Queer Theory/Queer Lives

Fall 2003

Biography/Research project and presentation

Topic: Biography of a person you choose or description of a major idea, event, movement, etc., and your response

Due: At the beginning of class on your chosen date

Outline length: 2-3 pages (must be typed)

Creative response: varies, but must engage us with the energetic equivalent of a 5-7 page paper

Grading criteria & point system

The purpose of this project is for you to become familiar with, and to share with the class, pertinent background information and your critical response to an important writer, theorist, artist, idea, event, movement, etc.

Guidelines

For a biography:

• Provide a BRIEF personal biography of the person you picked, including educational, professional and activist history.
• How and why is their work important?
• What stuck out for you in their work as thought-provoking, resonant with your experience, and/or problematic?
• What has the person written or produced, and what has been written about them?
• Any other fascinating or curious facts.
• Your presentation is 5 minutes
• You are encouraged to enliven your presentation with pertinent visuals, video, audio, handouts, and/or treats for the class.
• Send us your paper electronically as an email attachment so we can add it to the course website.

For an event/movement/book etc:

• Provide a BRIEF description of the topic you picked, including public responses to it.
• How and why is it important?
• What stuck out for you as thought-provoking, resonant with your experience, and/or problematic?
• What has been said about your topic, in writing or in the media?
• Any other fascinating or curious facts.
• Your presentation is 5 minutes
• You are encouraged to enliven your presentation with pertinent visuals, video, audio, handouts, and/or treats for the class.
• Send us your paper electronically as an email attachment so we can add it to the course website.

Creative response:

Create a piece of writing, art, video, film, poetry, performance or other form of expression in response to your chosen person/topic. You can either respond to the entire piece/event, or choose one particular moment/thought to respond to. You can also comment on public reception/reaction to the work or events, including media coverage. Please engage issues covered in the readings or discussed in class. The guidelines and format are flexible, but we envision the creative response as roughly the equivalent of a 5-7 page paper.

Grading

The presentation, write-up and creative response will be graded on the following criteria:

• Outline is typed and handed in on time (10% grade deduction for every calendar day the project is late)
• Presentation and creative response are delivered on the date specified
• Organization and inclusion of all elements described above
• Quality of research
• Quality and clarity of writing/production
• Citations and bibliography

Suggested sources

Zimmerman Library http://elibrary.unm.edu/subjects

The Internet (http://www.google.com/ is a good search engine)