Below are some examples of assignment briefs and student work. Feel free to use the assignment briefs – please give credit accordingly. All student work here is posted with express permission and students chose whether their work was named or anonymous.
Student examples are on the left; assignment descriptions and instructions on the right.
‘Zine Assignment
In lieu of having students write academic-style papers, I have assigned ‘zines. The goal of ‘zine assignments is to help students 1) tell compelling stories and 2) use visuals to do so. These skillsets are transferrable to many jobs, and students often prefer this type of writing assignment – just like a traditional essay, the ‘zine requires students synthesize information and present it coherently. I developed this assignment from examples and information shared by my colleague Siavash Samei.
Natalie Belle’s podcast, “The Politics of Alternative Arab Music in the Levant”
Valentina Ostovary’s podcast, “Dating the Orient”
‘Zine Assignment Brief
Zine on the History of Representation of Cultural Objects
Goal:
To produce an 9-10 pg ‘zine focusing on the ways a particular kind of cultural object has been represented, documenting at least 3 different instances. You may choose three different moments in history, or you may choose three different museums/displays that are contemporaneous. I have mocked up a very simple demo version – your writing should be more substantial, and there are only two instances in the demo, however your ‘zine needs three.
Grade:
Zine (presentation): 20 pts
- Treatment of first instance (5pts)
- Must include at least one image
- Must include a contemporaneous tether, either through an article, an image, newspaper report, exhibition review, online/social media post, etc. which must be correctly cited.
- One of your instances – or your analysis – must cite one course material.
- Treatment of second instance (5pts)
- See above
- Treatment of third instance (5pts)
- See above
- Format (2.5pts)
- Meets length requirement: 9-10 pages (about half of this is text)
- Layout is consistent
- Images are captioned and credited
- Format: introduce, instance 1, 2, 3, analysis*, conclusion (where do we go from here?)
- * analysis can also be woven into parts 1, 2, & 3 or used to transition between them. In some way, you have to tell me what is different or similar between these instances, and what that means.
- Quality of writing (2.5pts)
- Correct grammar, punctuation, solid writing
Zine (labor): 14pts
Need to: participate in workshops, training in labs, and boot camps
Bring at least 4-5 images to the Digital Lab day (so you have something to work with!)
Send me proof you workshopped your draft with the Writing Center, sometime between Apr 6 – May 2.
Resources:
Digital Lab – layout & design training (see schedule for Open Lab hours)
Open source images:
Library of Congress
State history organizations
Museums’ collections databases (check; you may not be able to use images for profit but you can often use them for research purposes) esp the Smithsonian and British Museum
ArtStor
Wikimedia Commons
Categories – some ideas:
– illuminated manuscripts
-weapons
-jewelry
-African textiles
-Roman-era ceramics
– mummies
Podcast Assignment
Podcasts are another format that can push students to synthesize course material in new ways, and in particular, extend course concepts to material of their choosing.
Podcast Assignment Brief
Your final assignment is to produce a podcast, roughly 12-15 minutes long. Your podcast will synthesize materials across units and explore the complexity of life in the Middle East region. The assignment aims to help you synthesize your learning about this complex region, do a little research of your own on a particular topic, and present it together in an easily digestible way.
Recommended software: Audacity (free audio editing software)
Be creative – you can interview someone (or people!), include documentaries, look at contemporary art, use music or other emcees.
Draft script: Tu May 2
Hint: 7 pages double spaced is about 15 minutes of talking
Final podcast due: Tu May 9 @ 2:30p EST
Total points possible: 10 points
Grading based on: timely, complete submission of draft script & final, inclusion of materials from two course units, inclusion of two additional sources, your synthesis/response. How much did you engage the materials?
Assignment parameters:
- Must use readings or materials from at least two of our course units
- YOU MUST USE TWO ADDITIONAL SOURCES **REPUTABLE ONES** Don’t know what’s reputable? Let’s talk!
- Your draft script is due so I can give you feedback. It will also help you create the transcript!
- Give it a title!
- Final submission must include the audio file and a PDF of transcript and works cited list.
Potential prompts:
- Analyze the complexity of the role of women in Arabic-speaking and Muslim communities through the lens of religion, kinship, social reproduction, labor, etc.
- Put American military intervention in the region in the context of the Eastern Question, WWI, and the Cold War.
- Make an argument for a meaningful name for a geographical grouping (ie, we should call this region xyz because of the commonalities in A, B, & C).
- Analyze the role of artistic and cultural production in MENA in the contemporary moment.
- How does Orientalism exist in the present moment, if it does?
- You are also welcome to devise a prompt of your own choosing, just be sure to run it by me first!
Beth Derderian 