History of Colonial Latin America

I know you are probably wondering when we’re going to do the presentations on Colonial Lives, that are scheduled to start tonight. Don’t worry — when I wrote the syllabus I had to plan for the possibility that we would have 30 students.

Since there are only about 12 of us, we’re going to have regular lecture/discussion class this week [4/14 and 4/16]. Then next week we’ll have the presentations [4/21 and 4/23] and then we’ll have some wrap-up lecture/discussions during the last week 4/28 and 4/30.] The final paper [on Lieutenant Nun] is due on May 5, when we would normally be having an exam.

So, what  is the project presentation supposed to be? You can do one of two things

1. organize a class discussion [15 to 20 minutes] on a Colonial Lives document [you can set this up anyway you like, with small group discussions, handouts or worksheets to get people started, etc. You don't have to stand before the whole class to get an A on this assignment.]
2. deliver a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation on a Colonial Lives document [you do need to use PowerPoint and I recommend that you use primarily images-with-titles.  Avoid the boring “words-words-words” slides that I have had to inflict on you during my “foods” lecture this semester (sorry…). Your slides are part of your grade.

Do you HAVE to pick a new Colonial Lives document? Not necessarily — read the previous post for more information.