HIS 276CA Global Civilizations 1400-1700

University of Phoenix Material

African Society Presentation Instructions

Assignment Details

  1. In this assignment, teams will need to select an African society discussed in this course and then describe the social, cultural, religious, and economic developments of the selected society within Africa. Teams will need to conduct an investigation into their selected civilization’s origins, cultural influences, religions and/or philosophies, and its trade and commerce practices. Possible societies include the following:
  2. Senegambian states
  3. The kingdom of Songhay
  4. The kingdom of Kanem-Bornu
  5. Ethiopia
  6. The Swahili city states
  7. In Week Five, Local Campus students will give a 15 to 20-minute oral presentation accompanied by 10-15 Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides describing the social, cultural, religious, and economic developments of their selected African society. Online Campus students will submit a 7 to 10-slide Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation with presenter notes to the Assignment newsgroup by Monday, Day 7 of Week Five.
  8. In addition to the textbook for this course, the Internet, and the major article databases available in the University Library, each team member should use the following resources to prepare for this assignment:
  9. Oxford Dictionary of National Biographyavailable via the University Library
  10. xreferplusavailable via the University Library
  11. Encyclopedia of African Historyavailable via the University Library
  12. Journal of African History-Journal published by the Cambridge University Press and available via the University Library

Weekly Process Checklist

Below are the recommended tasks for the team to complete each week in order to finish the entire assignment by Week Five. These weekly steps are recommended to help teams approach the assignment in an organized way and to stay on track. The items listed for Weeks Two, Three, and Four are not graded assignments and do not need to be submitted to the faculty member. However, faculty may request periodic updates in order to ensure teams are making progress on the assignment.

Week Two: Select a Society

  1. Although students are not required to begin reading Chapter 18 in the text, A History of World Societies until Week Five, they should review the various civilizations described in the chapter for possible subjects for this assignment. Each team member should review the chapter and identify one or two societies that are of interest.
  2. After identifying possible subjects, each team member will make suggestions for an African society to serve as the subject for the African Society Presentation due in Week Five.
  3. Learning teams at the Online Campus should post ideas to their learning team newsgroup.
  4. The teams will need to build consensus on which African civilization to use as the subject for the assignment. Once this has been accomplished, each team member will need to read the section of Chapter 18 in the text that examines the subject of the team’s presentation.

Week Three: Conduct Additional Research

  1. Teams will use the University Library and other resources to locate additional scholarly information related to the selected African society.
  2. Learning teams at the Online Campus shouldpost potential articles and other sources of information to use as research for the final presentation to their team’s newsgroup. Local Campus teams should discuss potential articles and other sources of information in their learning team meeting.
  3. Each team member should use the following questions to evaluate each chosen source of information:
  4. Who is the author(s)?
  5. Is the information relevant to the subject of the presentation?
  6. How credible is this source?
  7. What evidence does the author use?
  8. Is the information reliable?
  9. Based on the analysis of each team member’s sources, select several appropriate sources of information to use as support for the final presentation.
  10. Based on the analysis of each team member’s articles and the information contained therein, develop an outline for the African Society Presentation. Create a thesis statement, identify several supporting details, and develop a conclusion.
  11. Each presentation should address the following items:
  12. Identify the geographical boundaries and time periods associated with thesociety.
  13. Examine the civilization’s origins.
  14. Describe the civilization’s social structure, political environment, and cultural atmosphere.
  15. Examine the religious traditions associated with the society.
  16. Describe the economic environment of the selected society. Examine the internal economic developments as well as trade and commerce practices.

Week Four: Plan the Presentation

  1. Create an outline of the presentation.
  2. Learning teams at the Online Campus should also create an outline for the presenter notes.
  3. Local Campus teams should review, edit, and finalize the Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation as well as determine which team member will present what information.

Week Five: Submit Presentation

  1. Local Campus teamswill give their 15 to 20-minute oral presentation accompanied by 10-15 Microsoft® PowerPoint® slides in class.
  2. Learning teams at the Online Campus will also review, edit, and finalize the Microsoft® PowerPoint® presentation as well as presenter notes. One team member will need to post the completed presentationto the Assignment newsgroup by Monday, Day 7, of Week Five.

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