<p>bclintonk, I have stated clearly that I think it would be wrong for a student to submit the same paper in two classes. When it comes to honor codes, I favor Caltech’s: “No member of the Caltech community shall take unfair advantage of any other member of the community.” Although I am not connected in any way with Caltech, I think this would rule out the double submission.</p>
<p>In the example syllabus you quoted, the directions start out with "Write . . . " This makes the expectation clear. However, if the syllabus just lists “Weekly seminar papers” and “Final paper,” and if the university has no explicit rule against multiple submissions, and if it is a public university, then I stand by what I wrote before: Unwritten rules of this type are not enforceable in those circumstances. It doesn’t matter that the unwritten rule is consistent with what I think is right.</p>
<p>The posts on this thread make it clear that well-meaning people have different views about this issue. That by itself would make an unwritten rule unenforceable, in this case. Written rules are in an entirely different category.</p>