Research Project
Your research project is a detailed semester-length project of your creation that should bring together your interests with the key concepts of the course. This may take several forms—historical research, ethnographic study, performance, and more—and will result in a document that is submitted at the conclusion of the course. Although your project may be of a different nature, it should be roughly equivalent to the workload of a fifteen to twenty page research paper.
There are four stages to your project: idea approval, project proposal, class presentation, and final document. Before preparing the project proposal, it is important that you discuss your idea with Professor Robinson. Ideally, this will occur during office hours. Your idea should address all of the elements required in the project proposal.
Required office hours meeting to discuss possible research project topics will occur during weeks 2 and 3. Information about meetings and signup will be discussed in class.
Project Proposal:
Due no later than 8pm on Thursday March 11. Proposals are submitted via a special course blog that will appear on the course website during week 6.
Your project proposal should include the following:
1) A one-page summary of your project. This should include a detailed description of the document you will submit at the end of the course.
2) A list of questions addressed in your project.
3) A description of the methodology you will use to complete your project (ethnographic, historiographic, analytical, compositional, performative, etc…).
4) A works cited list that includes readings, recordings, videos, and other sources that you will engage.
Class Presentations:
In class presentations will take place during during the weeks of 4/26 and 5/3. The purpose of the presentation is 1) to provide a final opportunity for feedback on your project before it is submitted for grading and 2) to share in greater detail the findings of your project with the class. You will be granted 20 minutes for your presentation (this includes setup time). Your primary focus is to move beyond summary of your project; you should use detailed musical or other audio-visual examples to illustrate the conclusions you have reached in your project. Use the following to structure your presentation:
- Introduction of topic / summary (2 minutes)
- Explanation of methodology (3 minutes)
- Conclusions/finding (using specific audio-visual examples) (10 minutes)
- Questions (5 minutes)
The classroom is equipped with various AV support. If you plan to use powerpoint or play video or audio clips, it is best to save these files to your U drive and access them via the classroom computer. If you plan to use your computer in your presentation, please bring all necessary adaptors, cables, etc... If you have special AV needs, contact Jason at least two days before your presentation.
Presentation schedule:
Tuesday April 27
Tim
Kendahl
Thursday April 29
Alicia
Ophelia
Ashley
Tuesday May 4
Tyler
Bobby
Alex
Thursday May 6
Peter
Kimberly
Tom
Written Document:
The final written version of your project must be submitted via email no later than 5pm on Friday May 14.