Syllabus—Spring 2018Radford University

 

POSC 202: Ethics in International Affairs

Day and Time: Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:45pmLocation: DA 212

 

 Photo: Drone strike from Dronewars.net

Professor Paige Johnson Tan, Ph.D.Phone:  (o) 540-831-6602

E-mail: etan3@radford.edu Office Hours: M 10-11:45, R 9:30-10:45

Office Location: CHBS 5304  

 Politics will, in the end of history, be an arena where conscience and power meet, where the ethical and coercive factors of human life will interpenetrate and work out their tentative and uneasy compromises.                                 –Reinhold Niebuhr

 Introduction Proponents of realism, or realpolitik, in international affairs often make the claim that there is no room for morality in state decision making.  States do what they must because they are locked in a battle for survival against other states.  In this way of thinking, ethics are a luxury for which leaders and states have no time.  Further, thinking about doing “what is right” could be dangerous, distracting leaders from doing what is necessary. 

On the other side, some liberal thinkers argue that all our acts have moral implications, nowhere more stark than in the international realms of war and peace, humanitarian intervention, human rights, globalization, and development.  As humans, we cannot separate ourselves from the ethical repercussions of our actions. This course will examine several international relations traditions and find that thinking about what one should do is an important part of our ability to analyze the way in which states and

other actors interact.  Understanding ethics also informs our ability to decide what our own nation should do; it is vital to our responsibilities as citizens.   Ethical choices involve a reasoning process. This course will guide students in developing their ethical reasoning skills without pushing them in the direction of particular ethical choices.  Most of the course will be conducted through in-class discussion; this is a class about thinking, reasoning, arguing, and doing—not about lectures.  We should expect disagreements, some profound, in every single class session.  However, these should be handled maturely and in an atmosphere of respect for the views of others.

Catalogue DescriptionPOSC 202 - Ethical Inquiry in Political Science. Credits: (3)Prerequisites: CORE 201, POSC 201, or equivalent.

Examination of an ethical issue in political science or public administration with a focus on the relationship between reading, writing, and thinking and on the rhetorical principles that inform successful oral and written communication.

Note(s): This course can be used in place of CORE 202 in the Core Curriculum. Students cannot receive credit for both POSC 202 and CORE 202 or any other CORE 202 equivalent.  

My Lai Massacre 1968, Vietnam War (Wikipedia) 

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Critically analyze the ethics of domestic or global issues in political science or public administration. Students will: apply critical reasoning to the issue; utilize reasons and arguments;construct an essay or group presentation addressing the issue.2. Evaluate ethical issues from a variety of perspectives in order to develop policy prescriptions for real-world decision makers. Students will: apply critical reasoning to the issue; utilize reasons and arguments; construct an essay or group presentation addressing the issue.3. Prepare coherent and well-written essays that effectively use tone, mechanics, and style appropriate to an academic audience. Students will: Use tone, mechanics, and style appropriate to an academic audience.4. Deliver an effective and organized oral presentation and appropriately communicate in interpersonal and small group settings. Students will: contribute to team meetings; facilitate the contribution of team members; foster a constructive team climate; and respond effectively to conflict.5. Distinguish knowledge from opinion, challenge ideas, and develop reasonable strategies for belief formation: apply critical reasoning to an ethical issue; utilize reasons and arguments appropriate to debate over an ethical issue; recognize an ethical issue; apply major ethical perspectives to the issue;examine the consequences for others of one’s decision or position on an ethical issue; and identify criteria to consider in relation to options.6. Locate, evaluate, and cite information. Students will: find facts related to an ethical issue; andresearch stakeholder positions.

Course Requirements  Students will be evaluated on the basis of class participation, a map quiz, an ethical analysis essay, a group project and presentation, and a series of tests, including a final examination.  The distribution of the final course grade from the various assignments is: Class participation: 15% Ethical Analysis Essay (op-ed): 10%Map quiz: 5%Group Paper and Presentation: 25%Tests: 2@ 12.5% =25%Final Exam: 20% Class participation.  In the old days, students were seen to be an empty vessel into which the professor poured his or her knowledge (more than likely, it was “his”—since it was the old days!).  However, this old-model of education has come under severe challenge in recent years.  Rote memorization is now seen to offer little to students.  How often have you “crammed” for a test and then forgotten everything you learned within a few weeks? The philosophy behind this course is that students learn better when that learning is active.  Students are expected to attend class (with a maximum of two absences for the semester).  They are also expected to participate in class discussions, considering, manipulating, testing, and questioning the topics presented in class in order to develop their knowledge of the field of Ethics and International Affairs and their familiarity with the tools and concepts of Political Science more broadly.  Readings should be done in advance of class to enable thoughtful and informed participation.  Active participation by all students has the

advantage of helping to foster tolerance for divergent viewpoints and developing students’ abilities to formulate arguments in a well-reasoned manner.   As part of their class participation, students must follow the news for various contemporary international ethical issues. Please read a quality international news source like the New York Times, Washington Post, or Economist. We will hope to incorporate these contemporary issues into our class discussions.  Class participation counts for 15% of the final course grade.

Right: A little thought about ethics!

Ethical Analysis Essay (Op-ed). In order to develop their skills in constructing concise arguments about international topics, students are asked to write an imaginary “op-ed piece” for a major media outlet on a topic of contemporary ETHICAL and INTERNATIONAL significance.  Note the topic must be ethical and international. Op-eds should be 800-1,000 words (three-to-four double-spaced pages).  The op-ed assignment is worth 10% of the final course grade.  Please refer to the Writing Well Handout as you produce all written work for this course. The handout can be found in the Resources section of our D2L site.  Map quiz.  Americans in the 18-to-24 age group came next to last in a nine-nation survey of geographic literacy conducted by the National Geographic Society in 2002.  In the 2006 survey, six in ten could not find Iraq on a map (a sad state of affairs given the US service members dying there at the time). This course aims to tackle this problem by encouraging students’ awareness of and familiarity with major world countries, territories, and regions.  The map quiz is worth 5% of the final grade. Group Paper and Presentation.  Student groups of 3-4 students are expected to produce a 15 double-spaced page paper on one of the following topics (see below).  Performance on intermediate due dates will impact the final paper grade. Students will evaluate themselves and their group members, giving feedback along the way. The PowerPoint or Prezi for the in-class presentation should be e-mailed to Dr. Tan BEFORE the presentation is given. Please refer to the Writing Well Handout as you produce all written work for this course. The group paper and presentation are worth 25% of the final course grade.

 

Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 (Smithsonian Institution)

 Topics include (but are not limited to): 

1)  Evaluate the morality of an existing international institution. This might include the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank or International Monetary Fund, or another organization of the student’s choosing.

 2)  Develop a set of criteria, like jus ad bellum and jus in bello, for jus post bellum. What are the moral requirements of the post-war?   Should a nation that goes to war have moral requirements to meet in the post-war setting?  (Please note that this topic requires research into what serious scholars are doing on this issue.  Use scholarly journal articles and inter-library loan (ILL) books and build your ideas from these bases. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.) 3) Do/should ethical norms be shelved in cases of supreme national emergency?  You may consider targeted killing and coercive interrogation in your answer.  4) Watch the movie The Trials of Henry Kissinger at the library, Through the library website, you can access the film streaming on your computer.  Balancing the information presented in the video with other historical analyses of Kissinger’s stewardship of American foreign policy as well as primary documents from the period, evaluate whether Kissinger should be held to moral (and legal?) account for the activities of his time in office.   5) Evaluate the morality of the Reagan-era policy of US aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan.  Students might consider the intervention in Afghanistan’s affairs, the role of the struggle in the Cold War, the tactics used by the mujahedeen, and the perceived blowback from the policy (Would there have been an Osama bin Laden without US policy in Afghanistan in the 1980s?). 6) Was the US war in Vietnam a just war? Consider both jus ad bellum and jus in bello.  A note for those who choose this option: You must go beyond a popular culture understanding of the war to do well answering this question.  You must go out and learn new things about how the war was justified and how it was fought.  Ignore this advice at your peril. 7) Throughout the Cold War, nuclear deterrence, particularly Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), played a role in the maintenance of peace between the superpowers.  Is nuclear deterrence a moral strategy? Please note that this topic requires research into existing lines of argument on this topic. 8) Was the use of the atomic bomb by the United States on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II an ethical choice? 9) Do we have an ethical responsibility to work to prevent the planet from warming? 10)  In addition to the topics above, student groups are free to develop their own question for the paper (however, they should consult with the instructor on an on-going basis to ensure that they are moving in a productive and workable direction).

 Tests/Final Exam. There will be two tests in addition to the final examination.  Tests are each worth 12.5% of the final grade. The final exam is worth 20%.   Getting Help Students are encouraged to talk to me if they feel they need assistance with the course material. I can be reached by e-mail at etan3@radford.edu. I am in my office most days at least 8:30-4:00 (with the exception of the times I am teaching). Dedicated office hours are on the first page of the syllabus.

Additional offices on campus exist to help you succeed in your classwork.

The LARC can assist with tutoring.

The instructional librarians run information sessions designed to help you improve your citations. Find more info at: http://library.radford.edu/index.php/generated/instruction/apa-library-survivors1.

Course PoliciesAcademic Honesty This instructor believes academic honesty is the foundation of the entire enterprise of a university. Only in an environment of honesty can genuine learning occur and good citizenship be fostered. Students should also feel free to ask the instructor any questions they may have about academic honesty. Because academic honesty is treated as a serious matter, the course policy is one of zero tolerance for academic DIShonesty.

The core principle of the Academic Honor Code is that student work represents the original work of the student. For this reason, plagiarism, using the work of another without proper citation, and cheating, the unauthorized use of information during an examination, are prohibited.

The Academic Honor Code works for both students and teachers. Students can expect that the instructor will treat them in a fair, honest, and impartial manner. The instructor also expects students to deal with her and with one another honestly. Plagiarism and cheating are violations of academic honesty because they steal from the original creator of the work. In addition, they violate the relationship of honesty between student and teacher as the student attempts to pass off work as his or her own which was produced by another. Further, plagiarism and cheating violate the bond of honesty among students themselves. Students who produce their assignments through

long, hard work are being violated by those taking a shortcut through the misappropriation of another’s work or knowledge. Most sadly, students who violate academic honesty cheat themselves of the chance to learn.

Please note two particular policies the instructor follows:

1) Work for this course must be yours, and it must be original. If you wish to work on a project you have previously worked on for another class, you must add at least as much content as the assignment requires that is new and original for this class.

2) You may receive help on your written assignments (not tests) from your roommate, significant other, parents, the LARC, or a passerby on the street. The process of reading and revising your work based on the comments of others is an important part of how we learn and improve.

Late Papers

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO THIS POLICY! Students are encouraged to plan in advance to make time to complete assignments. Things come up during the semester; relatives require our attention, cars break down, and students get sick. Students should begin their assignments early enough to allow for these foreseeable and unforeseeable eventualities. The instructor does not wish to receive any late assignments during the semester.

Papers are due at the start of class on the date listed on the syllabus. Each twenty-four hours that a paper is late may result in a penalty of one letter grade. Late papers must be submitted by e-mail and must receive confirmation of receipt from the instructor to be considered "turned in." For your protection, submit your paper from an e-mail account which will keep a record of your outgoing e-mail. With this, you could demonstrate a true attempt to submit the paper that somehow disappears. Do not submit papers to the instructor’s faculty snail mailbox, the department administrative assistant, or under the instructor’s office door. After submitting papers electronically, students should bring a print-out of the late assignment to the next class meeting. Late assignments will not be graded on the same schedule as assignments submitted on time. Under no circumstances should students miss class to complete an assignment.

Above: Militants, Niger Delta, Nigeria

Extra Credit Students are invited to attend lectures, panels, and movies on campus that deal with international affairs. Just check with the instructor beforehand as to whether you've picked a good event. After the event, submit a one- to two-page single-space write-up that deals with your reactions to the presentation. How does it relate to what we are doing in class? How does it relate to other things you've studied? Did you agree or disagree with the speaker/s argument? What did the presentation make you think about? This extra credit will be used toward class participation or in the calculation of final grades in borderline cases.

Tardiness Students are strongly encouraged to show respect for fellow students and the instructor by arriving for class on time. Late arrivals disturb fellow students and disrupt the learning process. It is better to come in late than not to come at all, but try to be respectful of classmates by making arrangements to be in class and in your seat at the start of class.

Excused Absences For your two absences allowed during the semester, it doesn’t matter whether these are excused (doctor’s visit) or unexcused (I was sleepy). Whether the absence is excused only comes into play when a student misses a class assignment (test, quiz, due date). An excused absence is one that is discussed with the professor IN ADVANCE and for which documentation can be provided. Only for excused absences will the professor allow work to be made up. All make-up work will be done at the instructor’s convenience.

Disabilities The instructor understands that some students may have need of accommodation (for example, extended testing time or a quiet testing locale) due to a disability. If you feel that you are in need of an accommodation, please contact the Disability Resource Office (DRO). Find the DRO at http://www.radford.edu/content/dro/home.html.

Electronic Devices Students are permitted to use laptop computers during class to access PowerPoints, online notes, or to type their own course notes. Laptops are not to be used for surfing the internet or checking e-mail. Students with computers are encouraged to sit in the back of the classroom to avoid disturbing fellow students. During periods of class discussion, computers should be closed to ensure adequate attention and participation. Obviously, when tests and quizzes are being administered, laptops are not permitted. Use of cellphones, including texting, is never permitted. PLEASE NOTE: If students are found to be using electronic devices in a manner inconsistent with the professor’s assessment of the best environment for group learning, they may be penalized by being marked absent for the day.    

Market, Jaipur, India (2004) 

Required Reading Mark R. Amstutz.  International Ethics: Concepts, Theories, and Cases in Global Politics.  Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2013. (This is our textbook for the course.)

Alberto Coll. “The Problems of Doing Good: Somalia as a Case Study in Humanitarian Intervention.” Washington: Carnegie Council, 1997. Purchase at: http://isd-georgetown-university.myshopify.com/products/the-problems-of-doing-good.

Bronwen Manby. “Shell in Nigeria: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Ogoni Crisis.” Washington, Carnegie Council, 2000. Purchase at: http://isd-georgetown-university.myshopify.com/products/shell-in-nigeria-corporate-social-responsibility-and-the-ogoni-crisis.  Additional readings are assigned in the course schedule.  These are generally available free on the internet or in the reserve reading section of our course D2L site. World Wide Web Resources

Antiwar.com http://www.antiwar.com Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs  http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/Clausewitz, On War, http://www.clausewitz.com/CWZHOME/On_War/ONWARTOC.html /Council on Foreign Relations http://www.cfr.org/ Crimes of War http://www.crimesofwar.org/ Foreign Ministries on the Internet     http://www.usip.org/library/formin.html Foreign Policy in Focus http://www.fpif.org/ Global Issues http://www.globalissues.org/ Global Policy Forum http://www.globalpolicy.org/ Group of 77 http://www.g77.org/indexswf.htm International Affairs Resources: WWWVL      http://www2.etown.edu/vl/ International Monetary Fund http://www.imf.org National Security Archive http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/ Prevent Genocide http://www.preventgenocide.org/ Rules of Warfare http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multi/warfare.html Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://plato.stanford.edu/Terrorism from the Council on Foreign Relations http://cfrterrorism.org/terrorism/introduction.html Terrorism, Counter-terrorism, and Homeland Security http://www.comw.org/tct/ United Nations http://www.un.org US Department of Defense, News on the War on Terror http://www.defendamerica.mil/ US Department of State  http://www.state.gov US House, Committee on International Relations http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/ US Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations http://foreign.senate.gov/ Watching America http://www.watchingamerica.com/index.shtml White House http://www.whitehouse.govWhirled Bank http://www.whirledbank.org/ World Bank http://www.worldbank.org  Periodicals, Scholarly Journals, and US Government Publications As wonderful as the web is for finding information, periodicals and scholarly journals still form the backbone of our academic work.  Some periodicals and journals helpful for the study of international affairs are listed below:

American Political Science ReviewAsian SurveyEthics in International AffairsEuropean Journal of International RelationsForeign AffairsForeign PolicyHuman Rights QuarterlyInternational OrganizationInternational Security

International Studies QuarterlyInternational Studies ReviewJournal of Conflict ResolutionPS Political SciencePacific ReviewPolicy ReviewSurvivalWashington QuarterlyWorld Politics

   

 

Anti-poverty crusader Bono and former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil (undated Wikipedia photo)

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Schedule Introduction 01 JAN 16  IntroductionReading:  Amstutz, 9-22.  Topic: Introduction to the course.  Case: Baby Hitler. 

Theoretical Underpinnings and How-To 02 JAN 18  Realist Ethics: An Oxymoron?Reading:  Amstutz, 45-54 (on realism). Thucydidies, “Melian Dialogue,” in D2L as Melian.pdf. Activity: Student poll on attitudes toward ethics and international affairs.  Recommended: George F. Kennan, “Morality and Foreign Policy,” Foreign Affairs, Winter 1985/86 (Available in D2L as Kennan Morality.pdf). Case: Peloponnesian War and Grenada. 03 JAN 23 Idealism/Liberalism and Principled Realism Reading:  Amstutz, 54-65.  Cases: President Carter’s Human Rights Policy (1977-1981), Bush Doctrine (2001-2009).Looking ahead: Pass out map quiz preparation materials. 04 JAN 25 Sources of Ethical Traditions and Ethical ReasoningReading: Amstutz, 67-70, 74-80.  Activity: Ethics Sorting Handout.Recommended Video: “Are We Good Because of God?” Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, April 1, 2013. http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/studio/multimedia/20130401/index.html Case: Famine in Soviet Russia.

05 JAN 30  Ethics in Other Traditions (Islamic/Confucian)Reading: Amstutz, 96-99.  Osama Bin Laden, "Letter to America," (Bin Laden Letter to America.pdf). Consider “Asian values” and Islam as alternative sources of ethics.

Case: Caning of Michael Fay, Singapore (1994), September 11th attacks on America (2001). 06 FEB 1  Justice: Distributive, Restorative, and RetributiveReading: Amstutz, Ch. 6.Activity: Just Distribution.Cases: Indonesia, Rwanda’s genocide offenders, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.Comment/Question cards.  How is class going so far?

07 FEB 6  Library Information SessionMeet in Information Literacy Center B (formerly Library Classroom B).   08 FEB 8 Just War Tradition: Jus ad BellumReading:  Amstutz, Ch. 7.  Cases: Persian Gulf War (1991), Iraq War (2003).Map quiz.Looking ahead: Discuss Ethical Analysis Essay (Op-ed) and Group Project and Presentation.

09 FEB 13 Just War Tradition: Jus in BelloReading: None for today. Cases: War on Terror, including Afghanistan and Iraq (2001-present).Looking ahead: Test 1 next week.Looking ahead: Requests for groups for the group paper and presentation due today.

10 FEB 15  Just War: Kosovo Case StudyReading: Amstutz, 22-28.  Case: Evaluate the justness ad bellum and in bello of the Kosovo war (1999).Is Peace Possible? http://www.carnegiecouncil.org/studio/thought-leaders/questions/peace Looking ahead: What makes a good response to an essay question?Looking ahead: Set norms for group work.Please remember to bring some notebook paper next time for your answer to the essay question on the test Thursday. 11 FEB 20  Test 1Remember: You need your own paper to answer the essay question!  12 FEB 22 Oct 1 Video: Battle of Algiers, Part I (available streaming through McConnell Library, 2 hours)Reading: None assigned for today.Case: The Front Liberation Nationale (FLN) Battle for Independence in Algeria and the French Response (1954-1962).Looking ahead: Draw presentation dates for group project.Looking ahead: Ethical Analysis Essay (Op-ed) due next week. Writing Well Handout.

Right: Fall of the Berlin Wall, 1989 13 FEB 27  Video: Battle of Algiers, Part II (available streaming through McConnell Library, 2 hours)Reading: None assigned for today.Case: The FLN Battle for Independence in Algeria and the French Response (1954-1962).Group Project and Presentation Topics Due.

14 MAR 1  TerrorismReading: Amstutz, 157-170. Case: Israelis v. Palestinians, Ethics of Coercive Interrogation (torture). Ethical Analysis Essay (Op-ed) due.

MAR 6, 8 Class Cancelled for Spring Break

15 MAR 13  Terrorism, continuedReading: Amstutz, 170-175. Ed Pilkington, “’Killer Robots’ Pose Threat to Peace and Should Be Banned, UN Warned,” The Guardian, May 29, 2013 (Pilkington Killer Robots.pdf).Case: Targeted killing with drones (Anwar al-Awlaki), killer robots.

16 MAR 15  Humanitarian InterventionReading:  Amstutz, Ch. 9. Alberto Coll. “The Problems of Doing Good: Somalia as a Case Study in Humanitarian Intervention.” Washington: Carnegie Council, 1997 (see instructions for purchase under required reading). Cases: Somalia, Libya.  17 MAR 20 Mass Murder and Genocide: Cambodia and RwandaReading: Amstutz, 107-111.Video: Among the Disappeared: A Cambodian Survivor Remembers (available streaming through McConnell Library, 43 minutes)Case: Cambodia 1975-79, Rwanda 1994

Horrific images from Abu Ghraib, Iraq, 2004

MAR 22 Class Cancelled: Instructor Travel

18 MAR 27  The Environment: Indigenous People and DevelopmentReading: None for today. Video: Blowpipes and Bulldozers (60 minutes)Case: Malaysia’s Penan, the Environment, and Development in Borneo (1980s).

19 MAR 29 Group Project Work Time.Looking ahead: First Draft Due; Test 2 next week. 20 APR 3  GlobalizationReading: Amstutz, 201-212.

Cases: Euro Crisis, Free Trade.Group Project First Draft Due. Looking ahead: Go over how to give peer feedback. Take home peer evaluation forms and bring back next time. Do one evaluation for each member of your group besides yourself.Please remember to bring some notebook paper next time for your answer to the essay question on the test Thursday.

21 APR 5   TEST 2Remember to bring notebook paper to write your essay.Peer feedback forms due.

 22 APR 10  Ethical Dilemmas in International Humanitarian WorkReading: None for today. Case: Oxfam and the Famine in Ethiopia (1980s)GROUP PRESENTATIONS

23 APR 12  Poverty Relief and Foreign Aid: The Magic 0.7%Reading: Amstutz, 36-44, 225-233. Recommended: Commitment to Development Index: http://www.cgdev.org/initiative/commitment-development-index/inside Video: Former UK PM Gordon Brown at TED, July 2009, http://www.ted.com/talks/gordon_brown_on_global_ethic_vs_national_interest.html (17 minutes)Case: Foreign Aid, PEPFAR, Food for Peace.GROUP PRESENTATIONS

24 APR 17  The Moral Duties of MultinationalsReading: Bronwen Manby.  “Shell in Nigeria: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Ogoni Crisis.” Washington, Carnegie Council, 2000 (see instructions for purchase under required reading). S. Prakash Sethi, “The World of Walmart,” Carnegie Council for Ethics and International Affairs, May 8, 2013 (Sethi Walmart.pdf).Recommended: See Starbucks' corporate social responsibility site at http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csr.asp.  Note: If you're interested in these issues, maybe a career in Corporate Social Responsibility is for you.  Check out CSRNewswire http://www.csrwire.com/.  Case: Shell in Nigeria (1995), Walmart/clothing in Bangladesh (2013).GROUP PRESENTATIONS 25 APR 19  The Ethics of SanctionsReading: Amstutz, Ch. 212-223.Case: Apartheid-era South Africa, Burma/Myanmar.Start Zero Dark Thirty, if possible.

26 APR 24  Ethics on Film: Zero Dark ThirtyReading: None for today.Due: Final draft of group project due.

27 APR 26  Ethics on Film: Zero Dark ThirtyReading: None for today.Discuss Zero Dark Thirty, and conclude the course.  May 1 12:30pm Final ExamRemember to bring notebook paper to write your essay.

UN Peacekeeper (undated Wikipedia photo) 

You have finished the course (hopefully!).Congratulations and enjoy a great summer!