Due date:
You need to post your presentation
hand-out by Sunday, April 28, 2024 (Week 15) at 11:59 pm the latest.
Goal and substance:
This
assignment requires that you pick a geographical region in the world for a closer
two to three-page hand-out presentation. You are free to choose any specific
geographical region, such as the Wadden Sea, the Pacific Northwest,
Scandinavia, the Baltics, Francophone or Arabophone Africa, the Horn of Africa,
the Indochina Peninsula, the Gobi Desert, the Great Dividing Range, the Nullarbor
Plain, the Pampas, the Lesser Antilles, the Appalachians, the Shenandoah Valley,
the Lewis-Clark Valley, the Willamette Valley, the Atacama Desert, the Black
Sea, Bornean Rain Forest, the Dolomites, San Joaquin Valley, Hokkaido, Lake
Victoria, Massif Central, etc., for your project. Do NOT pick a country!
Make
sure to depict key geographical features, such as absolute and relative location and
elevation, climate, fauna and flora were relevant, etc., as well as advantages,
and challenges of your topic of choice. Include maps, graphs, tables, etc.,
where appropriate. Remember that geography is a wide-ranging, multifaceted
discipline and that your presentation should try to reflect some of this diversity
by trying to incorporate aspects from systemic fields, such as cultural,
political, economic, population, urban, medical, social geography.
When
working on your assignment, it is IMPORTANT that you reflect and present on how geography has shaped your region’s culture
and vice versa. Moreover, make an effort to explore your region of choice
by consulting sources written by experts originating from the area and by
comparing them ideally with other perspectives. This means that you have to start EARLY on your project and
spend some significant time reading books and articles. Don’t forget to include
at the end of your hand-out at least two to three questions for further
academic research and/or course discussion. These questions can refer to any
aspect of your research topic.
Before
you start:
·      
Choose a topic that interests you and that you are all willing
to spend time working on. It is highly
recommended that you keep your geographical focus narrow to be able to
provide more detailed information and expertise. The Michigan State University
maintains a great website that might be a very good starting point to find out
some information about the country or countries of which your geographical
region is part: https://globaledge.msu.edu/. Another good starting point is
the Global Road Warrior database on culture, history, language, etc. that is
available via the LCSC Library Database website: https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/?c=wfDkWm8dCY.
·      
Be
ready to commit an adequate amount of
time and resources for this project.
–       
Please
note: you need to plan your presentation hand-out ahead of time. Do not wait
until the last minute for writing and putting your hand-out together. Failure
to get started early will likely result in a low-quality product, and
consequently in a bad grade on this assignment.
Things
to keep in mind & things to avoid:
Some
people are natural writers, while for others condensing information clearly and
writing concisely is a very scary thought. However, being able to condense
information and clearly present even very complex facts and arguments to an
audience is a vital skill in many professions. Thus, it is important to start
practicing early. Practice indeed tends to make perfect. Don’t hesitate to
email the instructor a draft of your hand-out for some feedback.
Remember to provide a complete list in alphabetical
order of the sources used in your bibliography section and to cite
appropriately within your hand-out where relevant. You need to have consulted at least three academic sources from
peer-reviewed journals and/or books published by academic presses. Be
aware that one of the most difficult tasks is to figure out what is relevant
and what is secondary and can be omitted.
Your
format makes your paper’s first impression. Justly or not, accurately or not,
it announces your professional competence or lack of competence. A
well-executed format implies that your hand-out is worth reading and referring
back to when trying to remember the contents of a specific author’s’ arguments.
Your hand-out should be single or
double-spaced, page-numbered and not exceed three pages (and stapled when, due
for whatever reason, not being uploaded to Canvas).
Clear
headlines should separate different sections/aspects of your presentation. For
this assignment feel free to use bullet points. Moreover, don’t forget to
include on top of the very first page the basic information of the assignment,
such as your name, course number name, type of assignment, date as well as the
name of the institution and the instructor.
Once
again, DON’T FORGET to include two or three questions for further academic
research or class discussion at the end of your hand-out and to include maps,
graphs, tables, etc., where appropriate.
Evaluation
While
admittingly there is always a small amount of interpretative leeway, your hand-out
will be graded according to its
Analytic scope and intellectual coherence
Clarity of presentation (How well-structured is
your handout? How clear is your writing and word choice? Did you use
appropriate maps and/or graphs, tables, etc.?)
Respect of the basic presentational guidelines
(headings, double-spaced, stapled, page-numbered, source information,
etc.).
Please keep in mind that the content and format
requirements are MINIMUM requirements. Fulfilling minimum requirements means
that you are doing more or less enough work towards a passing grade. It does NOT
mean that you will automatically receive a top grade.
Should
you have any additional questions on the assignment or concerns in regards to
your grade, please do not hesitate to approach me!