Final Paper Description. Our final paper will be in the form of an argumentative memo, in which you get to argue for a change to the environmental justice Wikipedia page that would make it more useful, more relevant, or more accessible to your community or neighborhood or family (however you choose to define those terms). In other words: you get to combine what you learned in this class with your own expertise about your own community, and then use your own informed opinion to suggest change(s) to our Wiki page. In this paper you should use appropriate citation, using any accepted citation format (i.e. APA, MLA etc.) For help with citations, please see: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/resources.html
This is meant to model how you would design a “real world” socio-environmental program that combines local knowledge within a community with outside expertise to make a resource (Wikipedia) more useful. In other words, you are developing a community-based, participatory project design where you are both the community expert and the environmental justice expert. Here a link to the environmental justice Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_justice
Final Paper Goals. There are two goals for this project:
First, you should combine your expertise about your community with knowledge that you learned in this class. The fact is that you are an expert in your own community and understand it in ways that others do not. Because of this you can apply what you learn in class to your community in ways that others cannot.
Second, I would like our class to critically evaluate the environmental justice Wikipedia page and try to make it more useful, relevant, or appealing to people in your community. The reason is simple: we need to do a better job reaching a diverse array of people and Wikipedia is a lot of peoples’ introduction to ideas. So by improving the Wikipedia page we can improve outreach to a wide variety of people, groups, and communities.
Steps For Success. These are the steps I suggest you take to satisfy all of the basic elements of your paper.
Introduce Your Community. Define and describe the community you are using. Remember that you are an expert in this community in a way that I might not be. So, tell me important, relevant details about that community’s socio-environmental experiences, opinions, and/or worldview (as well as differences within that community). Pro tip: your observations about your community are likely a lot more interesting to others than you expect: take time to reflect on your community and get into the role of expert, using details and stories to illustrate your conclusions.
Introduce Your Proposed Wikipedia Change. Clearly state what your change should be. You change could be small (“I would like to change this sentence to include _____”) or it could be large (“I would like to add a section focused on ____”). The key here is that your change should link with your community description in a way that makes sense. Pro tip: your change does not have to be huge or earth shattering: small, incremental changes can have significant effects in interventions.
Justify Your Change With Informed Opinion. Use course readings, resources, and ideas to justify 1
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your proposed change. The key here is that you are invited to use your opinion, but your opinion should be justified, meaning based in reasoning. Pro tip: try to avoid making the only sources you cite from the class videos and short discussion readings.
Demonstrate Critical Thinking. Critical thinking is defined as: “the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.” Here, I wan you to make an argument that demonstrated elements of critical thinking, including reflection (about your community and the Wiki page), applying ideas from the class, applying your own ideas and conclusions, combining all of this to make an argument, and then evaluating the strengths (and possible weaknesses of your argument). Pro tip: critical thinking rarely gives a single, perfect answer, because real life is complicated. So, if you find that you are thinking about multiple or conflicting ideas that arose in your paper, this is not a bad thing! Write about the conflicting thought process in your paper and your thoughts on them!
Put It All Together Well In Advance. Finally, you should try to get started well in advance. In writing perfection is the enemy of progress and many of us come up with our best ideas while writing. So even if you just want to write down some environmentally relevant observations about your community or a basic framework for your argument, if you do it early it’ll likely result in a better paper. Also, if you feel stuck or have writer’s block, just write about whatever is in your head, then transition to your paper a few minutes later. Pro tip: the thought process might work like this: reflect on your communityàthink about community environmental issues and opinionsàthink about how Wiki page may not reach or appeal to themàthink about a change that would help to fix thisàintroduce and describe your changeàreflect on this change, including both its pros and consàwrite this out, making sure to summarize your argument in introduction and conclusion.
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Things to Avoid:
Too Much Uninformed Opinion and Personal Stories. While personal stories and opinion can be good to illustrate, they should not be the focus. Opinion should be informed and you should inform the reader about why that opinion is sound.
Burying the Lede. While I think thesis sentences are overrated, I should know by the end of the first page what your argument is and the basic reasons for your argument. Don’t wait until the end of the paper to tell me your point.
Waiting Until the Last Minute. Critical argumentative essays like this are much harder to do if you leave them until the last minute. I would suggest writing a few pages, then taking a day, then writing more, and very soon you’ll be at 8 pages with a well thought-out idea.
Questioning Your Own Community Knowledge. You live there, you are there every day, you have to move through that world. You know things. Use that knowledge with confidence. But first, reflect on it and think about why things are the way they are.
Not Asking Questions/Communicating. If you have questions, email me or come to office hours or ask in class. It’s not only ok, it’s encouraged! This is another reason why getting started early is important: we all get writer’s block or stuck now and then, and asking questions can unstick you.
*I’ve included a copy of my proposal for the paper as a guideline of what the content and context should be, as well as the assignent rubric. This is the site with the course material and it’s password.https://socy3202.commons.gc.cuny.edu pswrd: socy3202. Thank you!
