About This Page…and Ground Rules

This blog is for the students of the class “The Good Society” at the University of Iowa during the Fall 2015 semester to discuss our course readings and ideas. It is meant to supplement, enhance, align with, and diverge from our class discussions.

This is to be a free and open exchange in the spirit of academic discussion. In that spirit, some basic ground rules apply:

1. The discussion must remain civil at all times.
2. The focus of discussion is on the material and ideas, not on the individuals making comments. Therefore, no personal attacks on commenters are allowed.
3. Likewise, no personal attacks on the writers themselves are allowed. Keep the focus on the writing and ideas.
4. No profanity is allowed. Write as if your mother is reading the blog…maybe she is.
5. No racist or sexist comments are allowed.
6. No threatening language is allowed.
7. Keep the level of discourse appropriate to an academic discussion. You can certainly be informal, but make sure your points are reasonable. As with any kind of academic discussion, we expect you to support your argument.