E314V Arab-American Literature Instructor: Micklethwait

Spring 2006

Panel Presentation and Research Project

This activity consists of two major parts: your individual research project and your group’s panel presentation.

Individual Research Project: this portion of the assignment you will conduct on your own in consultation with your instructor and your group. To that end you will only need to keep us informed of your progress and the direction of your project.

This part of the assignment will consist of several things: your choice of a specific topic related to the general topic of your group’s panel; some library research on that topic (selection and review of three articles, either academic or “popular”); observation of a local example of your topic, including a site visit or interview; documentation and archiving of that visit or interview by means of an audioblog which I will post online; and, finally, composition of a short paper (5 or 6 pages), with reference to your firsthand observations and research, to be used as your guide for presenting your findings to the class. I will ask that you have a good-faith rough draft of your presentation paper ready at least a week before your group is scheduled to present so that we can review it together and recommend changes.

Panel Presentation: On your assigned day, your group will present your research to the class. You will have your research paper as a guide for your presentation, but it is advisable that you do not simply read it to the class. The goal here is to economize your time (you’ll have about 10 minutes each to present) and include any necessary aids (pictures, short audio or video clips) to make your presentation engaging. Given that there are four members in each group, the total time of presentation will be about 45 minutes, leaving roughly 15 to 20 minutes for discussion. After each member of your group has presented, you will take about 10 minutes to respond to and question the presentations of your group members. You will then lead discussion with the whole class on your topic. To that end, you should meet with me before the day of your presentation to formulate questions for your audience.

Grading: your grade for both parts of this assignment together will be 15 percent of your total grade for the course. I will grade your project on the following things: the quality of your individual project and the competency of your group to lead an engaging conversation with your classmates on the topic of your group’s presentations. The audioblog of your visit and composition of the rough draft of your presentation will count as simple homework assignments credited for completion. An ‘A’ will be awarded for a project that combines insightful, analytic observation with quality research, a stylish, an interesting, professional, informative presentation and engaging discussion. A ‘B’ will be awarded for a presentation that is merely topical, lacks major insight or critical observation, is merely informative, and doesn’t quite engage the audience. A ‘C’ will be awarded for a presentation that lacks sufficient research, critical major insight into the topic, and bores the audience.