SOC4860C: Doing Secrecy Research: Secrets and Power
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Page 1
Carleton University FALL 2021
Department of Sociology & Anthropology
SOC4860C: Doing Secrecy Research: Secrets and Power
Extract from The Secret, by F. Nussbaum (1939)
Instructor: William Walters Office Hours: after class or by
appointment
Office: C673 Loeb Email: william.walters@carleton.ca
Seminar: Weds. 9.00 – 10.00am Location: online via Zoom
Prerequisite(s): fourth-year standing.
DELIVERY FORMAT
This online course is blended: it combines synchronous (‘live’ seminar discussions on
Zoom) and asynchronous elements (e.g., short videos and forums). We will only use
the full three hours (8.30 – 11.30am) in the final week(s) for the mini-conferences. I
anticipate the synchronous component to be no more than 90 mins per week.
Communication: I If you have questions about the course once it has started please
post them in the forum called ‘course questions’ on Brightspace. Only email me directly if
it is something that should not be shared with the class or is not useful for the class to
know.
COURSE AIMS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES
This course is about doing secrecy research. It is not a training in how to dig up secrets
(which we will leave to journalists and detectives) but rather how to research the
phenomenon of secrecy – its cultures, practices, and power relations. The course has
two aims. First, to introduce students to state-of-the-art research in secrecy studies. We
examine the way in which sociologists, geographers, queer theorists, artists and others
have approached questions of secrecy and power within modernity. We look at various
types of secrecy like open secrets, everyday secrecy, denial, and obfuscation and their
entanglement in power relations of race, gender, class and sexuality. We look at
concealment in diverse settings, including technoscience, archives, social media
platforms, national security scandals and the politics of human rights. We also look at
secrecy in terms of practices, such as the classification of knowledge, what it is to come
out of the closet, and what it takes to cover up sensitive information. In our discussions
we will encounter thinkers like Simmel, Goffman, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Shoshana
Zuboff, and Michel Foucault, as well as famous whistleblowers like Daniel Ellsberg and
the filmmaker Laura Poitras, who worked with Edward Snowden.
Second the course aims to help you conduct secrecy research yourselves. Nearly all the
readings relate to case studies, giving you the opportunity to learn through examples
such as scholarship about Britain’s attempts to hide its colonial archives after the
dissolution of Empire in Kenya and India, and the meaning, status and (in)accessibility ofPage 2
the archives generated by the politics of reconciliation between Indigenous and non-
Indigenous people in Canada. Drawing on these and many other cases we will explore
some of the most useful and interesting methods scholars have used and how you can
undertake your own investigations into questions of concealing, deceiving and revealing.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Readings, lectures and videos. There are two, and occasionally three required
readings each week. In addition I will post on Brightspace a short recorded lecture
(approx. 5-10 mins) for each week and sometimes other relevant videos and
materials. These mini-lectures will be uploaded at least 3 days before our weekly
Zoom meeting. Our ‘live’ discussions will engage with all these materials as well as
the readings. We will also refer to certain posts students have made in the forum for
the week (see below).
2. Seminar Attendance and Participation (10%). You are expected to attend the weekly
online seminars and actively participate in the discussions. Your grade will reflect
your attendance and the quality of your engagement with the diverse course
materials. If bandwidth allows, please have your cameras on. (You are welcome to
use suitable online backdrops if you feel more comfortable with that).
3. Weekly forum posts (15%). These will be hosted on BrightSpace for each week’s
topic. Forums are an important way for the class to engage with themes raised by
the readings outside of our synchronous meetings. For example, you could post the
following: (a) a thought, question or problem that arises from a particular reading (b)
a point of criticism (c) a connection to another reading, event, or current affair (eg,
something in the news, or something from the past) (d) a response to someone
else’s post. You will be graded on the quality of your overall contribution to the
forums. The readings are not there to be summarized. Instead, use them as
jumping-off points or hooks for your ideas. You should make a minimum of
FIVE posts during the course. And, you should post at least ONCE for each of
the four Parts of the course.
4. Short essay (20%) Due: October 12, 11.59pm. Word length: 2000 words (the
bibliography is additional to the word count). Upload via Brightspace. Use Word
format and name the file Yourfamilyname_ShortEssay_SOC4860. Write a critical
review essay based on the required readings plus THREE of the further readings for
one of the week’s topics (e.g., ‘information and disinformation campaigns’, week 7).
A critical review essay should identify common themes connecting the readings,
explore some differences, and offer critical reflections about the strengths and
weaknesses of these contributions to the literature.
5. Project proposal (10%) Submit by: Nov 30, 11.59pm on Brightspace. Length: 500
words. You need to write a proposal for your research paper. This will also be the
basis for your presentation at one of the mini-conferences. The course is designed to
understand secrecy in context rather than in generic terms. You are therefore
strongly encouraged to approach the project as a case study. Here is a template for
creating your proposal and structuring your presentation. I will give you feedback on
your proposal at least 3 days before you present it.
i. Working title.Page 3
ii. Research hypothesis and argument. In a few sentences what is the key
problem or question orienting your study? What is the background and context
for your paper.
iii. Literature review. What theories, debates and arguments does your paper
engage with? What theories and concepts does it use?
iv. Case study. What specific case, issue, incident, event, or practice are you
examining? Why this case?
v. Method. What kinds of sources, data, material will you use?
vi. Bibliography. Five academic sources and some empirical references (eg,
newspapers, reports).
6. Miniconference presentation (10%). We will create panels based on common themes.
You can either present your project “live” or pre-record and show it as a video. In either
case presentations should come in at 10 mins.
7. Research Paper (35%). Word length: 3500 words (not including bibliography). Your
paper should be submitted in Word format (not PDF, etc) via Brightspace by 11.59pm
on December 10. Please use this format for the file name
Yourfamilyname_Researchpaper_SOC4860. (Please keep a back up copy of any
submission).
Late penalties: you will lose half a grade if your assignment is handed in the day
following the deadline, another half on the second day, and so on.
COURSE TEXTS
There is no text book. All required readings are either accessible in the journals held
in the library or via ARES.
COURSE WEBSITE
Brightspace will be used for the course.
THEMES AND READINGS
1. Introduction (Sept 8)
PART I. PERSPECTIVES ON SECRECY
2. Secrets and societies – classical perspectives (Sept 15)
• Costas, Jana. and Grey, Christopher. (2016) Secrecy at Work: The Hidden Architecture
of Organizational Life (Stanford UP), 19-43.
• Simmel Georg. (1906) The Sociology of Secrecy and of Secret Societies. American
Journal of Sociology 11(4): 441-498. READ: 462-475.
• Goffman, Erving. (2002[1959]) ‘Front and back regions of everyday life’ in B. Highmore
(ed.) The Everyday Life Reader, London: Routledge, 50-57.
• Weber, Max. (1946) The Power Position of Bureaucracy. In: Gerth H and Mills CW (eds)
From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press, 232-235.
Further readingPage 4
• Bobbio Norberto. (1987) The Future of Democracy, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press, 79-97 (‘Democracy and invisible power’).
• Bok Sissela. (1984) Secrets : on the ethics of concealment and revelation, New York:
Vintage Books.
• Shils, Edward (1996 [1956]) The Torment of Secrecy: The Background and
Consequences of American Security Policies, Chicago Elephant, 21-35.
• Moynihan, Daniel (1997) ‘Secrecy as government regulation’, PS: Political Science and
Politics 30(2): 160-165.
3. Secrets and societies – recent perspectives (Sept 22)
• Hilgartner, Stephen. 2012. Selective flows of knowledge in technoscientific interaction:
information control in genome research’, British Journal of the History of Science 45(2):
267-280.
• Nuttal Sarah. and Mbembe, Achille. (2015) ‘Secrecy’s softwares’, Current Anthropology
56(suppl 12): s317-s324.
• Broeders, Dennis. 2016. ‘The secret in the information society’, Philosophy and
Technology 29(3): 293-305.
Further reading
• Potolsky, Matthew. (2016) ‘Whither secrecy?’ American Literary History 28(4): 787-799.
• Birchall, Claire. 2016. ‘Managing secrecy’, International Journal of Communication 10:
152-163.
• Walters, William. (2021) State Secrecy and Security: Refiguring the Covert Imaginary,
Routledge, 1-26
• Galison, Peter. 2010. ‘Secrecy in three acts’, Social Research 77(3): 941-974.
• Zuboff, Shoshana. 2015. ‘Big other: surveillance capitalism and the prospects of an
information civilization’, Journal of Information Technology 30: 75-89.
• Crowley PJ. (2012) The Rise of Transparency and the Decline of Secrecy in the Age of
Global and Social Media. Penn State Journal of Law and International Affairs 1(2): 241-
259.
• Horn, Eva. 2011. ‘Logics of political secrecy’, Theory, Culture & Society 28(7-8): 103-122.
• Masco, Joe. (2010) ‘”Sensitive but unclassified”: Secrecy and the counter-terrorist state’,
Public Culture 22(3): 433-463.
PART II. PRACTICES AND OPERATIONS
4. Confession and Coming Out (Sept 29)
• Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. (1990) The Epistemology of the Closet, University of California
Press, READ: 67-78.
• Poletti, Anna. (2011) Intimate Economies: PostSecret and the Affect of Confession.
Biography 34(1): 25-36.
• Guest presenter: Suzanne Kennedy (PhD student, Carleton University)
Further readingPage 5
• Foucault, M. 1990. The History of Sexuality Vol. 1, New York: Vintage, pp.17-35 ('The
Repressive Hypothesis').
• Brown, M. (2011) ‘Sedgwick’s closet’, Progess in Human geography 35(1): 124-5.
5. Accidents, Controversies, and Cover Ups (Oct 6)
• Paglen, Trevor. (2010) Goatsucker: Towards a Spatial Theory of State Secrecy.
Environment and Planning D: Society & Space 28: 759-771
• Balmer, Brian. 2004. ‘How does an accident become an experiment? Secret science and
the exposure of the public to biological warfare agents’, Science as Culture 13(2): 197-
228
Further reading
• De Goede, M. and Wesseling, M. 2017. ‘Secrecy and security in transatlantic terrorism
finance tracking’, Journal of European Integration 39(3): 253-269.
• McGoey, L. 2012. 'The logic of strategic ignorance', British Journal of Sociology 63(3):
553-576.
• Venturini, Tommaso (2010) 'Diving in magma: How to explore controversies with actor-
network theory.' Public Understanding of Science 19(3): 258-273.
• Schouten, Peer (2014) 'Security as controversy: Reassembling security at Amsterdam
airport.' Security Dialogue 45(1): 23-42.
• Walters, W. and Luscombe, A. 2017. ‘Hannah Arendt and the Art of Secrecy; Or, The
Fog of Cobra Mist’, International Political Sociology 11(1): 5-20.
• Ingram, Alan (2019) 'Thinking security through the event: Materiality, politics and publicity
in the Litvinenko affair.' Security Dialogue 50(2): 165-180.
• Wilkinson, C. (2021) ‘Scandal and secrecy in the history of the nineteenth-century British
Empire’ History Workshop Journal doi:10.1017/S0018246X21000066, 1-25.
6. Whistleblowing and Truth-telling (Oct 13)
• Ellsberg, Daniel. (2010) 'Secrecy and National Security Whistleblowing', Social Research
77(3): 773-804
• Bean, Hamilton (2009) '"A complicated and frustrating dance": National security reform,
the limits of parrhesia, and the case of the 9/11 families.' Rhetoric & Public Affairs 12(3):
429-459.
• Watch: The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
(DVD), 27.17 – 42.29 (available online through Library or ARES)
Further reading
• Walters, State Secrecy and Security, Ch. 3
• Walters W. (2014) Parrhesia Today: Drone Strikes, Fearless Speech, and the
Contentious Politics of Security. Global Society 28(3): 277-299.
• Stampnitzky, L. (2020) ‘Truth and consequences: Reconceptualizing the politics of
exposure’, Security Dialogue 51(6): 597-613.
• Gros, V., De Goede, M., and İşleyen, B. 2017. ‘The Snowden files made public: A
material politics of contesting surveillance’, International Political Sociology 11(1): 73-89.Page 6
• Hearn, J. 2018. ‘You, them, us, we, too?... online-offline, individual-collective, forgotten-
remembered, harassment-violence’, European Journal of Women’s Studies 25(2): 228-
235.
• Gladwell, M. 2016. ‘Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, and the Modern Whistleblower’,
The New Yorker, December 11.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/12/19/daniel-ellsberg-edward-snowden-and-
the-modern-whistle-blower
7. Information and Disinformation Campaigns (Oct 20)
• Leone, Massimo. 2017. ‘Silence propaganda: A semiological inquiry into the ideologies of
taciturnity’, Signs and Society 5(1): 154-182.
• Hillenbrand, Margaret. (2020) ‘Selling the cryptosphere in China’, Cultural Studies 34(4):
625-655.
Further reading
• Masco, J. (2005) ‘The billboard campaign: The Los Alamos Study Group and the nuclear
public sphere’, Public Culture 17(3): 487-496.
8. BREAK (NO CLASS) (OCT 27)
PART III. SUBJECTS AND IDENTITIES
9. Codebreakers and Commandoes (Nov 3)
• Mundy, Liza (2018) ‘The women code breakers who unmasked Soviet spies’. Smithsonian
Magazine. September. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/women-code-breakers-
unmasked-soviet-spies-180970034/
• Van Veeren, Elspeth. (2019) ‘Secrecy’s subjects: Special operators in the US shadow war’,
European Journal of International Security 4: 386-414.
• Guest presenter: Dr Elspeth Van Veeren (University of Bristol, UK)
Further reading
• Masco J. (2002) Lie Detectors: On Secrets and Hypersecurity in Los Alamos. Public Culture
14(3): 441-467.
• Levy, S. (1999) ‘The open secret’, Wired 04.01.1999. https://www.wired.com/1999/04/crypto/
(On the secret invention of public key cryptography).
• Nesbit, TaraShea (2014) ‘Secrets and Lives – Wives at Los Alamos’, Index on Censorship
43(2): 111-114.
• Lundberg, T. (2021) ‘Secrecy and subjectivity: Double agents and the dark underside of the
international system’, International Political Sociology doi: 10.1093/ips/olab014, 1-17.
• Grey, C. (2014) ‘An organizational culture of secrecy: The case of Bletchley Park’,
Management and Organizational History 9(1): 107-122.
• Walters, State secrecy and security, Ch. 1 (some background on codebreaking).
10. Artists and Filmmakers (Nov 10)Page 7
• Demos, TJ (2009) ‘The right to opacity: On the Otolith Group’s Nervus Rerum’, October 129:
113-128.
• Maass, Peter. (2013) ‘How Laura Poitras helped Snowden spill his secrets’, New York Times
August 13. www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?hpw
• Watch CitizenFour (2015) (Available online through Library or ARES. Further details to be
provided).
Further reading
• Melley, T. 2011. ‘Brain warfare: the covert sphere, terrorism, and the legacy of the Cold War’,
Grey Room 45: 18-41.
• Birchall, C. (2014) ‘Aesthetics of the secret’, New Formations 83: 25-46.
• Bridle, J. 2015. ‘Seamless Transitions’ (video: 6m). See the video at
https://vimeo.com/120788667 See his blogpost on its making – ‘Making Seamless
Transitions’, https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/research-subject-groups/centre-
criminology/centreborder-criminologies/blog/2015/02/making-seamless
PART IV. SITES, OBJECTS, PLACES
11. Archives (Nov 17)
• Anderson, David. (2015) ‘Guilty secrets: Deceit, denial, and the discovery of Kenya’s
“Migrated Archive”, History Workshop Journal 80: 142-160.
• Logan, Tricia. (2018) ‘Questions of privacy and confidentiality after atrocity: Collecting and
maintaining records of the Residential School System in Canada’, Genocide Studies
International 12(1): 92-102.
Further reading
• Gitelman L. (2011) Daniell Ellsberg and the Lost Idea of the Photocopy. In: Ekström A (ed)
Participatory Media in Historical Context. New York: Routledge, 112-124.
• Gentile, P. (2009) ‘Resisted Access? National Security, The Access to Information Act, and
Queer(ing) Archives’. Archivaria 68: 141-158.
http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/13235/14553
• Wallace, D. and Stuchall, L. 2011. ‘Understanding the 9/11 Commission archive: Control,
access, and the politics of manipulation’, Archival Science 11: 125-168
12. Open Secrets and Everyday Secrets (Nov 24)
• Gusterson, Hugh 1996. Nuclear rites: A weapons laboratory at the end of the Cold War.
Berkeley: University of California Press, Ch. 4 (‘secrecy’).
• Roberts, Alasdair (2012) 'Open secrets and dirty hands'. In: Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas
and Martha M. Umphrey (eds) The secrets of law. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press,
25-45.
Further Reading
• Walters, W. 2020. ‘Everyday secrecy: Oral history and the social life of a top-secret weapons
research establishment during the Cold War’, Security Dialogue 51(1): 60-76.
• Pozen D. (2010) Deep Secrecy. Stanford Law Review 62: 257-340.
• Fan, Y. and Grey, C. (2021) ‘Everyday secrecy: Boundaries of confidential gossip’, Culture
and Organization 27(1): 209-225.Page 8
13. Conspiracy Theories (Dec 1)
• Ahmed, Wasim. et al (2020) ‘COVID-19 and the 5G conspiracy theory: Social network
analysis of Twitter data’, Journal of Medical Internet Research 22(5): 1-9.
• Moore, Alfred. 2016. 'Conspiracy and Conspiracy Theories in Democratic Politics', Critical
Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 28(1): 1-23. [Read only pp.1-10].
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08913811.2016.1178894
Further Reading
• Wilson, AF. 2017. ‘The bitter end: apocalypse and conspiracy in white nationalist responses
to the Islamic State attacks in Paris’, Patterns of Prejudice 51(5): 412-431.
• Fenster, M. (2008) Conspiracy theories: Secrecy and power in American culture, (2nd edition),
University of Minnesota Press, pp.1-12.
• Bale, JM. 2007. 'Political Paranoia v. Political Realism: On Distinguishing between Bogus
Conspiracy Theories and Genuine Conspiratorial Politics', Patterns of Prejudice 41(1): 45-60.
• Hofstadter, R. 1964. 'The Paranoid Style in American Politics', Harper's Magazine.
November. http://harpers.org/archive/1964/11/the-paranoid-style-in-american-politics/
PART V. MINI-CONFERENCE
14. Mini-conference presentations (Dec 8)
END OF TERM
Further Reading on Methods for Secrecy Research
• Tonkiss, Fran. ‘Discourse analysis’ in C. Seale (ed.) Researching Society and Culture,
London: Sage.
• Davis S. (2008) Military Landscapes and Secret Science: The Case of Orford Ness.
Cultural Geographies 15(1): 143-149.
• Koch, N. (2013) Introduction - Field methods in "closed contexts": undertaking research
in authoritarian states and places, Area 45(4): 390-395.
• Walby K and Larsen M. (2011) Access to Information and Freedom of Information
Requests: Neglected Means of Data Production in the Social Sciences. Qualitative
Inquiry 18(1): 31-42.
• de Goede, M. et al (eds) Secrecy and Method in Security Research: A Guide to
Qualtative Fieldwork, New York: Routledge.
• Gilbert, Emily (2016) ‘From declassified documents to redacted files’ in The Routledge
Commpanion to Military Research Methods, London: Routledge, 30-43.
• Rappert, B. (2010) ‘Revealing and concealing secrets in research: The potential for the
absent’ Qualitative Research 10(5): 571-587.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONPage 9 In accordance with the Carleton University Undergraduate Calendar Regulations, the letter grades assigned in this course will have the following percentage equivalents: A+ = 90-100 B+ = 77-79 C+ = 67-69 D+ = 57-59 A = 85-89 B = 73-76 C = 63-66 D = 53-56 A - = 80-84 B - = 70-72 C - = 60-62 D - = 50-52 F = Below 50 WDN = Withdrawn from the course DEF = Deferred Academic Regulations, Accommodations, Plagiarism, Etc. University rules regarding registration, withdrawal, appealing marks, and most anything else you might need to know can be found on the university’s website, here: https://calendar.carleton.ca/undergrad/regulations/academicregulationsoftheuniversity/ You may need special arrangements to meet your academic obligations during the term. For an accommodation request, the processes are as follows: Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities The Paul Menton Centre for Students with Disabilities (PMC) provides services to students with Learning Disabilities (LD), psychiatric/mental health disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), chronic medical conditions, and impairments in mobility, hearing, and vision. If you have a disability requiring academic accommodations in this course, please contact PMC at 613- 520-6608 or pmc@carleton.ca for a formal evaluation. If you are already registered with the PMC, contact your PMC coordinator to send your Letter of Accommodation at the beginning of the term, and no later than two weeks before the first in-class scheduled test or exam requiring accommodation (if applicable). *The deadline for contacting the Paul Menton Centre regarding accommodation for December examinations (Fall) is November 12, 2021 and for April examinations (Winter) is March 16, 2022. For Religious Obligations: Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details, visit the Equity Services website: www.carleton.ca/equity/wp-content/uploads/Student-Guide-to-Academic- Accommodation.pdf For Pregnancy: Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. For more details, visit the Equity Services website: www.carleton.ca/equity/wp-content/uploads/Student-Guide-to-Academic- Accommodation.pdf
Page 10 For Survivors of Sexual Violence As a community, Carleton University is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working and living environment where sexual violence will not be tolerated, and where survivors are supported through academic accommodations as per Carleton's Sexual Violence Policy. For more information about the services available at the university and to obtain information about sexual violence and/or support, visit: www.carleton.ca/sexual-violence-support Accommodation for Student Activities Carleton University recognizes the substantial benefits, both to the individual student and for the university, that result from a student participating in activities beyond the classroom experience. Reasonable accommodation must be provided to students who compete or perform at the national or international level. Please contact your instructor with any requests for academic accommodation during the first two weeks of class, or as soon as possible after the need for accommodation is known to exist. https://carleton.ca/senate/wp-content/uploads/Accommodation-for-Student-Activities-1.pdf Plagiarism Plagiarism is the passing off of someone else's work as your own and is a serious academic offence. For the details of what constitutes plagiarism, the potential penalties and the procedures refer to the section on Instructional Offences in the Undergraduate Calendar. Students are expected to familiarize themselves with and follow the Carleton University Student Academic Integrity Policy (See https://carleton.ca/registrar/academic- integrity/). The Policy is strictly enforced and is binding on all students. Academic dishonesty in any form will not be tolerated. Students who infringe the Policy may be subject to one of several penalties. What are the Penalties for Plagiarism? A student found to have plagiarized an assignment may be subject to one of several penalties including but not limited to: a grade of zero, a failure or a reduced grade for the piece of academic work; reduction of final grade in the course; completion of a remediation process; resubmission of academic work; withdrawal from course(s); suspension from a program of study; a letter of reprimand. What are the Procedures? All allegations of plagiarism are reported to the faculty of Dean of FASS and Management. Documentation is prepared by instructors and departmental chairs. The Dean writes to the student and the University Ombudsperson about the alleged plagiarism. The Dean reviews the allegation. If it is not resolved at this level then it is referred to a tribunal appointed by the Senate. Assistance for Students: Academic and Career Development Services: https://carleton.ca/career/
Page 11
Writing Services: http://www.carleton.ca/csas/writing-services/
Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS): https://carleton.ca/csas/group-support/pass/
Important Information:
• Student or professor materials created for this course (including presentations and
posted notes, labs, case studies, assignments and exams) remain the intellectual
property of the author(s). They are intended for personal use and may not be
reproduced or redistributed without prior written consent of the author(s).
• Students must always retain a hard copy of all work that is submitted.
• Standing in a course is determined by the course instructor subject to the approval
of the Faculty Dean. This means that grades submitted by the instructor may be
subject to revision. No grades are final until they have been approved by the
Dean.
• Carleton University is committed to protecting the privacy of those who study or
work here (currently and formerly). To that end, Carleton’s Privacy Office seeks
to encourage the implementation of the privacy provisions of Ontario’s Freedom
of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) within the university.
• In accordance with FIPPA, please ensure all communication with staff/faculty is
via your Carleton email account. To get your Carleton Email you will need to
activate your MyCarletonOne account through Carleton Central. Once you have
activated your MyCarletonOne account, log into the MyCarleton Portal.
• Please note that you will be able to link your MyCarletonOne account to other
non-MyCarletonOne accounts and receive emails from us. However, for us to
respond to your emails, we need to see your full name, CU ID, and the email must
be written from your valid MyCarletonOne address. Therefore, it would be easier
to respond to your inquiries if you would send all email from your connect
account. If you do not have or have yet to activate this account, you may wish to
do so by visiting https://students.carleton.ca/
Important Dates and Deadlines
FALL TERM 2021
September 1, 2021 Deadline for course outlines to be made available to students registered in
fall and fall/winter term courses.
September 6, 2021 Statutory holiday. University closed.
September 7, 2021 Academic orientation (undergraduate and graduate students).
Orientation for new Teaching Assistants.
September 8, 2021 Fall term begins. Fall and fall/winter classes begin.
September 17-19, 2021 Full and late summer term deferred final examinations to be held.
September 22, 2021 Last day of registration for fall term and fall/winter courses.
Last day to change courses or sections (including auditing) for fall term
and fall/winter courses.
September 30, 2021 Last day to withdraw from fall term and fall/winter courses with a full fee
adjustment. Withdrawals after this date will result in a permanent
notation of WDN on the official transcript.Page 12
October 8, 2021 December examination schedule (fall term final and fall/winter mid-
terms) available online.
October 11, 2021 Statutory holiday. University closed.
October 25-29, 2021 Fall break, no classes.
November 12, 2021 Last day to request Formal Examination Accommodation Forms for
December examinations to the Paul Menton Centre for Students with
Disabilities. Note that it may not be possible to fulfil accommodation
requests received after the specified deadlines.
November 26, 2021 Last day for summative tests or examinations, or formative tests or
examinations totaling more than 15% of the final grade before the official
examination period (see examination regulations in the Academic
Regulations of the University section of the Undergraduate
Calendar/General Regulations of the Graduate Calendar).
December 10, 2021 Fall term ends.
Last day of fall term classes.
Classes follow a Monday schedule.
Last day for take home examinations to be assigned, with the exception
of those conforming to the examination regulations in the Academic
Regulations of the University section of the Undergraduate
Calendar/General Regulations of the Graduate Calendar.
Last day for academic withdrawal from fall term courses.
Last day for handing in term work and the last day that can be specified
by a course instructor as a due date for term work for fall term courses.
December 11-23, 2021 Final examinations in fall term courses and mid-term examinations in
fall/winter courses may be held.
Examinations are normally held all seven days of the week.
December 23, 2021 All take home examinations are due on this day, with the exception of
those conforming to the examination regulations in the Academic
Regulations of the University section of the Undergraduate
Calendar/General Regulations of the Graduate Calendar.
December 25-January 1, 2022 University closed.You can also read
