Part of your assessment for this course is based on a presentation you will make to your seminar group.
You are expected to prepare your presentation for the main required reading for the week you choose. You are welcome to discuss a wider range of texts in your presentation and to draw on your independent research. If you are unclear as to what text to focus on, please seek your seminar tutor’s assistance in advance.
My topic is “Criminalization of HIV Transmission” and the reading it has to be based on is “Reckless trials? The criminalization of the sexual transmission of HIV” by Daniel Monk. I have also attached a couple of more useful reading/cases + the lecture slides that might helpful.
The format and focus of the presentation is up to you, BUT SHOULD GO BEYOND SUMMARISING THE READING. Strong presentations will demonstrate a thorough reading of the text, a critical approach to the topic and an ability to pose thoughtful, discussion-oriented questions for the seminar group.
Some issues you may want to consider in your presentations are listed below. You can use the following questions as guidance, and since your time is very limited, it will be sufficient to consider one point/question under each of the three headings. Please note that it is very important not to suffice with a synopsis (a), but to also formulate your response to the reading (b), and also a couple of discussion questions arising from the reading for the seminar group to consider as a whole (c).
(a) Provide a very brief synopsis of the reading
Identify the central thesis / main argument; or the key points if it is a case report
Highlight key points and evidence used to support the thesis
Identify the theoretical perspectives / methodological issues raised in the analysis
What is the author’s claim about the significance of the work?
How does the selected reading relate to other articles or issues in the module?
(b) Formulate your own critique / analysis / response to the readings
Do you agree with the central thesis or argument? Why or why not?
Does the evidence / examples support the main thesis or argument? What other evidence could have been used? Is there counter-evidence available?
What are the strengths and limitations of the theoretical perspectives or methodologies used in the text?
Do you accept the author’s claim about the significance of the work? Do you see other points of significance or relevance?
Can the arguments or ideas be applied to other situations, and if so, with what impact? Who benefits from the argument? Who does not?
Who / what is included in the discussion and who / what is excluded? What perspectives are missing? Who is absent?
How are people / organizations / ideas / power structures represented in the reading? Do these representations challenge or reinforce dominant social norms?
What assumptions are made by the author? What basic principles, values or ideas do their arguments rely on? How does the author use and define (both explicitly and implicitly) key terms and concepts?
What contradictions or tensions can be found in the arguments? What patterns?
What feelings, emotions, reactions came up for you as you read the text? Why do you think you responded that way? What do those reactions tell you about the reading, but also about yourself?
(c) Formulate 1 or 2 questions to raise for class discussion:
What theoretical, political or substantive questions arise from the reading?
What questions arise from your own critique and analysis?
Last Completed Projects
| topic title | academic level | Writer | delivered |
|---|