viz.

Image Credit: fidgetrainbowtree 

For a handout, download the PDF document outlining this assignment.

For your second project you will be working in groups to create a 3-5 minute multimedia presentation.

The content of the presentation should focus on one of the following publications: Rolling Stone, Esquire, Vanity Fair, Harper’s, The Atlantic, and New Yorker. Your task is to choose one of these publications and compare its print culture in two different decades. By “print culture” I mean everything printed in the magazine, from features and fiction to interviews and advertising. Your task is to argue in your multi-media presentation about what the publication in each of those two decades you choose tells us about American culture at that time, as well as to point out the changes between those two decades, and speculate as to what those changes might mean.

All of the publications listed here are held in the PCL’s stacks. While UT does have some digital copies of more recent issues, you would be better served by going to the library and looking at the physical issues. And for older issues you won’t have a choice. So you’ll need to get into the library.

The format of these projects is a multi-media presentation, which must be no less than three and no more than five minutes long. It also must be entirely selfcontained, which means that when you bring it to class you can simply press a play button and we can watch and hear the entire presentation. At the least interesting (and least likely to garner a high grade) end of the spectrum would be an automated PowerPoint presentation, and at the most interesting end of the spectrum would be some sort of video that incorporates images and words from the original publications, as well as music and some sort of narration to make your group’s observations and argument.

In the coming days I will provide you with the rubric that I will use to grade the presentations. You also need to quickly decide which publication your group will cover. I would prefer that no two groups work on the same publication. As always, you should email if you have any questions.

Important Dates:

Wednesday, February 25th—Project Assigned

Monday, March 2nd (Texas Independence Day)—Let me know which publication your group will cover, rubric provided to students

Monday, April 13th—Final Projects Due in Class