Wilderness Mini-Conference schedule

Per our discussion tonight, here's the panels/sequence of presentations for the next two weeks.

Wednesday November 27
5:30-7:00 PANEL 1: Ariel, Brittney, Alex, Blake
7:15-8:30 PANEL 2: Jesse, Carty, Phil

Wednesday December 4
5:30-7:00 PANEL 3: Leah, Mike, Florence, Chris
7:15-8:30 PANEL 4: Chelsea, Ellen, Nick, Gina

Please post your title in the comments section here.

You have 10-12 minutes to present your ideas, which translates to about 5-6 pages of written text if you plan to read.  I've pasted below the suggestions from the handout from last week, in case they are useful.

Sometime before the end of the semester, you also need to compile your blogs posts into a single document and include a paragraph-long self-evaluation of your work for the assignment. Additionally, I am requesting that you do a self-evaluation of your two presentations, following the format from the paper I distributed in class tonight. For your reference, I've also pasted that below.  

English 418 The Wilderness Act at 50:  Conference Paper Guidelines

The conference paper genre is unique.  How you frame your delivery when speaking to an audience for 10 minutes is different from having an audience silently reading for the same amount of time.  What does this mean? 

1.    First, and most notably: your paper should be written to be heard, not read.  Think about how the words will sound, which punctuation marks will translate, how long a listener can keep an idea in mind, how to mark transitions so a listener will follow your reasoning.

2.     Given that your audience won't be able to look back at what you said earlier, it is especially important to keep the essay focused. 

3.    Structure of argument: You can start small and point to a larger context, or the other way around.  But remember that it's best to focus on single ideas that an audience can follow.  I find the question/answer format to be really helpful.

    

4.    If you are finding that you have too much to say, remember that it is sometimes better to be provocative rather than definitive or thorough.  Conferences in the humanities are intended to explore works in progress, so feel free to raise questions and posit possible answers, but don’t get bogged down in the details of your argument. This might also mean dispensing with the literature review (or with the careful exploration of long arguments others have made). A good rule of thumb is to limit the number of scholars you cite, and when you have to cite, it is often better to suggest a debate rather than summarize specific positions.

5.    Read your paper out loud several times before the presentation.  This helps with timing (use a stopwatch!), syntax emphasis, flow, rhythm, breaking down complex sentences, etc.  You don't want to stumble over your own words!

6.    You can provide meta-commentary for what you’re doing (i.e. “I will look at these three examples to illustrate my claim that…” Or, “I just argued X, Y, and Z.”) This kind of meta-commentary is often considered “throat-clearing” in scholarly writing, but can help when you’re reading aloud.  On the other hand, don’t feel you need to do this if your logic is clear and you practice reading aloud.

7.    If you’re not planning a 5-page scholarly paper meant to be read, you need to plan your time even more carefully. Practice your talk with your other materials, whether they be Power Point slides, photographs, or maps.  Your talk should still be 10 minutes, but remember visuals add another element of complexity in presentation.  The audience needs enough time to digest the visuals, and your verbal commentary should remain the primary focus.  That is, be clear about what you’re showing the audience, and what they should notice or make of the visuals. Don’t leave digesting the visuals up to the audience. 

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Presentation Self Evaluations

Student: ___________________________________________________________________

1.     Discussion leading panel for class session on _________________________

a. describe your work in preparation for the “panel” as well as how things went in class. 

b. List one thing that went well and one thing you would do different. 

i.               success:

ii.              could have gone better:

c. Recommended grade for your part of the panel________

2.     Wilderness Case study presentation on ____________________

a. describe your approach to the assignment (the choice of your place, the research, and the presentation)

b. List one thing that went well and one thing you would do different. 

i.               success:

ii.              could have gone better:

c. Recommended grade for your place presentation________