Project Objective

The intent of this group project is to provide an opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of an artist as well as his art work. Each student will be teamed into a small group, which presents the same interests on artist. This assignment is to write a  research paper and presents your group’s point of view of the artist(s) and the art works they created. Each student is required to collect related information, discuss your thoughts with your group members, and work together for the paper and the presentation. The paper you are writing is for an educated reader, but one that knows little or nothing about the artist and his art work. The paper should be persuasive and understandable.

Specifically, your group should accomplish the following:

• Meet multiple times to discuss the research and formulate the presentation.
• Share insights that critically support the topic idea with group members.
• Draft your research paper of approximately 10-15 pages that summarizes your group members’ topics.
• Submit both soft copy and hard copy of your research paper on time.
• Email the PowerPoint presentation document, and present it in the class.

Project Strategy and Guideline:

1. Organizational Work: Choose one of the world most popular artists from the linked list that is of greatest interest to you. You will let me know on our class meeting on Monday, February 9, which artist you have chosen. Based on your choice, you will be grouped with other students from class for the purpose of organizing a class presentation on your topic.
2. Organization of Paper: When choosing a topic, remember that you can cover it in one of two forms, either narrative or analytical. Using the narrative style, you provide a description of the topic based on both facts and opinions. In the paper, you will use both direct quotes and paraphrases. In the analytical style, you set up an argument or a problem; you then present evidence to support the position you have chosen.
3. Choosing a Topic: There is one major difference between an Art History paper and other average papers. In an Art History paper, you have to be able to translate the visual into the verbal. To do this effectively, you need to familiarize yourself with both terms and concepts necessary to describe art. You must not only describe what you see in the art, but also make sure your description delivers the argument or point of view of your research paper effectively.
4. Choosing a Topic Idea: For certain period, you could choose to discuss and explain changes in the artist’s style of art by comparing and contrasting two or more of his early works and later works. Then discuss for factors contributed to the changes you are identifying. For example, you may evaluate the career of Leonardo da Vinci and his contributions to the Renaissance art; make sure you use specific examples to support your point of view.
5. Bibliography: You will need to list every sources you used in your research paper. You must have at least three sources for your paper. 
6. Presentation: A 15-minute in class presentation will be addressed for the group project. Make a PowerpPoint presentation that presents its position on the topic.
7. Peer Evaluation: Rate each group member including yourself.

Project Calendar

Every group facilitator is responsible to submit the printed hard copy and email an electronic copy of your paper to me before the project deadline, and email me a copy of your presentation file prior to the class session scheduled for your group presentation.

• Email your Word file before noon of April 22. The file should be titled with your group ID that I will created once your group is built. (Example: group-a.docx)
• Drop your hard copy paper in my mailbox (inside of art office) before 3:00 p.m. of May 1.

Type-setting Guideline (Big Paper)

• Set one inch margin all the way around
• Set double space (16 pages)
• Choose Helvetica or Time New Roman typeface (12 pt)
• Before finalizing your paper, you’d better to check your paper through the Writing Center

Citation Style (Big Paper): MLA Style or Chicago Style

Presentation Guideline (PowerPoint)

Presentations should be no more than 15 minutes. You should have timed your presentation to be sure you can complete it within this time limitation. Although time may allow questions, any questions for presenters should follow the completion of all of each session’s presentations.

You should use PowerPoint for your visual references and to help organize and to show your presentation. You need scan some art work images, and insert them into the presentation. If you have special technology needs, you should arrange those well in advance of your presentation. Please bring a travel drive and be ready to present at the designate time and day.

How this project will be evaluated:

Each group member will receive the same score, unless there is communication from the group that a member has not sufficiently contributed. I’ll be looking to see that there is evidence of deeper discussion and higher order thinking. The ability to summarize complex material and formulate a response will also be evaluated.

The maximum score of the collaborative project is 20 points.

• Big paper: 8 points
• Powerpoint presentation: 12 points

For the grading criteria of group paper, please check http://pxstudio.us/blog/?p=19232

For some ppt examples, please check the following links:
Pablo Picasso by: Scott Mayberry, Gregory Brookhart, and Eyuel Molla
Johannes Vermeer by Maria Caputa, Botao Huang, Jathusan Rajendram
Rembrandt van Rijn by Morgan Self, Shelby Page, and Chacity Cooper