Final Project (Critical Research Project + Presentation)
To complement the exploratory nature of our course, it might be best to think of your critical research project as an extended conference-length text—a longer paper from which you would cull a shorter presentation, and which you might submit to the proceedings of a particular conference. To be viable, the project needs to be situated; to be conference-worthy, the project needs to be salient. In other words, you must invent a reason for writing it!
Beyond that, your options are many. You might identify an issue, problem, subject, or method that has been sorely neglected (and is amenable to theoretical inquiry). You might offer a new or enhanced reading of a single text or critical problem, especially via the application of a new methodology. You might conduct a comparative analysis, in which you present an informed re/reading of two or more theoretical perspectives on one historical text in order to analyze multiple treatments of a particular issue in that text. If you are feeling very ambitious, you might even proffer a new theory after tracing the influence of a certain critical term or question on the movements we have been studying all semester. Based on how we navigate the course, it is my hope that your ideas for projects will be stimulated well beyond just “discussing the rhetoric of such and such,” and will instead connect past traditions with vital contemporary interests (whether those interests are cultural, philosophical, political, or pedagogical), really expanding your understanding of rhetorical theory and practice.
Whatever you do, please note that the emphasis of this project is on the focused articulation of a greater promise, so your final project should be ~5-7 single-spaced pages, including works cited. You are free (and highly encouraged) to draw on our reading lists as you complete this project, as well as to identify new and other sources. I will also ask you to transform that critical project into a more dynamic presentation (~15 minutes in length), whose format and content will be determined by you. We will share presentations on the last class day, so you should plan to provide a handout or digital component to help us engage.
In Week 12, I will ask for a ~2 page (single-spaced) prospectus, and a list of sources. In the true sense of the word (pro-spect-um), this is intended to be a projecting forward of the question(s) guiding your project—a statement of proposed aims or objectives, operating within a specific context, and accompanied by a detailed plan of work. Unlike a proposal, the prospectus typically forecasts the nature of a project, and begins to lay out its course. I encourage you to look ahead to the required and recommended readings scheduled later in the semester, in case any of them can inform your project. I am happy to meet with you at any point throughout the semester to talk through ideas for this project.
