Write an 7 1/2 – 10 page paper (12 point font; no more than 1 inch margins ); [Please note that writing the 7 page minimum is only a guideline to receive a passing grade. Excellent papers go well beyond the minimum without padding with irrelevant information or information that does not help to logically support your main thesis. See these Research Writing Guidelines (Links to an external site.).] All paper topics and sources will be due in an outline form on Canvas for our 4th homework assignment. (See the calendar for the specific due date.)
Details on the 7 page minimum min. requirement: There will be a substantial penalty for stopping short of this minimum. The page count for the minimum does NOT include the following: bibliography, title page, or your name, footnotes with only references. Other types of footnotes which go beyond the use of references, for instance, those which are used to make comments upon or qualify the body of the paper, can count in the page count.
All papers must use proper citation methods and comply with the plagiarism policy of the university. See this “Citing Sources” website (Links to an external site.). No papers used in previous course will be accepted.
Topics should be on a critical examination and analysis of some issue that focuses primarily on the topics of race and racism (or racial justice).
Just like the class, your paper can use sources from a variety of disciplines: history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, etc. The paper can give an extended discussion of one of the issues we discuss in the course, or it can tie together several issues from the course. It can cover a topic in the discipline we have not covered.
Regardless of the focus, all papers must include some rigorous conceptual analysis of the concepts of race and racism (or racial justice) at issue in the paper. [Conceptual analysis means more than simply providing a definition. Your papers should clearly distinguish when you are writing about a concept such as race and when you are writing about the phenomena itself. Models for what counts as rigorous conceptual analysis can be found in many of our assigned readings from Blum’s book.]
Your paper should also include at least two scholarly sources beyond the reading covered in the course (either books or articles). Scholarly sources are generally found in published books in the library or peer-reviewed scholarly journals found in the librarys databases. Scholarly sources do NOT include the following: general information found on the internet, Wikipedia, dramatic movies or popular songs. While you may use such sources, they will not count toward your two scholarly sources. If you are uncertain whether or not the source counts as a scholarly source, please consult with me. These additional sources as well as the sources you use from the class should be properly referenced using one reference method from a standard writing style guide. (See the links in the assignment section of citation guidelines.) They should all also be included in a bibliography. Students are required to be aware of and comply with the Universitys policy regarding plagiarism. Any papers found to be guilty of any type of plagiarism which the University recognizes will receive an F on the assignment. All papers will be submitted to the paper link below for the assignment to check for plagiarism. No emailed papers are accepted.
Some possible topics are listed below. You can pick one of them or create your own topic that’s not on the list. Please contact me if you need help with a topic.
Possible Topics:
The following are just suggested topics. If you wish to meet with me to discuss a topics, please feel free to meet with me during my face-to-face or on-line office hours, contact me within Blackboard via a message, or make an appointment with me.
Neo-racism:
–What is it? Does it exist? What is the evidence for its existence? What are some common arguments against the existence of such a phenomenon? –How does it differ from racism?
–What are some contemporary examples of it?
Race, Racism and Empire:
–What is empire and imperialism? Historically how have different forms of empire forged ideas of race. How are these two phenomena related historically and conceptually? How have empires been influential in forging types of racism? –Is empire a thing of the past or does it still continue today in some form? Why or why not?
Racial Justice:
— What is racial justice? Choose one theoretical approach for measuring racial justice and explain the theory in detail. You can elaborate on one of the approaches explained in the course or contrast a different approach with one explained in the course.
Race, Crime and Incarceration:
-Critically examine criminal laws (e.g., drug laws), the practices of law enforcement, the phenomena of mass incarceration and their relation to race.
Race and Voting Rights:
-Critically examine the history of denial of voting rights to perso
