Once during the semester, you will be asked to become a “panel expert” on a particular day’s readings. Panels will be made up of three students at a time (or four, depending on how the class divides out). You should all make plans to meet outside of class to decide which of you will be responsible for which parts of the readings, how you want to divide up your discussion or presentation, and what aspects of the readings you want to emphasize and ask questions about. Please organize your presentation so that each student has roughly equal speaking time. You may present a “formal” presentation or may informally discuss the content and context.
[order_button_a]
You may use power point (but this is not necessary) or the board if it is helpful. The method of the presentation is up to you. In class, you will be responsible for briefly summarizing the central points of the day’s readings. For primary sources, you should be able to give me the basic claims of the work and the historical context of it. For the secondary sources, you should be able to give me the basic argument of the work along with the historical time period and questions that it addresses.
Please come prepared with a handful of broad, open-ended questions about the readings you will pose to the class to generate class discussion, while the rest of class will also come with at least one question to ask of you.
These are not meant to be specific, factual questions about the readings, but rather open-ended, conceptual questions designed to help us interpret the readings and gain some understanding about how the particular day’s readings engage with scientific ideas. Example of a bad question: “In Copernicus’s introduction to De Revolutionibus which ancient astronomer is he arguing against?” Depending on one’s perspective, this question either has one specific answer and does little to generate discussion or is so broad as to be meaningless. Example of a good question: “Scholars like Peter Dear have described Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus as ‘revolutionary’, while those like James Poskett have noted that he built upon and relied upon a number of earlier works. To what degree is his science revolutionary? To what degree is it derivative? How might his work have differed if he had not had access to either ancient Greco-Roman or medieval Islamic scientific works?” Essentially, if it has a quick, specific answer, you should rethink the question. I will be the “referee” and will pose my own questions of the panel and the class as a whole. In all, your group will “lead” discussion for about 25-30 minutes.
[order_button_b]
GRADING:
You will not be graded based on things like poise, diction, enunciation, or other public-speaking-related aspects of your presentation. You WILL be graded on the following:
Has the student clearly completed the readings and have they understood the readings well enough to convey the information contained within them to their peers?
Has the student engaged deeply enough with the readings that they are able to pose pertinent questions to the class as a whole about their subject matter?
Does the student show that they understand the historical context of the primary source works on which they are presenting?
Are the readings presented in a logical, orderly way that can be understood by both the instructor and the class?
Does the student respond appropriately to questions asked about the readings in way that demonstrates a clear mastery of the topic?
Does the student understand the historical argument made by secondary source authors and the evidence marshalled to support their argument?