This final assignment will have two different components:
You will turn in your assignment as a final, 5-page paper due on Monday, April 27.
You will also present the same material online in a short (10-14 minute) video presentation.
I want to give you a lot of freedom to choose a topic that will work for you. With that in mind you have a few options for the content of this final project:
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1 |
Choose a literary work (like a novel or a short story) or a thoughtful film that depicts a scientist, or depicts science's interaction with culture. Write an essay in which you analyze this work in terms of the materials and themes we have discussed in this class. Note that you do not have to choose a work of "science fiction". It can be anything that thoughtfully contributes to the material of this class. A good paper will carefully fit this new work in with the other things we have read, and extend our understanding of the key issues of the class. |
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2 |
Choose a scientific theory or a technological advance. Write a research paper in which you explore the cultural dimensions of this theory or technology. For example, you can research how it was accepted (or resisted) as a scientific revolution (as in Kuhn) or breakthrough (as in Willis). Or you can examine the way the culture at large reacted to it (as in Miller). A good paper will be thoroughly researched (beyond Wikipedia!) from a number of sources, and will bring this material to the course issues in a focused, meaningful way. |
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3 |
Something a little more creative than an analytical or research paper which engages the material of the class as deeply as the first two. Do you want to make a film? Write your own play? It might seem like this is the easiest of the choices, but it may actually be the hardest, because you will have to clearly demonstrate an equal level of analysis and/or research as would be present in a 5-page paper. A good project of this sort will present a nuanced argument that fits better in a creative work than it would in a paper. |
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4 |
Something else. A website? A statistical study? If you have a totally different idea, pitch it to me. |
You need to send me an email by Monday, April 13, in which you let me know what you will be writing/presenting on. Proposals for the first two topic choices can be brief. Proposals for the second two choices will obviously need to be a lot more extensive. I will either OK your proposal, or suggest a revision. The sooner you get these to me the better.
You may choose to
do this final project with a partner or a small group, although bear
in mind that this will not reduce your workload. For example,
if you work with a partner, you will be responsible for a 10-page
paper and a 20-30 minute presentation, if you work with a group of
three, you will be responsible for a 15-page paper and a longer
presentation, etc. Planning and writing a good 15-page paper is
a lot deeper and more involved than writing 3 individual 5-page
papers.
That said, collaboration can be more exciting than
working individually, so if you want to work together (virtually!),
I'd like to encourage you to do so.
If you choose to work
with other students, you need to give me a detailed breakdown in
your proposal of who will be responsible for what in the final
product. You will each receive an individual grade based on
your contribution to the final project (not a group grade).
10-14 minutes goes
faster than you would think. If you just read the text of your
5-page paper aloud into a camera, it would probably take about 10
minutes or a little longer, but is that the best way to use your
time? Think of the best way to organize your material for an
oral presentation. This might be different from how it's
organized in your paper. Remember that we will need to hear
background information about your material, but the main focus should
be on your argument or analysis.
How
the Virtual Online Oral Presentations will work:
Record your video presentation ahead of time. You will record an 10-14 minute video of you, presenting your material. If you want to just record yourself talking for 10-14 minutes into your phone or laptop camera, that’s totally acceptable. If you want to record your voice over a slide show, which you export to a video like I did for my lectures, that’s fine too. If you want to edit your video into something more like a Youtube video, that’s also fine. However you do it, using whatever tools you have available to you can be ok. Once you have your video, please upload it to Youtube, Google Drive, or any other online video hosting platform that will let you share the video with a link. Youtube is probably the safest choice. You can make the video “unlisted” (not “private”), which means it will only be accessible via a link. If you’ve got any questions about this, email me!
Before the start of class time on the day you’ve signed up for, you will post your video link to that day’s Canvas discussion board. Hint: Make sure you budget your time so that you can get a working link to your video posted before class time! Uploading video can take a while over slower internet connections.
During class time the other students will watch your video, and we’ll use the discussion board as a virtual Q&A. Everybody will view that day’s videos, and provide at least one substantive question or helpful comment on each presentation. As always, these class sessions will be “soft synchronous”. The videos definitely need to be posted prior to the start of class, and I’d like you to make an effort to post your Q&A during our class time, partly because that will make it easier on the presenters so they don’t have to keep checking Canvas for new questions to answer! If you have unavoidable circumstances though, you may participate in the Q&A part when you get the chance, up to 48 hours after the start of that class session.