Over the next two weeks, we’ll be working on identifying and narrowing down a topic that you will research and write about for the rest of the semester. This topic should be relevant and important to your readers (our class), and also relevant and important to you personally. The topic must also intersect with our course theme:
1. Public Health and Safety: COVID-19 pandemic, Southern California homeless crisis, increase in crime rate, and abortion access
2. Well-being and education of children and young adults
3. Issues relating to the 2022 Olympics in Beijing
. Generally, the more narrow, local, and specific the topic, the more successful the research project. It can also help to identify a specific local problem or issue that your research can address and that you care about. Begin thinking about your topic by reading the proposal prompt (Links to an external site.) and the sample student paper, and the short chapter on Starting with Questions, all in the Week 5 module.
Once you’ve reviewed the course theme, sample paper, “Starting with Questions,” and prompt, answer the following questions in a discussion post (due Saturday):
- As you look at the course theme, what are some things you worry about the most that relate to the theme? What do you wish you knew more about? How do some of these issues or questions touch you or your family and community in ways that are important to you, or that have an impact on you or others? (It may help to brainstorm ideas on a separate piece of paper or document.) Choose one of these issues and write a paragraph introducing this topic to a friend and explaining why you want to research it.
- You have the option to work with a partner on this research project, which includes the proposal paper, the literature review (completed towards the beginning of April), the argumentative research paper, and the presentation (due at the end of the semester). Are you interested in working with another student? Explain why and how you would contribute to a collaborative team.
