About the Background Research Assignment

The Background Research Assignment has three primary goals:

1. to help students prepare to be able to write their podcast script
2. to help students expand their understanding of their chosen song and genre
3. to help students expand their theoretical understanding of the social issues their song discusses

The assignment is informed by three Course Learning Objectives:

Objective 3: Effective Communication

Students will understand the principles, practices, and ethics of effective media communication, in particular in terms of how it applies to social movements, society, and protest music.

Objective 4: Reflection
Students will develop their understanding of the important role of reflection during the reading and communication process.

Objective 5: Risk-taking
Students will know what it feels like to step out of their comfort zones and take risks with their approaches to and understanding of the course activities and other course objectives.

Assignment Specifics

In class on Friday, February 22, students generated the following list of possible sources based on an analysis of various music-related podcasts we listened to:

This list is an excellent start. Now we each need to go out and find sources that we could very possibly use in our podcasts.

To complete this assignment, students will complete a kind of annotated bibliography.

Your annotated bibliography should contain at least 10 entries relating to your research, with 3 entries being scholarly sources, and 3 being journalistic sources, and 4 being popular sources. Some specifics:

3 Scholarly Sources

• These sources must be scholarly journal articles or scholarly books provide a theoretical understanding of the social issues their song discusses, such as institutional racism, feminism in popular culture, the black body, and so on.
• 1 source can be about your song and/or artist, if such scholarship exists.

4 Journalistic Sources

• These sources include news shows, magazines, and newspapers, and should be able the artist, the song, and social issues their song discusses, such as red lining, interviews with the artist, racism as portrayed in popular music, and so on.

3 Popular Sources

• These songs include blogs, podcasts, videos, and other sources that don’t fit as journalism or scholarship. They should be about the artist, the song, and social issues their song discusses.

Creating the Bibliography

Before adding your entries, compose a 100 description of what you are thinking will be your approach to your podcast. By now you should see that there are many ways you can go, so try to narrow it down. The entries in your bibliography should be chosen to help those goals.

When creating your bibliography, group your sources by the above 3 categories.

I do not care which citation method you use, just as long as you are consistent and that your citations include the following:

• author first and last name
• date
• publication title
• URL (including for scholarly sources)

Below each citation, compose a 100 – 150 word annotation:

• up to 75 words that summarizes the source
• up to 75 words that describes how and why you might use it in your podcast

The Do-Nots

Please do not list Wikipedia, music videos, or lyrics as sources. The latter two are understood to be sources already. However, if there is a video that is directly related to your topic, such as the Sesame Street song, “I Love My Hair,” you are welcome to use that.

Due Date and Submission Info

3/8: Share a GoogleDoc with Bill to his SJU email address by 11:00pm