INTRODUCTION
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 July 2009
Summary
THE FIRST (AND LAST) STORY OF THIS BOOK
A few years ago, in one of the universities where I taught, one of my students was found to have committed what is considered the worst sin in the academic world: plagiarism. I had the job of dealing with this case as a disciplinary matter, according to the university's ordinances and regulations. At the same time I was very curious to know why, despite all my efforts to be available to students to discuss such matters and give them help, this student had chosen the path of crime when writing the essay: copying it from the Internet.
The student was duly summoned with a concise and formal letter, to attend a meeting at which I and one of my senior colleagues would be present. I had asked for this colleague to be there because I wanted reassurance and help. Most important of all, I wanted the backing of the institution, an institution in which I happened to be an authority, even if a minor one, and my student a lesser citizen.
I had prepared a list of questions, which I had put together during the days leading up to the meeting. I brought with me a notebook to take minutes. I also had the evidence: the essay and the website from which it was taken. I asked for the meeting to be held not in my room, but in the more austere and official-looking Head of Department's study.
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- The Wandering Heretics of Languedoc , pp. 1 - 10Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009