct a safe and inclusive environment by respecting each other’s dignity and privacy. We honor each class member’s experiences, beliefs, perspectives, and backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, language, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identification, ability status, socio-economic status, national identity, or any other identity markers.
- Faculty in the Department of Religious Studies are committed to fostering an anti-racist environment in our classrooms and programs. Instructors in Religious Studies are continually engaged in learning about and implementing anti-racist pedagogies; we are sharing and developing anti-racist resources and support for students; we are including diverse voices and media in our classes; and we are engaged in anti-racist mentoring initiatives. In particular, we actively work to identify and interrupt microaggressions in our classroom exchanges. (See handout on microaggressions.)
- Please use the names and pronouns preferred by students and faculty. Students who wish to use a name or pronoun other than what is available on the class roll may introduce themselves to the class using it, or they may contact the instructor via email.
- In instances of sexual misconduct, instructor(s) and teaching assistants are designated as Responsible Employees and are required to share with administrative officials all reports of sexual misconduct for university review. If you wish to disclose an incident of sexual misconduct confidentially, there are options on campus for you do so. For more information on this policy, please refer to the Sexual Misconduct Policy which is included in the Georgia State University Student Code of Conduct (https://codeofconduct.gsu.edu/).
- Students who wish to request an accommodation for a disability must do so by registering with the Access and Accommodations Center (AACE) located in Student Center East, Suite 205. Students may only be accommodated upon issuance of a signed Student Accommodation Letter through the AACE. The signed Student Accommodation Letter may be submitted electronically to the course instructor or hand delivered by the student to all classes in which the student is seeking accommodations.
Academic Honesty & Netiquette
- While the penalty for academic dishonesty is a matter of the instructor's discretion in the Department of Religious Studies, the customary penalty for a violation of the academic dishonesty rules is an "F" in the course. See the University Policy on Academic Honesty on the reverse of this sheet.
- The selling, sharing, publishing, presenting, or distributing of instructor-prepared course lecture notes, videos, audio recordings, or any other instructor-produced materials from any course for any commercial purpose is strictly prohibited unless explicit written permission is granted in advance by the course instructor. This includes posting any materials on websites. Unauthorized sale or commercial distribution of such material is a violation of the instructor’s intellectual property and the privacy rights of students attending the class and is prohibited.
- In keeping with USG and university policy, instructors will make every effort to maintain the privacy and accuracy of your personal information. Specifically, unless otherwise noted, your instructor will not actively share personal information gathered from the course with anyone except university employees whose responsibilities require access to said records. This course may use websites and technologies such as iCollege. As such, some information collected from iCollege, websites, or other technologies may be subject to the Georgia Open Records Act. This means that while your instructor does not actively share information, in some cases your instructor or university officials may be compelled by law to release information gathered from the site. Also, the course will be managed in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which prohibits the release of education records without student permission.