HIST 2206: Origins of Great Traditions

Portfolio Guideline

Masako N. Racel, Instructor

Students enrolled in this course are required to submit a portfolio (a brad folder) consists of

Self-Introduction

Four Cultural Experience Reports (10% of grade).

A project paper based on research and your “experiences” (20% of grade).

Cultural Experience Reports Guideline

For your “cultural experience reports,” you must “experience” cultures outside of your own and produce video or written reports. Your reports must cover at least three different traditions and three different categories from the following:

1) Restaurant Report (LIMITED to ONE Report): Visit an AUTHENTIC non-American, non-Western European, non-Americanized restaurant (or you may eat at a friend/acquaintance’s house) that is not of your tradition, and one you do not experience regularly [This excludes any chain/franchised restaurants or fast food restaurants].

2) Site visit to a temple, synagogue, etc. of a tradition other than your own. and /or Participate in a cultural event (such as Seder, Eid ul-Fitr, Chinese New Year) that is not of your tradition [Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day, October Fest etc. at a bar does not count].

3) Attend a lecture on a culture outside of your own.

4) Personal interview with someone who comes from a tradition or culture different from your own about their traditions and culture. Only face-to-face interviews will be accepted. That means, telephone interviews, email correspondence, facebook postings, chatrooms, text messaging etc. will be not be accepted. Interviews via videophone calls (such as Skype) must be approved by your instructor ahead of time.

Bring your camera with you and take pictures where permissible. Please make sure to provide solid evidence that you actually attended or went through the “experience.”

Your reports must include all of the following (use or consult the forms)

Base Grade / Merit points
□ Date of the event, site visit, or interview
□ Tradition
□ Site and/or Event Name/ Location of interview / 5 pts / 0
□ Evidence of your participation such as pictures (it must be securely attached to your report ) / 15 pts / 0
□ Description of cultural experience. / 20 / 20
□ Your Own Impression / Reflection / 20 / 20

·  The inclusion of all of required items will earn you 60 points. 40 points will be accessed based on thoroughness and thoughtfulness of your reflection.

·  Please use or consult the forms provided at your instructor’s website.

·  You are required to submit both a printed copy and an electronic copy through D2L dropbox. If you decided to produce a video report, please provide a page with basic information, and state that you have submitted your report in D2L dropbox.

·  Your evidence must be securely attached to your report. Please paste your photos in your document.

·  Failure to cover at least three categories and three traditions will result in 20 points reduction from ONE report.

You must submit your portfolio three times during the semester (see syllabus/D2L)

1st time: ______With at least one report completed.

2nd time: ______With at least two reports completed

3rd time ______With four reports, your Project Paper, and all of your sources

·  Failure to submit your reports on the specified dates will result in 50% reduction even if you have four reports in the final portfolio.

Keep all of your reports in a brad folder. When you submit your final project paper, you should have, self-introduction, four reports and a project paper in the folder.

Project Paper Guideline:

For your project paper, produce a short paper (about 2000 words) based on one of your cultural experiences or a related topic. Your topic must be:

1) Something culturally significant (Traditional culture, NOT contemporary culture such as movies, modern music, TV, sports etc.),

2) Must be VERY specific with details and facts AND

3) Something for which you can obtain at least 5 acceptable written sources such as books, magazine, journal, and newspaper articles. Do not stop when you find four sources!

To find written sources:

• First look for BOOKS. Try the KSU library catalog first. If you cannot find anything at the KSU library, you can try GIL (Georgia Interconnected Libraries) Universal Catalog and/or WorldCat and request a book(s) be sent to KSU via GIL Express or interlibrary loan.

• You may consult an encyclopedia, but it will not be counted as a source.

• Online sources can be used only if they are online version of printed materials. For example, you can use an article from the New York Times since you can get the same article either in a printed or online version. You should be able to identify the author, name of the article / journal / book, and the date it was published. Open information sites or forums, such as Wikipedia, cannot be used since there is no single author and no way to verify the accuracy or credibility of the information provided. Web Blogs and similar open forums are also not considered valid sources unless I approve them in advance.

• You are encouraged to use appropriate primary sources and scriptures, such as the Analects of Confucius, the Quran and the Bible. Use of online primary sources or scripture is permissible as long as you cite the source appropriately. For example, if you are quoting from Bible, you must indicate section name (such as Genesis, Luke, etc.) chapter, verse and translation used.

• Electronic KSU Library Resources – Ask a librarian if you need help:

o For academic journal articles, try JSTOR and Project Muse.

o For newspapers, try LexisNexis, and ProQuest.

o For magazines, try Proquest.

• Your paper should be based on your experience and the Sources Cited. Listing four or more sources but then actually basing the paper on other information either prohibited or not cited may result in a failing grade.

• Internet secondary sources without an identifiable author and the date when the document was written will not count toward four minimum sources required for this project.

Your paper must have at least 5 paragraphs and must include:

1)  Introduction, including a thesis statement

2)  At least three paragraphs to support your thesis (but consider potential counter-argument)

3)  Conclusion ( restate the thesis)

Format Issues:

Your paper must be double spaced with no more than a standard 12 point font (e.g. Times New Roman, Arial etc.). The margin should be 1 inch on all sides.

History and History Ed majors, history minor: USE Chicago style citation with footnotes.

Other Majors: MLA will be accepted.

Plagiarism

Do NOT plagiarize!

Plagiarism can be defined 1) failure to cite quotations and borrowed ideas 2) failure to use quotation marks to indicate borrowed language 3) failure to use your own words for summaries and paraphrases. Remember even if you did not use direct quotes, you must provide citations. Plagiarized papers will receive a grade of zero for this assignment and be turned in to the Department of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity.

Submitting Your Paper

Your paper is due on ______. You are required to submit both a printed copy and an electronic copy through D2L dropbox. If you fail to submit an electronic copy, it will not be graded. Please make sure to provide bibliography and include links to any web-based information. For printed copy, include ONE sample page from each source you have used (preferably the area you have quoted or paraphrased). Label the sample page with author’s name. Please be prepared to provide sources upon your instructor’s request.

No late papers will be accepted unless you have an absolutely compelling reason that prevents you from completing the assignment on time. Contact your instructor as soon as possible (before the deadline) if you encounter a situation that may warrant extended time and the Instructor will decide if the event warrants an extension. Please note that approved late papers will incur a grade penalty. The amount of the penalty will be at your instructor’s discretion.