Student grades will be based on several factors:

• General class participation and attendance; 10% of the student’s final grade.
• Two written projects with topics assigned by the instructor. These projects will come at roughly the 1/3 and 2/3 point in the course. The topics will be relative to the subjects covered in the first four week block of the course and the subsequent four week block. Each student will choose two questions, or topic areas, from a list of three. They will have one week to research the topics and present type-written responses of not less than 5 double spaced pages. Students will need to reference their material. Several questions will require internet web searches, and reference URLs will be required. The two projects will represent 40% of the student’s final grade.
• A final research-style term paper of not less than 10, double spaced type-written pages for undergraduates and 15 pages for graduate students, will be due a week before the end of the course. The topic will be of the student’s choosing, although the instructor will approve the subjects. The students will be required to choose a topic by the fifth week of the course. This final research paper will represent 50% of the student’s grade.

This sounds pretty rigorous, but I think I'm up to it. So, what's the schedule of events?