Assignment 4: Creative Remix of Research Project (20%)
Due Date (Idea for Remix Project, via handwritten hard-copy delivered in class): Thurs. May 12
Due Date (Final Version): email submissions to my gmail account by Tues. May 22—midnight (earlier submissions are accepted)
Project Length: This is a brief project aimed at helping you reflect on your research project in a new, remixed, reflective format. Though the project is brief, it must be very thoughtfully executed. After all, you will be producing this after you have produced your research project, so you are experts on the subject. The length will be determined by the format. If you are writing a letter or business memo, it can two pages, single-spaced, following standard business letter and cover letter formatting. A PowerPoint presentation should have a minimum of 5 slides (not including the cover slide and the final “thank you” slide). A video interview should be about 3-5 minutes long. Please consult with me about the length for your project after you have committed to a format.
In this brief, final assignment, please reread your Research Project and reflect on the argument you made about your topic. I want you to produce a reflective piece that takes the research topic, but reconceives it for a different audience, in a different genre (i.e. a genre that is not a prose, argument-driven research paper).
Some options: (what follows is a list of suggestions, on which you can expand)
Reflection Letter to the Professor
You could frame this as a letter to your teacher, in which you reflect on your learning process this semester—a learning process that culminated in the research project. How did the work earlier in the semester contribute to your abilities to conceive of your topic and carry it out? Aside from relief, what other thoughts and feeling did you have about yourself as the producer of this large, end-of semester project? How do you want to build on the writing skills you have developed during your first year in college? In what ways was the research project useful in shaping these skills? What might you have done differently? What will the format of this letter be (business, office memo, etc.)
Letter to the Student Affairs Director for Conference Funding
You might reimagine your research paper on third-wave feminism as a well-crafted letter to the Director of Student Affairs about hosting and obtaining funding for a conference on third-wave feminism. How would you format a formal business letter? How do you frame your request so that it catches the attention of the reader? How do you make a compelling case for your conference? What information do you need to include in your letter, aside from a description of the conference theme and how the Baruch community will benefit by hosting this conference, and how the broader community will benefit from participating in it (date, time, exact location, conference committee and participating academic departments, keynote speaker or speakers, etc.)?
PowerPoint or Prezi Presentation to Fellow SEEK Students
Another possibility is to imagine yourself giving a brief, but very clear overview via PowerPoint or Prezi of your research project for a group of fellow SEEK students who are not in our class. How would you reorganize your research paper into a clear, succinct slide presentation that touches the major elements of your research project? What images will you include? How would you organize a series of about 5 slides (not including the slide featuring the title of your talk, or the last slide, which is typically a “thank you” slide), so that the heart of your research project is conveyed to this new audience?
Brief Interview for an Evening News Audience
If you worked as part of a team, you might consider filming a three-minute “evening news” interview with one of serving as the interviewer and one of you serving as interviewee. What questions would you ask so that audience at home is able to get a good overview of the overall project? How would you, the interviewee, answer these questions? Will the interview take place in the television studio? In the concourse between the Vertical Campus and the Library? Will you be interviewed on the day of the conference at the conference site (something you would have to convey verbally, since you do not actually have a conference site yet)? Did you just receive an award for your documentary and are being interviewed “backstage at the ceremony?” (please note: the written portion for this project will consist of the questions you have drawn up for the interview; thus you should work on them together). Teams will share a team grade.