Monsters Conference: General Information

Core 155

Michael O’Rourke

 

 

 

I.    The Conference

 

The Monsters Conference will be the culmination of the Monsters class for the year.  This conference will be modeled on a professional academic conference, where papers are read and posters are presented.  The point of such a conference is to increase our knowledge about the theme on which the conference focuses, and this one is no different.  Thus, it is your opportunity to demonstrate what you have learned and add to what we know about monsters and the monstrous. You will be expected to present a paper and set up a poster that supplements your paper, presenting its main ideas in a more succinct and visually enhanced form. 

 

II.    Group Responsibilities

 

You have been placed in your groups.  You will work with these people to do two things:

 

  • Identify a topic related to the course theme on which each of you will work.
  • Create a large conference poster of the sort on display on the 2nd floor of Morrill Hall for presentation during the conference. 

 

You will need to identify your group topic by February 3.  On or before this date, you must send a description of your topic to me via e-mail.  This description needn't be longer than a paragraph.

 

Your group will be assigned a time during the conference when you will present the results of your research.  (More on this below.) You will also be assigned a location to set up your poster presentation.  You should plan on staffing this table for a substantial part of the conference; however, you needn't be at the poster table the entire time.

 

The groups should meet regularly after Spring Break to prepare for this conference. Your groups will be given classtime after Spring Break to prepare for the conference.  You may meet outside of the room during class time, but you must notify me of where you plan to meet if you don't plan to meet in the classroom.  Everyone must write up a report of your meeting in your journal/sketchbook to get credit for class attendance on that date.

 

Each time you meet outside of class, you should write an entry in your journal/sketchbook, noting attendance and the nature of the meeting from your perspective.  This information is extremely important to my evaluation of your work on the project.  

 

III.    Individual Responsibilities

 

While you will identify the topic as a group, you will each be responsible for writing your own paper on that topic.  This paper should be 10 pages in length, double-spaced.  It should contain a bibliography and in-text citations.  The papers from your group should focus on different aspects of the topic that you have selected.  Together, the papers should provide a rather complete picture of the topic as a whole.  I will want to see an abstract of your paper by February 24.  10% of the paper grade associated with this project will hang on getting the group and individual abstracts to me by the appointed times.

 

During your presentation time at the conference, each of you will present abbreviated versions of your papers individually.  As a group, you must decide what the best presentation order will be.  Also, it would be good to have someone designated to chair the session, introducing the group members and framing the presentations so that they all hang together in some coherent way.  This person would also need to present their own paper.

 

You may read an abbreviated version of your paper (about 5-6 pages, double-spaced), or you may present your paper using PowerPoint or overhead slides.

 

When all is said and done, each of you will be asked to fill out a retrospective evaluation of your project and your group.  Again, this will be an important part of the evaluation I put together for you on this project.

 

IV.    Grading

 

The grading will break down as follows:

 

  • Abstracts: this is a check off---you need to get these to me by February 3 (group abstract) and February 24 (individual paper abstract), but no grade is assigned. (10%--5% per abstract)
  • Paper: most of your grade will hang on this.  You are advised to get started on this soon, and prepare drafts of it if at all possible.  I would be happy to review drafts in advance of the conference.  You should also share your drafts with the members of the group.  Remember that you will read them together, so you all have a stake in the reports of the others. (50%)
  • Presentation: you will be given 15 to 20 minutes to present your main points to the conference audience. This grade will be determined by how successful you are in presenting these points.  I will evaluate your presentation style, its effectiveness, and how you handle questions.  There will be an opportunity for a test run in class in the week before the conference. (20%)
  • Poster: you will be evaluated as a group on this.  I encourage you all to check out the posters on the 2nd floor of Morrill Hall and use these as models.  You are not limited to 2 dimensions, however.  I encourage you to be creative in how you use your space.  (20%)   

V.        Summary of Key Dates

February 3       —                    Group Abstract due

February 24     —                    Individual Abstract due

            March 10         —                    Annotated Bibliography, Outline, and Argument Essay due (MP#2)

            April 19, 21, 26, 28 — In Class Presentations

            TBA                 —                    Conference