EL 2076A Presentation and Communication I
Professor Amie Parry
Fall 2014

Time: Wednesday 14:00-16:50
Place: A108
Office A218; extension 33215
amie.parry@gmail.com

Course Description:

The objective of this course is to develop oral presentation skills. One focus is on how to prepare and deliver effective presentations. In addition, students will learn how to ask informed, focused and helpful questions as well as how to answer questions in academic and professional contexts. Class activities will be based on short readings and film screenings. Students will be given readings and study questions that introduce analytical frameworks for thinking critically about each text. In addition, students will be provided with handouts that introduce new vocabulary and provide relevant historical and cultural background. Following each reading or screening, class meetings will consist of student-led discussions in pairs, groups and/or as a class. The three-part mid-term will consist of group presentations, one for each unit; the final exam will be an individual presentation followed by a question and answer period.

Our topic this semester is failure. In class and as short homework assignments we will read excerpts from Judith Halberstam's The Queer Art of Failure. We will discuss it as we view films and read short fiction that dramatizes valuable failures and admirable losers. We will examine critically what counts as success, what doesn't, and why, and we will imagine other ways to determine value.

Course Policy:

All conversation in this course will be conducted in English. Grades will be calculated according to students』 weekly participation (33%), midterm group presentations (33%), and the final individual presentation (33%). Attendance is mandatory: two unexcused absences are permitted; a third will result in a failing grade for the class. Three tardies will be counted as one absence.

Schedule of classes: