For your final presentation, you will record an audio or video presentation 6–8 minutes long about a proposal to change something about the criminal legal system. It should be about a specific concrete proposal that is currently being seriously considered somewhere in the US, like “Harris County’s new bail reform plan” or “the proposed bill in Massachusetts that would allow people to vote while imprisoned,” rather than broad abstract proposals (so “abolition” won’t work, but “a proposal from abolitionist groups to close down a specific prison in their city” would).
Your presentation should answer the following questions:
- What are the details of the proposal?
- Who has put forward this proposal, and who else is supporting it?
- What are the stated goals of the proposal’s proponents: what do they say the proposal will accomplish?
- What concerns have opponents (if any) raised about this proposal?
- Does social science (either from class readings, or outside research) offer us any predictions about whether this proposal is likely to accomplish its goals if it is enacted? (That is: will it work?)
You have a lot of stylistic freedom here. You can treat this as a standard class presentation, where you use slides and talk to your classmates and me in an academic setting. But you’re also welcome to treat it like a little podcast for a more general audience, or to picture yourself as a TV host of something like The Daily Show who’s doing a brief segment on the topic. You need to answer all the questions above (including what you think social science research has to say about the proposal), but you’re welcome to put your own spin on it.
Please choose your topic by week 11.
The presentation is due during week 14. Our class activity for the final week of class will consist of you watching some of the presentations and posting reactions to them on the discussion board.
Some guidance:
- The presentation can take several forms. If you’d like to do a video recording of yourself talking, that works! You could also do a “screen share” in Zoom that will allow you to display a set of slides and to record yourself talking over them, so we have a visual of the slides even if you don’t have a camera on your laptop. Or, you could do an entirely audio recording: pretend it’s a mini-podcast!
- Presentations should be no longer than 8 minutes (that is an absolute limit). Please practice your presentations to ensure you’re able to present your key points within that time frame.
- Your presentations should be well-organized and engaging, so that the audience at home can easily follow along and learn from you.
