For required readings, we would like to receive BY EMAIL (i.e., NOT hardcopy) a brief response -- of about 2-3 paragraphs -- to the paper within two weeks. The paragraphs should be less in the nature of a summary and more in the nature of setting out what sorts of reaction/questions you might have after reading the paper. We'll try to synthesize your responses and post them at our website as a springboard for discussion.
For optional readings, the policy is a little different. We will hand out about a dozen papers that will be labelled "optional" over the course of the semester (we haven't quite settled on an exact number yet). During the semester, you should choose at least five papers for which to write a response (much as in the case of the required readings). For optional readings you can take a bit more time to send in your response, but we'd like to get them within three weeks from the time they're handed out. We'll send out more details about the particular optional readings that we'll be using as the semester proceeds.