CHES5150 Chinese Painting: Aesthetics and History Lecturer: Dr. Elaine Kwok, Yin Ning ([email protected]) General Requirements for Seminar Discussions Each special topic forms a seminar group in which every group member is responsible for one part of the whole seminar discussion thoroughly illustrating and explaining the main points and ideas as put forth in ALL readings of the topic as selected. Every student will be assessed individually based on his/her performance of the part in terms of comprehension, organization, synthetization, etc. (see Grading System below for details). Extra credits will be given to the presenter when s/he involves the audience (students who are not presenting), AND to any student in the audience who engages in and responds to the presenter’s discussion. Remarks (1) Your presentation (as a presenter) counts as 20 points at maximum. (2) Your participation (as an audience) counts as 10 points at maximum in the other seminars. (3) In total, what you can earn is maximum 30 points which contributes 30% to your final grade of CHES5150. Grading System  A: thoroughly comprehend the main points and ideas of the readings as well as presenting them in a very systematic/organized/synthesized way, and demonstrate good insights of the topic, or demonstrate special ways of analyzing the main points and ideas of the readings  B: thoroughly comprehend the main points and ideas of the readings as well as presenting them in a very systematic/organized/synthesized way  C: thoroughly comprehend the main points and ideas of the readings  D: NOT thoroughly comprehend the main points and ideas of the readings or too much irrelevant discussion about aspects unrelated to the topic  F: NOT comprehend the main points and ideas of the readings Assessment Criteria (please refer to the assessment form for further details) St. John’s University FIN3315/ Prof. Meiselas Fall 2018 Research project Overview During your future career, it is likely that you will be asked to study an issue(s) and make a business decision and/or recommendation to senior executives, or lenders, or investors. People who offer good advice are remembered and tend to be promoted whereas those who cannot provide successful ideas are likely to overlooked. I believe that you are more likely to offer a successful decision or recommendation if you conduct an objective qualitative assessment before offering your thoughts. Objective assessments should be based on effective research. This small project can help you apply this skill to impress your future employer. This project has two objectives: 1) to enable each student to expand their knowledge of banking and financial services through research and analysis; and 2) to practice creating reasonable conclusions about banking and financial markets based on reliable data. You may select your own assignment question and topic (though I must approve it) and conduct yo.

1. CHES5150 Chinese Painting: Aesthetics and History
Lecturer: Dr. Elaine Kwok, Yin Ning ([email protected])
General Requirements for Seminar Discussions
Each special topic forms a seminar group in which every group
member is responsible for one
part of the whole seminar discussion thoroughly illustrating and
explaining the main points and
ideas as put forth in ALL readings of the topic as selected.
Every student will be assessed
individually based on his/her performance of the part in terms
of comprehension, organization,
synthetization, etc. (see Grading System below for details).
Extra credits will be given to the
presenter when s/he involves the audience (students who are not
presenting), AND to any student
in the audience who engages in and responds to the presenter’s
discussion.
Remarks

2. (1) Your presentation (as a presenter) counts as 20 points at
maximum.
(2) Your participation (as an audience) counts as 10 points at
maximum in the other seminars.
(3) In total, what you can earn is maximum 30 points which
contributes 30% to your final grade
of CHES5150.
Grading System
he
readings as well as presenting
them in a very systematic/organized/synthesized way, and
demonstrate good insights of
the topic, or demonstrate special ways of analyzing the main
points and ideas of the
readings
n points and ideas of the
readings as well as presenting
them in a very systematic/organized/synthesized way
readings
the readings or too much

3. irrelevant discussion about aspects unrelated to the topic
Assessment Criteria (please refer to the assessment form for
further details)
St. John’s University
FIN3315/ Prof. Meiselas
Fall 2018
Research project
Overview
During your future career, it is likely that you will be asked to
study an issue(s) and make a business decision and/or
recommendation to senior executives, or lenders, or investors.
People who offer good advice are remembered and tend to be
promoted whereas those who cannot provide successful ideas
are likely to overlooked.
I believe that you are more likely to offer a successful decision
or recommendation if you conduct an objective qualitative
assessment before offering your thoughts. Objective
assessments should be based on effective research. This small
project can help you apply this skill to impress your future
employer.
This project has two objectives: 1) to enable each student to
expand their knowledge of banking and financial services
through research and analysis; and 2) to practice creating
reasonable conclusions about banking and financial markets
based on reliable data. You may select your own assignment
question and topic (though I must approve it) and conduct your

4. own research to reach a well-founded conclusion.
Select your topic by creating a question that you will answer
As you probably know, banking issues and questions have
dominated the financial news during the last ten years. Many of
these issues have been sweeping in nature (bank failures, too
big to fail banks, adjustments in the levels of regulation).
Rather than giving you a project that you must carry out, I
would like you to create specific research question that your
research will answer. You should select a topic that is
important to US domestic financial services (preferably banks).
Often, being able to describe a problem is the first step towards
resolving it. Therefore, defining a meaningful research question
can be the most difficult aspect of this exercise.
Important: Before you finalize your topic and begin your work,
I would like you to discuss your topic and your research
question before you proceed with your research
Here are sample questions that students answered in the past
(you may not use these specific questions.
· JP Morgan encountered problems in managing credit default
swaps during 2012. Some observers believe that these problems
revealed internal control problems that financial managers
should keep in mind. Do you believe that there were internal
control problems or were the losses merely a result of poor
securities trading?
· Why did the US government bail-out Bear Stearns by selling it
to JPM but it did not help Lehman Bros?
· Has the securities industry succeeded in transferring credit and
interest rate derivatives from principal transactions to
exchange-based transactions as intended in the Dodd-Frank act?
· Are financial derivatives adequately disclosed in the bank’s
financial statements.

5. · What were the problems that led to Wells Fargo bank’s failure
to detect and stop the creation of fraudulent bank accounts and
credit cards?
The question that you select to answer should be thought-
provoking. If you have a strong opinion about an issue but you
cannot find enough research to assess it objectively, you should
pick another topic. Using our library may be a good source of
reliable information rather than just picking information from
little-know writers.
In some cases, there may be no clear answer to the question,
but I still seek your conclusion and your supporting rationale.
Please be careful to avoid selecting a topic that you have a
strong bias about and disregard any research that has an
underlying political agenda.
Organization of your paper
As above, your research should be directed towards answering
the specific question that you have chosen. Do not give me a
book report or tell me a story. Your work must explain the
pertinent issues surrounding your research question and create a
well-founded and objective assessment of the potential answers
to your research question (be sure to address both pro’s and
con’s). Last, please provide your conclusions to your question.
Your report must include the following:
1. Cover sheet
2. A brief abstract (synopsis) at the beginning of your report
3. A table of contents
4. Statement of your question, including an explanation of the
importance of the question.
5. A discussion of the pertinent issues, concerns, and
environment surrounding the question (background and the
facts) that is based on your research
6. Synopsis of expert proposals to answer to the question (if
any)

6. 7. Your research conclusion and justification.
8. Reference list
References
Unfortunately, many Americans have reached conclusions about
banks and the financial industry based on fallacious and limited
facts. Governmental and public concerns about the stability and
morality of the banking industry during the Great Recession of
2008 led to a sea of errors, political infighting, and hyperbole.
Many issues, such as the examples that I provided above, cannot
be accurately assessed based on inexpert sources of research.
Please avoid relying tabloid newspapers, political or biased
sources, editorials, unreliable websites (just because it’s on the
web doesn’t make it accurate), etc.).
Your research sources must be based on information disclosed
by reliable experts in the financial industry. Please restrict your
research to well-respected business newspapers or journals,
analyses by expert analysts, regulators, academics, and peer-
reviewed journals. You may select views from the web but be
certain that the writer is an EXPERT in the subject matter (ie.
look up the author’s background before buying into her views).
The SJU library is an outstanding source of expert assessments
of most topical issues. FYI, you have access to the SJU library
on mystjohns.
Each statement of fact in your paper must be cited to your
reference list. In the real world, few managers want your cites
but you should know where you got the information if your
facts are challenged. If you are challenged, you want the best
references possible to back you up. You may use any of the
common citing methods (though I prefer American Psychology
Association method) to cite information and facts in your
report. Please do not provide your opinions, conclusions, or
uncited statements in sections 5 and 6 of the report (as above).
Your conclusions in section 7 or your reported MUST be

7. derived from the facts that you described in sections 5 and 6.
We want to provide a fair hearing of the issues before reaching
a conclusion. Please consider the pro and con view of the
answers to your question. Please don’t cite my PowerPoint
slides. Keep in mind that the quality of your research will be
based on the depth of research that you conduct. If you select
only a few research articles, there is a good chance that your
conclusion could be biased and, potentially, erroneous or
ineffectual.
Please prepare the report in your words. Don’t fill the report
with lengthy quotes or extensive para-phrasing language from
your research. Charts, diagrams which simplify data, trends, or
thoughts are welcome.
Your conclusion
Be certain that your conclusions are clearly supported by strong
facts in your research. If cannot fully describe the problem and
its implications on banking, intensify your research. If your
research does not offer solution, proposals, or
recommendations, you should broaden your research. Be sure to
select the views of the most accomplished experts in the field.
Don’t just pick any writer that appears in your internet search.
Do your best to be objective when reaching your conclusions.
Don’t fall in love with one research article or one person’s
views. In the real world, difficult questions usually have more
than one useful point of view.
Keep in mind that this project is an intended to be a skill
shaping exercise thinking. I want to read your logic, your
conclusions, and your recommendations rather than just
rehashing the views and conclusions of others. I believe
thatdifficult questions are likely to require a suitable investment
in research and thought. Simple answers are often reflective of
superficial research or simplistic assessment.

8. Formatting your report
Your report should be double-spaced using 11pt Arial or
Courier font. Please use MS Word and run the spelling/
grammar, and word count apps before you submit your work to
me. If you refer to a fact, you must cite the author. Any
comment or fact that you wrap in quotation marks must include
the author’s name and a cite. Cites and references should be
prepared in APA format. If you cite something from the Web,
your reference list must contain the entire hyperlink of the
information. You should include no less than 8 references in
your reference list.
Your report should be no less than 7 pages (does not include
cover sheet, table of contents, charts, and reference list). Your
report may not exceed 10 pages.
Grading, plagiarism, and due dates
Your grade on the project will be based on:
1) the relevance and significance of your research question to
banking in the US;
2) the depth of your research and your choice of references;
3) your command of the subject matter;
4) the objectivity and clarity of your logic that you used to
reach your conclusion;
5) the clarity of your conclusions and recommendations;
6) the organization of your research, including spelling and
grammar.
I will provide lower grades if your paper contains:
· Facts or commentary that lack sufficient cites or bases
· Failure to provide a meaningful research question and/or
failing to get my approval of your research question before you
begin your work.
· Failing to select a topic that is within my parameters (US
banking only)
· Excessive use of quotes (I want your thoughts not someone

9. else’s commentary)
· Illogical or poorly supported data or conclusions
· Superficial conclusions.
· Poor organization of your paper (it should be interesting and
clear)
· Spelling or grammar errors
Papers that contain plagiarized information, or research that
has been clipped and/or copied into your report, or charts,
graphs, and facts that have been drawn from others without a
cite are a violation of the St. John’s Honor Code and can be
submitted to the SJU academic honor code committees for
resolution. Keep in mind that plagiarism includes submitting old
work of your class, another student, the web, etc.
This assignment is worth 6 final grade points. You may
complete your paper whenever you wish, subject to the
following:
· You must discuss your topic with me before you begin your
work. Please don’t wait until the last minute.
· Your report must be submitted to me no later than Friday,
November 30. I will deduct 2 points from your grade for each
DAY that your report is late. No email submissions are allowed
without my specific permission.
· If you submit your paper by Friday, November 16, I will add 2
points to your grade for early submission.
· If you fail to submit a paper, I will remove all 6 points plus 3
points from your participation grade.
.
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