Marking criteria and standards

Guidelines on the criteria and standards required for assessment tasks, as well as rubrics where appropriate, will be placed on the iLearn site. Marks given for individual items of assessment are indicative only; final marks will be determined after moderation.

Assignment Submission

ALL written assignments will be submitted via Turnitin.

You are required to present yourself for examination at the time and place designated in the University Examination Timetable. The only exception to sitting an examination at the designated time is because of documented illness or unavoidable disruption. In these circumstances, please consult University Policy for the available procedure.

Extensions

ALL deadlines are firm unless an extension has been requested in writing one (1) week before the due date. All requests for extensions must be submitted  via ask.mq.edu.au and be supported by appropriate documentation. A penalty for lateness (see below) will apply unless a medical certificate or other written substantiation is supplied. Assignments handed in early will not be marked and returned before the due date. Always retain a copy of work you submit in case it is lost in the online system.

Late Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, (a) a penalty for lateness will apply – two (2) marks out of 100* will be deducted per day for assignments submitted after the due date – and (b) no assignment will be accepted more than seven (7) days (incl. weekends) after the original submission deadline. No late submissions will be accepted for timed assessments – e.g. quizzes, online tests.

*"100" is to be understood as 100% of the marks for that task, not the entire unit.

Satisfactory Completion of Unit

In order to complete this unit satisfactorily students must gain a mark of 50% or more, and attempt all assessment tasks.

Weekly Readings

There is no textbook for this unit. Required readings will be available via Leganto on the Macquarie University Library Website, or on the iLearn page.

If students wish to have a readable and informative narrative of the historical themes on which this unit focuses, We recommend Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (London: Penguin, 2006 [new edition]). Students are not required to purchased this book.

Frequent recourse will be made to the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, the first ever work of ‘Christian History’, written at the close of the period this unit deals with. A modern translation of this work is published in Penguin Classics: Eusebius, The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine, trans. G.A. Williamson (London & New York, 1989). Students who wish to purchase this will find it useful, but a perfectly reasonable translation is also available on-line, at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.html.

Technology Used

The unit has an iLearn page which can be accessed at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/index.php. PC and internet access are therefore required. Basic computer skills (e.g., internet browsing) and skills in word processing are also a requirement. Content, readings, and discussions for this unit will be delivered via the unit iLearn page. The lectures for this unit will be recorded and the audio recordings and accompanying slides will be available on the Echo 360 system and the unit iLearn page. Readings will be available via Legato and the unit iLearn site, where other digital resources will also be placed.

Lectures, Seminars, and Tutorials

The class for this unit will be taught in a three-hour block, from 3–6 pm on Thursdays in the Active Learning Space at 12 Second Way room 435. This class will have three components: the first hour (3–4pm) will be a lecture, the second hour (4–5 pm) a seminar, and the third our (5–6 pm) a tutorial.

Lecture (Thursday, 3–4 pm)

The lectures will cover the historical content of the unit. The audio of the lectures will be recorded and placed on the Echo360 System along with the Lecture slides.

Seminars (Thursday, 4–5 pm)

Directly following each week's lecture, there will be a one hour seminar, in which we will raise issues about how and why we study history, and the methodologies, sources, and approaches we use, which we will then discuss, both in small groups and as a class. There will be readings and activities for some seminars. The seminars will not be recorded.

Tutorials (Thursday, 5–6 pm)

Directly following each week's seminar will be a one-hour tutorials, in which we will focus on the historical interpretation of the sources for religion in the Roman empire. Tutorials will focus on interpretation of the ancient sources, with a number of ancient sources, sometimes accompanied by related modern discussions of them, to be read each week. The tutorials will not be recorded. Note that there are tutorials in week 1.

Attendance

As the lectures are recorded, attendance at them is not mandatory. However, students may find it difficult to engage in the seminars and especially the tutorials if they have not listened to the lecture before they attend the seminar and tutorial, and as the seminar and tutorial directly follow the lecture, it is impossible to listen the recorded lecture before attending that week's seminar and tutorial. Participation in seminars and tutorials forms part of the unit assessment, so students who do not attend will lose marks: attendance at seminars and tutorials is therefore strongly encouraged. Note that internal students cannot fulfil their participation requirements by posting on the iLearn discussion fora. 

Since the previous offering in 2013, the structure of the unit, some assessment, and some lecture content have been adjusted.

In order to complete the unit satisfactorily students must gain a mark of 50% or more overall, and undertake all assessment tasks.