Classroom Case Study

I was intrigued by Buckingham's thoughts on case studies, and it got me thinking about having my students do case studies (individually or in small groups) on a single broad topic, with each case study dealing with a more specific aspect of that topic.  For example, the class project could be about Joss Whedon, but individuals/groups might choose subjects such as Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film/TV show/graphic novel), Dark Horse Comics, the dynamics of working with family in the industry, writing, directing, creating properties, musical composition and scoring, and so on.  I think it would be really interesting to see how the different topics feed into and inform one another.
I think a great way to begin such a project would be to have students brainstorm media topics, properties, and/or personalities in which/whom they're interested, then brainstorm different approaches they might take to studying the topic of interest.  (Hopefully, the class would latch onto one thing they're more interested in than the others through this process, but of course they can be steered that way if/when need be.)  Once a broad topic has been chosen, students could simply put their name down for the narrower topic they'd like to look into in their case study, and whether they'd like to do so on their own or as a group.
Once the case studies have been completed, the students should come up with a presentation for the class that includes some media (for example, if a student chose Dark Horse Comics, she might choose to produce her own comic, illustrating what she learned).  After all the case studies have been shared and discussed, discussion could then move to how the information and insights gathered inform the broader topic with which we began.
A fantastic final step would be to use the students' case studies and the media they've generated to create a single presentation, performance, or media event incorporating everything they've learned.