Author Overviews

On most Fridays during the semester, two students will present an "author overview" to the class. In a roughly 12 to 15 minute presentation,  you will provide a broad overview of the work of a major media scholar, selected from the list below. The presentation should not just be a listing of what books and articles the author has published. Instead, you should provide a clear picture of:

1. Why other scholars think this researcher is interesting and important.
2. What kinds of questions and concerns this scholar brings to his or her research. 
3. What kinds of methods, theories and/or approaches does this scholar use. 
4. How this scholar relates to other scholarship, both in terms of who and what traditions the scholar draws on in his/her work, and also in terms of who the author is arguing with. 

You should provide the other students in the class with a handout listing full information about several of the author's most important or representative publications, and also a few representative quotes or statements reflecting the themes of the author's work. 

How to prepare: To do this assignment, you'll need to:

1. Research the author's work and the work of others who frequently cite your author. 
2. Develop answers to questions 1-4 above. 
3. Prepare a clear and concise presentation. (Practicing the presentation out loud is highly recommended.) 

Professor Streeter will distribute a sign-up sheet for Author Overviews to the class. Authors and dates will be the following: