Fall
Semester 2009
Professor Doug Linder
| Grades for the Famous Trials
course will be based 50% on a 50-60 question in-class multiple choice
exam that will be administered during the last class. The other 50% of the grade will be based on student projects. Students may choose one of the three following options for their projects: 1. Students may assemble materials pertaining to one of the trials listed on the "Other Famous Trials " webpage. For each trial, students should write a 1500-word (minimum) to 3000-word (maximum) account of the trial (including background information), digitize at least one primary source relating to the trial (e.g., trial testimony of a witness, appellate decision reviewing conviction, indictment), and prepare a chronology and bibliography (including books and Internet links). Please use endnotes, not footnotes, for your accounts. Students may choose to produce other materials that could be the basis for a website. 2. Students may write and answer a series of ten questions about one of the trials (except the trials covered in class this semester) that appear on the "Other Famous Trials" website. (You can see a sample Q & A page by clicking on the following link: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/jesusqanda.html ) You will be graded both on the quality of your questions and the quality of your answers. The entire assignment, questions and answers, should be no more than 3000 words. 3. Students may produce a video (on DVD) documentary for one of the trials listed on the "Other Famous Trials " webpage. The video can include clips from other sources (documentaries, news stories, feature films), but any such clips should be less than 60 seconds in length to fall within fair use guidelines. Your video should be from 10 to 15 minutes in length and include some original ideas about the significance of your featured trial. This option may also be selected as a group project for up to three students. (The length of the video can extend up to 25 minutes for group projects. The same grade will be assigned for everyone working on the project, so students might want to take steps to ensure that all group members contribute equally to the project.) You must make choose your trial and one of the three project options listed above by September 16, 2009. Assignments are due the last class of the semester. |