Course Requirements:

Attendance
Class meets twice a week.  It is expected that you will also need to schedule studio hours (6-10 hours) outside the announced class times.  Excessive unexcused absences and in particular,  leaving early from the class will impact your final grade.  Leaving early is counted as an absence. 
 

 Assigned Projects  
Each project will challenge your ability to build on knowledge from previous courses.  There are no limits to the number of pieces you may make.  In wheel thrown clay or hand built clay, one project or even one set from each category is not sufficient to provide positive growth.  There is a number listed on the project sheet for hand built clay.

Critiques
Individual conversations with me are scheduled during the regular class hours. Attendance is mandatory at the group critiques held approximately once a month (see calendar).  Bring a written critique of your own efforts on the day of the critique.  You will hand this in to the instructor.  You must have this with you to be considered at the critique so, make sure it is done.  See the handout on thinking about your work.

You are encouraged to consult with the instructor about your work or any other questions you may have regarding the course.

 Load, Fire, and Unload Kilns and studio maintenance 
It is the responsibility of Ceramics II students to load, fire, and unload the bisque and Gas Kilns.  A rotation schedule will be set up when the first bisque is needed. Ceramics II students do some studio maintenance and you must clean your personal work area including any cabinets and  shelving, your locker, and you are also required to complete some kiln maintenance.  This involves grinding and applying kiln wash to the shelves, cleaning the kiln furniture shelving, and vacuuming the kilns.   We share the end of the semester duties with the independent studies students.  

Research Project
Each student will research and write a paper on a ceramic artist.    You need to choose the artist early in the semester, as you will probably need to use inter-library loan; consequently, the deadline for choice of artist is Friday, February 1, 2008.  Your paper should be approximately 6-10 pages in length.  The paper is due Friday, April 4, 2007.  Late papers will not be graded.  The research project is a must for ceramics students.  It is where you begin to discover the works of other artists who, like you, are drawn to clay as an artistic medium.  The deadlines for this project reflect the time needed for you to attempt to use your artist as an inspiration in the works you produce throughout the semester so, select an artist whose work you are attracted to because of some aspect that you think you may wish to see expressed in your own pieces.

In writing your research papers please remember that plagiarism is unacceptable at Monmouth College.  Plagiarism is defined in the Scots Guide as “using words, ideas, writing, or work of another without giving appropriate credit.”  Please be aware that plagiarism in this course will result in a grade of F for the course and a written report to the Dean of the College.  It’s not hard to avoid this problem.  For this paper you must use Chicago Style.  If you need help with that style please come to my office I have plenty of handbooks with Chicago Style to show you how.  Always introduce your source the first time you quote, paraphrase or summarize them (e.g. Jane Doe suggests etc.).  There are numerous ways to embed smooth introductions of your sources into your paper.  Also, most importantly, you must use quotations around the directly copied words of others.  If you copy over 4 lines and/or 45 words you need to indent 10 spaces from the left margin and set off the words in a special paragraph (no quote marks are needed  then).  You always need to put an end note or footnote number to refer the reader to the source of the information.   If you summarize or paraphrase you must also place an end note or footnote number at the end of the information.   I am always willing to proof read any paper but you must give it to me at least a week ahead of the final date for the paper.  I am also a willing collaborator in helping with quotation, summary and/or paraphrase if you need advice.  Please talk to me during class hours, come to my office during office hours, or make an appointment. 

Final Display of Assigned Projects/Maintenance
The final exam period is Tuesday, May 13, 2007 at 1:00 p.m.  You will set up all of the projects and we will have a final critique. 

Sketchbook
Keep a record of the processes as you work through the problems in the course.  I recommend you use the sketchbook as a resource for noting the judgments you make in the production of your work.  When things are successful, you have a record of your process to success.  If your process is flawed and a project fails to meet your expectations, you will find you have a record to review to see what might be changed to achieve success.  I also suggest you use your sketchbook as a way to note firing schedules and your own involvement with the firing process this semester.  Always bring them to critiques because we will begin critique by writing our thoughts in the sketchbook.