HUM 2093: Group and Group Presentation Assignments

Group Presentation and Individual Report due Dec 11

See bottom for additional information on group presentations prior to the Final Exam period

For group discussions in class prior to the final exam period, beginning the week of November 9, one group will be responsible for presenting material on the assigned topic, and another group will be responsible for leading the online discussion (i.e., posting at least six questions related to the topic, at least four of which must relate to the presenting group's online presentation). Both the presenting group and the group leading the discussion must submit a bibliography (one per group) containing a list of at least ten sources, relevant to the topic of discussion, that meet the criteria found in the document entitled "Sources for Academic Research." The bibliography may be emailed to the instructor. The names of all group members who participated in either the research, the planning, the presentaton, the generating of discussion questions, or the creation of a bibliography must be listed on the bibliography sent to the instructor. YOUR PARTICIPATION AS PART OF YOUR ASSIGNED GROUP IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF YOUR FINAL GRADE!

The presentation, which must be a minimum of 15 minutes long, must be submitted (send the video, PowerPoint, or URL to the instructor, who will add it to the class website) by Tuesday at 9:00 am. The discussion questions must be made available to the class by Thursday at 9:00 am. Forums will be created for each topic or story, and someone from the group responsible for leading the discussion will post the group's questions in the forum as separate threads. Students will respond to those threads over the course of the next week or so. Students in the presenting and discussion-leading groups don't have to respond to the questions in that forum (though they can if they want to), but all other students need to post at least two substantial responses to questions in each forum (two responses per forum, not per thread). So for example, for The Problem of Evil, the first discussion topic, Group 1 will create a presentation and send it to me, and I'll add it to the class website. Group 5 will create at least six discussion questions and post them in the Discussion Board section of Blackboard, under the forum called The Problem of Evil. Students in the other groups will post responses to at least two of the questions posted in that forum. There will be four different presentations submitted each of the three weeks that we're doing this, so everyone will be responsible for posting to multiple forums, in addition to your responsibilities as members of the groups either creating presentations or coming up with discussion questions. Each group is responsible for two presentations and two turns at leading discussion. Groups leading discussions will be responsible for leading two discussions in the assigned week. The group may split up responsibility for the two sets of discussions among its members as it sees fit, but remember that the group as a whole is responsible for making sure that both discussion forums include a minimum of six questions.

The discussion of the specified discussion topics should encompass multiple religious traditions (a minimum of four) and answer questions such as these: How do different religious traditions address the topic? Are there variations within a religious tradition, or do most voices with a single tradition speak with the same voice on the topic? Which religious traditions have views that are most similar on the topic? Most different? Have views on the topic changed over time? Are ancient views on the topic similar to or different from views on the topic today? What are the complexities in the analysis of the topic?

Here are some ideas to get you started on your discussion topics:

For the discussion stories, a narrative from a monothestic and a non-monothestic religious tradition will be presented by one group, and another group will create at least six discussion questions. The presentation should briefly summarize each of the stories, then talk about what the stories might mean in the context of the religious tradition in question. The presentation should talk about similarities and differences between each of the stories and stories or doctrines from other religious traditions. Another topic to consider is the way in which narratives convey religious meaning, in contrast to explicitly doctrinal writing.

For the final presentation, each group should create a video or other audio-visual presentation that covers the four minor religious traditions or sub-traditions assigned to members of the group. In addition, individuals within the group must submit an individual report on the religious tradition assigned to them. You may collaborate with the other member of your group who has been assigned the same religious tradition, but you must each submit separate (and not identical or virtually identical) papers. The paper must be a minimum of eight pages, double-spaced, and include at least eight scholarly bibliography entries. See the syllabus for further details on the individual report. The final presentation and individual papers are due by the end of the day on Dec 11. There is no final exam.