Dr. Alistair (Alix) Howard

Preparing your seminar paper & presentation

• Preparation is key! Spend the right amount of time on this assignment...it's not a giveaway.
• When preparing your presentation, think about the reading analytically, rather than sequentially.
• You can assume that students have done the reading.
• Your work should offer more than merely summary, and should be the basis for discussion.
• Think about critique, appraisal, interpretation, clarification, and questions for discussion or further thought.

What does 'thinking analytically' mean?

• What categories or concepts is the author using? What are the major concepts and what do they mean to this author (for example, as opposed to what we’ve talked about in class, or what some other author thinks)?
• Is the content significant or important? Why? What has the author ignored or deemphasized that another author, you, or I might emphasize?
• What explicit or implicit theoretical assumptions underpin the author’s argument? Theoretical perspectives might include:
  • Institutionalism
  • Historical materialism
  • Pluralism
  • Rational choice
  • Elitism
• What descriptive or causal claims does the author make, if any? How are these assessed? How does the author defend her argument? What kind of evidence is offered?
• What alternative explanations or descriptions does the author consider? (“Reich considers alternative hypotheses…”
• How does the reading fit into the points I’m trying to make in the course? What relevance is the reading? You’ll earn a reader’s admiration by linking this to other readings (“Unlike xxx, Reich argues that xxxx” or “Unlike Pontusson, Reich relies on instantiation…”)
• What is left unanswered, unsaid, or unquestioned? What more would you like to know, see, hear? How does this relate to other readings you’ve done, other courses, or to current events?
  

In class

1. First, remind the class what reading you’re discussing you’re doing. You may want to remind us what we’d done previously and how what you're going to say fits in.
2. Offer a very brief summary of what you’re going to cover. (“First I’ll… Next I’ll…Finally I’ll…”)
3. Then, begin with an overall description of the reading “This is a journalistic account…” “This is a densely argued academic account…”.
4. Next, tell us whether you liked the reading or not, and why (very briefly). Try to use academic descriptors ("This article combined theory and evidence nicely" rather than "This article was crap").
5. Summarize the main points of the article, and talk about how the author made his/her case.
6. Expand on the parts you think are most relevant to the class, or to me, or to you.
7. Finish with questions you'd like to ask the author, or that we should talk about more. What's missing from your learning perspective?