Academic Field
Academic articles and book chapters make specific interventions into an academic field (or fields) and participate in broader intellectual conversations. The argument that they put forth is typically in response to an issue or question that has several competing perspectives, methodologies, and conclusions. In preparation for your class presentation, answer the following questions about the article or book chapter you have read: (Note: italic notes in parentheses refer to the parts of the article where you might typically find the information you are seeking) (1) Who is the author and what is their field of study? (2) What journal/book is the article/chapter published in? If a book, what is the publisher? What does this tell us about access and audience? (3) What is the article/chapters main argument? (title, abstract, intro, conclusion) (4) What are the big questions (social, cultural, political, economic, aesthetic, etc.) that the article/chapter responds to, comments on, and/or engages with? (abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, conclusion) (5) Who is the author responding to, or engaging with? / What conversations are they entering into by writing this article/chapter? (intro, lit review, bibliography; possibly conclusion) [Note: respond on next page!] Make note of at least two particular ideas or arguments that the author responds to (engages with, builds on, acknowledges, critiques, etc.) a) Idea / author: Response: b) Idea/author: Response: (6) What research methods did the author use to gather data to support their argument? (methodology) (7) What are some things that you learned from this article/chapter? (8) With your presentation partner, come up with two questions which youd like the class respond to, based on your reading of the article. (Note: Your questions might be about the articles terminology and theory, a particular case study, an issue or problem with which you agree/disagree, and so on. Feel free to use the class discussion board for inspiration!)
