Assessment

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Final grade breakdown:



Paper presentation

A 3-5 minute presentation done in class. Pick one of the elective readings for the course. Concisely summarize the paper's main argument/contribution (and for whom), its basis of evidence. Briefly relate the paper to the course material. Pitch to your peers why they may want to read it, and a short sentence of your own reaction to it.

For a first-order template: I'll be telling you about {paper title}, which is a {journal article, blog post, YouTube video, etc} aimed at {audience}. It's main argument is that {a phrase or two}, based on {an ethnography, a literature review, semi-structured interviews, etc}. This builds on what we were learning about in class because {reasons}. I recommend reading it if {reasons}. Personally I thought it was {1-2 sentence personal reaction}.

To hand in: send a DM on MS Teams to Elizabeth with your slides before 3pm the day you're presenting

Marking scheme (15 points)



Term Project: Policy Brief

Write and release a 1-2 page (<=1500 word) policy brief on a topic related to the course, which uses a critical/postmodern theory as a lens.

The term project will be broken into three deliverables: a proposal, a milestone, and the final "portfolio". A peer feedback stage will be organized before each handin, so you can receive feedback and revise before handing in.

You may work in groups.

I strongly recommend reading these two resources on how to prepare a policy brief:


Project Proposal

2 pages, point form responses to these six questions: Identify:

  1. The topic you'd like to examine. Why are you interested in it and why is it relevant to the course?
  2. The purpose of the policy brief. What is the transformation you want your audience to carry out? Why?
  3. The audience you would like to address about it. What would their knowledge of the topic be, and what would they need to enact that transformation?
  4. Which "lens" will you be using to analyse the situation (e.g. closure theory, DisCrit, queer theory) - must be critical or postmodern
  5. The two readings from the course syllabus that are likely to to be most relevant to your brief (elective readings may be used)
  6. Three other sources (from the syllabus or elsewhere) that are most likely to be useful for your brief

Create your proposal using an online platform that allows for other people to make comments on it, and keeps track of your revisions (e.g. Google Docs, Office 365 / Sharepoint, Overleaf).

You will be submitting the *url* to your peers for feedback on Feb 17. Then submit the same url to the teaching staff by Feb 24, using the Assignments tab on MS Teams.


Marking rubric (25 points total):


Milestone Deliverable

A complete draft of the policy brief, with a one-page cover page.

The policy brief itself should be 1-2 pages (<=1500 words), ideally with a link to supplementary materials.

The cover page (1 page soft maximum) exists for the people in this course (Elizabeth, the TAs, your peers) and should list:

  1. What feedback you want on the policy brief
  2. Who is your audience (the policymaker(s)), and your plan for dissemination
  3. What you want your audience (the policymaker(s)) to get out of it
  4. Anybody you'd like to acknowledge for helping you
  5. [Added Mar 9] Anything else you want the reader (Elizabeth/TAs/peers) to know

Link to marking rubric


Final Deliverable

Individually submit a URL to a document containing:

  1. 1 paragraph explanation of what your goal(s) was (were) in creating your policy brief, who its intended audience is, and how you disseminated it. The purpose is just to give me a quick reminder of what is going on so I don't have to look up your proposal/milestone.
  2. The final version of your policy brief [2 page max] and its supplementary materials (aka appendices; this may include acknowledgments; no limit on page count). If you worked in a group, provide a URL to the shared document. (People who worked individually can also do this rather than copying in the policy brief.)
  3. A personal reflection on your experience with this project, describing [1-3 pages roughly expected, don't go more than 5]:

Link to marking rubric