| |
|
American Literature
Workshop
Project Description
The projects are one of the unique aspects of an
ASC workshop – unique because with your permission, the projects which you have
developed within a team or group, are placed on the ASC World Wide Web. Your scholarship
and creativity are shared with the global village.
You have been divided into three working groups, each led by a faculty member. The
projects will evolve from these groups. The projects are an important component of the
workshop for the experience they provide in using various resources such as the Internet
to find materials. Each group decides on a topic, and Fellows will form teams of two or
three within the group to work on a specific area of the broader topic.
- Form a Group: You should work in pairs or in a group of three on some topic of interest
to your team. We prefer that you do not work individually, both for administrative as well
as pedagogical reasons. The faculty member leading your working group will be the group´s
advisor.
- Project Concept: Select a project concept and title. Be specific. Your title should be
interesting, and motivate readers to examine it in detail on the web. The subject should
not be too broad, but rather one which is limited in scope. You have only a few days to
complete your work! Choose a project that allows you to explore areas and ideas that are
of interest to readers, but can allow you to gain new experience and knowledge.
- Tasks and Deadlines: Because of the short time available to complete the projects,
preliminary identification of team projects will take place on Sunday morning, May 10. As
you will see on the schedule, Sunday afternoon will be spent developing the projects in
consultation with the Faculty, and at 17:30 we will gather to see who is doing what
with whom.
- Project Creation: You will create your project using Microsoft Word 97. If you
are not familiar with Windows, it would be helpful to team up with someone who is familiar
with this software. Floppy disks will be handed out on which you will save your project.
The possibilites for your project are unlimited. Your working group may
choose a topic such as the contemporary immigrant experience. Each team
could concentrate on texts that elucidate as well as aesthetically heighten certain
phenomena. Or a team could concentrate on immigrants´ attitudes towards the U.S. –
acculturation, assimilation, melting pot, mosaic.
Another possible group topic might be the crossroads of gender, ethnicity, and
cultures. This might involve teams working on the Thomas-Hill debates, conflicts
among certain ethnic groups such as Koreans and Black in California, Chicano Anglos and
Blacks in Texas, Latinos and Blacks in Newark. Teams could use literary works as
illustrations, and use the Internet to find materials. Note that we have identified a
large number of websites related to literature which we hope will help you find resources.
You might find it helpful to look at past projects by ASC participants, which you will
find on the ASC website at: http://www.salsem.ac.at/csacl/resc/projlst.htm
Some other ideas:
- Design a series of interview questions based on a specific theme, and interview one of
the faculty members. Summarize the response in writing.
- Explore uses of the Internet in teaching literature, using pre-identified websites, and
discovering others. Create a bibliography and/or lesson plan useful for teachers of
American literature.
- Describe how the film Lonestar represents contemporary multicultural America.
- Choose a specific author and explain how specific texts are a reflection of the changing
social structure in contemporary America.
|
