David Ewick


Methods of Academic Presentation, 2005

The course description of Methods of Academic Presentation is here.

June 28: Successful second presentations by Saori Matsuda and Shusuke Komuro in preparation for their upcoming conference presentations in Adelaide and Honolulu. With this, this small seminar has drawn to a close.

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June 21: Thoughtful and confidently-delivered presentation by Shusuke Komuro, “Empirical Studies on Internationally Diversified Investment Using Stock-Bond Integrated Model,” co-authored with Hiroshi Konno, in preparation for presenting the paper at the Triennial Conference of the International Federation of Operational Research Societies, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, 11 ~ 15 July 2005.

Shusuke Komuro’s Abstract: This study presents the result of extensive computational experiments on an internationally diversified investment model using a large number of individual stocks and bonds as a single stock-bond integrated mean-risk framework. The model was proposed by one of the authors in 1998 and was shown to perform better than a standard asset allocation strategy when the universe is the set of stocks and bonds of Japan and the U.S.

We extend the universe to over 3,400 assets consisting of stocks of 46 countries and bonds of 20 countries, and compare the integrated approach with other well-used methods. Computational experiments show that the integrated approach is much more reliable than the traditional methods.

Bibliography

Ait-Sahalia, Y. “Testing Continuous-Time Models of the Spot Interest Rate.” Review of Financial Studies 9 (1996): 385-426.

Brinson, G. P., L. R. Hood, and G. L. Beebower. “Determinants of Portfolio Performance.” Financial Analysts Journal, July-August 1986, pp. 133-38.

Konno, H. and K. Kobayashi. “An Integrated Stock-Bond Portfolio Optimization Model.” Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 21 (1997): 1227-44.

Konno, H. and J. Li. “Internationally Diversified Investment Using an Integrated Portfolio Model.” International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance 1 (1998): 145-60.

Solnik, B. “Why Not Diversify Internationally Rather than Domestically?” Financial Analysts Journal, July 1974, pp. 89-94.

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June 14: Insightful and beautifully organized presentation by Saori Matsuda, “‘Colleague’ Relationships Among Women in the Service Sector: A Case-Study of Japanese Hostess Clubs,” in preparation for her presentation of the paper at the Annual Conference of the Japanese Studies Association of Australia, University of Adelaide, 3 ~ 6 July 2005.

Saori Matsuda’s Abstract: Using the concept of “the community of practice” (Wenger, 1999), I would like to explain how the colleague relationship of hostesses work, and how these relationships are related to changes in the place of work.

A hostess club is a kind of nightclub or bar. These clubs operate by a set of values seemingly inexplicable to those not involved in this unique world. Hostesses keep their customers entertained with their services, while the customers pay a heavy price in return. The services provided by the hostesses mainly remain on the level of conversation. Therefore, hostesses are required to be well practiced in a wide variety of skills. Through participation in the colleague relationships between and among hostesses, as a community of practice, hostesses can gain professional knowledge and skill.

The community of practice is a conceptual framework of learning and organizing social practices through participation. In this community, the identification of the participants is understood as a joint construction of a personal role and position within the community. The colleague relationships of hostesses facilitate a community that has its own particular apprentice system and cultural values. Through participation in this community, hostesses learn not only the necessary skills but also the community’s values while working in the hostess club. This community shapes the identification of the “ideal” hostess, and tends to lead to practical knowledge that can be penetrated easily by any member of the community. On the other hand, this community is fragile, fluid and temporary in character. The community characteristics hold the possibility of creating a multiplicity of social relations, lifestyles and identifications.

Bibliography

Fukushima, Masato. Anmokuchi no kaibo [An anatomy of tacit knowledge]. Tokyo: Kanekoshobo, 2001.

Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Matsuda, Saori. “Sabisu-gyo ni jujisuru josei no ‘shigoto-nakama’” [“Colleague” relationships among women in the service sector]. Soshioloji 153 (in press).

Orr, Julien E. Talking About Machines: An Ethnography of a Modern Job. London: ILR Press, 1996.

Tanabe, Shigeharu. Ikikata no jinruigaku [Anthropology of a way of life]. Tokyo: Kodansha, 2003.

Ueno, Naoki. Shigoto no naka deno gakushu [Learning on the job]. Tokyo: Tokyo University Press.

Wenger, Etienne. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

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June 7: No class. The homework is to continue preparing for the presentations.

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May 31: Discussion and in-class editing of abstracts and bibliographies. Students are reminded that I shall not be able to attend the class on June 7. We’ll next meet on June 14, for the first (practice) student presentations.

Homework: Prepare for your 20-minute presentation on June 14. This should be accompanied by a handout that includes at the least a full and accurate bibliographical citation for all sources drawn upon in the presentation.

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May 24: Discussion of bibliography exercises.

Homework: Prepare a full bibliography of sources for your presentation, typed, and in standard manuscript form. I shall check these in class on May 31.

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May 17: Discussion of the importance to any research project of a complete and scrupulously-accurate bibliography of all sources.

Homework: Complete the bibliography worksheets provided in class.

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May 10: Discussion of the one-sentence topic proposals and the data sets they predict. Distinction drawn between primary and secondary sources, and suggestion that good research most often relies upon both, often with a preference for the former.

Homework: Be prepared to discuss the primary sources that will be a part of the presentation you’ll give at the end of the course.

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April 26: The materiality of texts and the consumption of knowledge. Presentation of the idea that the texts do not exist in isolation from the material circumstances of their construction. Students wrote a summary of the opening paragraphs of Salman Rushdie’s “Assassination of Indira Gandhi” and, as predicted, made a significant error: only one student mentioned Rushdie.

The point was made that the single most significant feature of the text is the fact of its composition by Rushdie. The point was not that this is true because Rushdie is famous, but rather because a singularly important feature of any text is the material circumstance of its composition. Rushdie’s text about the assassination of Indira Gandhi is not the same, and does not contain the same truth, as someone else’s, Sonia Gandhi’s, for instance, or that of a Sikh historian who lost a cousin at the Golden Temple. As we incorporate a text into our own text we must not treat the knowledge contained in the former as if it were transcendental, to be consumed like a generic cola.

Homework: One-sentence presentation proposal beginning with either “I want to explain that . . .” or “I want to discover whether . . .”.

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April 19: Introduction to the course, the central premise of which is that a successful academic presentation in English or any other language consists first of sound scholarship. Accordingly we shall focus on the methods and practices of English scholarship more than on facile advice about presentation demeanor (make eye contact!, keep your back straight!).

Discussion, following the introduction, of linguistic diversity and the role of English in the world.

Homework: Be prepared in the April 26 class meeting to discuss the topic you will work upon this semester. The best choice will be some part of your Master’s or PhD thesis.


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