Report and Presentation
Weight: 35% of final grade
Due: Various dates

The presentation assignment is designed to allow students to dovetail their own research interests with the course and/or with the UC Transliteracies Project. Depending on the number of students, there will be one or more 15-minute presentations at the end of each class (beginning three or four classes into the quarter). Presentations will take the following form:

• Topic:
  • Choose an author, work, or other object of study from the assigned syllabus readings for the day on which you are making your presentation.
  • Or, choose another object of study related both to the topic of the day and to your own research interests (for example, something you would like to write about for your final paper or project).
  • Or, choose one of the proposed topics listed in the Transliteracies Project's Clearinghouse under "Objects for Study".
• Written Report:
  • Write a brief report (approx. 3-6 pages) on your object of study in the format of the Transliteracies Project clearinghouse reports. This format is designed to give a broad, multi-disciplinary audience a quick, efficient grasp of the object of study, its context, and its contemporary relevance. The report format is as follows:
    1. "Executive Summary": 200 words or less.
    2. Who/What/Where/When/How/Why: Describe the object of study (accompanied by appropriate handouts, images, screenshots, etc.)
    3. Research Context: Identify and quickly describe the relevant, contemporary field of research. Suggest why this object of study might be of current interest to the field.
    4. Technical Analysis: Synopsis of main technical specifications, methods, or approaches. "Technical" has varying meanings depending on the nature of the object of study. A report on a technological or media device (e.g., woodcuts, lithography, text-encoding) might include a hardware, software, or usage description. A report on a humanities book or field might include a description of theoretical approach, evidentiary method, etc. (evidentiary method, for example, is one of the innovations of William St. Clair's book on The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period). A report on an artistic form (e.g., ode, ballad, emblem) might include a description of structure, versification, publication history, etc.
    5. Evaluation of Opportunities/Limitations for the Transliteracies Topic: Comment speculatively on what the object of study might offer to the Tranliteracies goal of "improving" present-day online reading practices. What are the Transliteracies research opportunities or directions suggested by this object of study? What are the limitations or problems of such an approach? (Note: reports that are directly relevant to the Transliteracies Project may be solicited for online publication in the Project's under-construction Research Clearinghouse and possible future Casebook publication series. (See Transliteracies plan.)
    6. Resources for Further Study: Include a very short bibliography of works or links.
• Presentation:
  • The actual presentation in class should be based on the written report, and may also conclude with a sketch of a possible final paper/project for the course. The presentation should be timed for 15 minutes; and may be formal or informal in style.

• Presentation schedule:
  • Class 3 (1/24): Robin Chin
  • Class 4 (1/31): David Roh (& Bill Warner)
  • Class 5 (2/7): Irina Wender
  • Class 6 (2.14): Paxton Heymeyer
  • Class 7 (2/21): Weiwei Ren
  • Class 8 (2/28): James Hodge
  • Class 9 (3/7): Lisa Swanstrom
    
    [Gerald Egan: TBA]

Final Paper/Project
Weight: 65% of final grade
Due: March 17, 2005

Choose one of the following two assignments:

• Essay: Write a 12-16 page essay; due in instructor's mailbox.
• An online project. The online project should include some shorter equivalent of a critical essay (or a collection of mini-essays or equivalent interpretive material). It may also include links to online resources, an annotated bibliography, a collection of quotations from relevant theory, image or video work, etc.