21F 830 Global Culture: Project Guidelines

The guidelines below apply primarily to written essays. You may also pursue an artistic project as opposed to an interpretative-analytical one (both are "creative" projects in different ways), however. This may be in a medium of your choice, and may be constructed around collected or original materials (e.g. photographs, film, multimedia).

If you wish to pursue a creative project, it must meet two criteria:

it must take a form which can be graded;
it must be accessible to other members of the class.

It is thus especially important that you consult with me beforehand if you are planning a project of this kind.

The last four classes of the semester will include a workshop component, in which students will have the opportunity of giving a short presentation of their ongoing project to the other members of the class, so as to test out their ideas and benefit from discussion of them.

The final class of the semester will be devoted to presentation and discussion of class projects.

Guidelines for written projects

Find a subject relating to the topics and materials covered this semester which you would like to explore in more depth.
Formulate a question or problem to use as your starting-point, rather than a single text/film.
Construct a provisional argument concerning this question/ problem so as to orient your discussion (you may not ultimately decide to pursue this argument but it will at least give you something to start with.
Formulate a title which articulates the question and/or the orientation of your argument.
Discuss two or three works (in any medium) in depth, within the framework of your question. Do not discuss these works separately, in more or less autonomous sections: be sure to compare/contrast them with one another.
Do not try to cover everything you have read/seen in the course.

Global Culture | Assignments | Projects | Topics