Choose one of the following prompts for your research paper:
The future of ...
- Privacy: The Bill of Rights broadly grants every American citizen a right to basic privacy. However, advancements in technology have drastically changed how we define and set boundaries around privacy. Whether willingly (phone apps and Facebook) or not (NSA spying), Americans have traded their privacy for convenience and security. What will privacy in America look like in the future? Will we strive to protect our individual thoughts, habits, and communications, or will the expectation of privacy eventually become an antiquated concept?
- Religion in America: The United States is still a nation of believers. However, the religions we practice are shifting, with Protestant faiths (Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, etc.) set to become minorities in the near future. Indeed, more Americans are opting out of religion altogether. According to Pew Research, "Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion." Will the majority of Americans still practice and celebrate religion in the future, and, if so, with which religions will we identify?
- Endangered Foods: A byproduct of climate change has been the emergence of so-called “endangered foods.” As a result of everything from overharvesting and depleted environments to drought and disease, foods as diverse as cocoa beans, salmon, and bananas, may be threatened in the coming decades. For example, in North America, sugar maples (a major source of maple syrup) are now considered one of many threatened native species. What would be the impact of losing some of these foods? Profile three threatened foods (plant or animal), examining both the cause for their decline, as well as efforts to save them.
- War: From muskets and pistols to drones and Humvees, the ways in which America has engaged in conflict has changed dramatically since its founding. Today, the US has the most technologically advanced military in the world, but also spends more on defense than the next 13 biggest militaries combined. How will that money be spent in the future? How are today’s military strategies, including counterterrorism and cyberwarfare, shaping the wars of tomorrow?
- Masculinity: The last century saw a radical shift in America’s perceptions of what it meant to be a man. How are future concepts of masculinity being shaped? For example, how will social movements, such as stay-at-home dads, economic equality, and the gay rights movement, change what we expect of 21st century masculinity?
- Water: In a 2001 speech, then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that "competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future." Others, including environmentalists and economists, have also warned of impending “water wars.” Others disagree, calling the prospect of future water conflicts both alarmist and fabricated. Will future wars be fought over water?
- Mixed-race America: President Obama is often lauded as our first black president, but it is more accurate to call him our first biracial president. His white mother and black father were together at a time when such relationships were largely discouraged by American society—and in some places even illegal. Today, the number of multiracial Americans now numbers some ten million people, having grown 32 percent from 2000 to 2010. By 2060, multiracial Americans are projected to number close to 30 million. What does the future hold for an increasingly mixed-race America? How will this trend reshape American ethnic identity?
- Cities: What forces will shape the cities of the future? Economics? Climate change? Overpopulation? Geopolitics? Are we on the verge of burgeoning urban utopias or will megacities envelope us in pollution and congestion? How are architects, designers, and engineers laying the groundwork for the future’s cities?
- Fashion: The future of fashion is about more than just incoming waist lengths or new silhouettes. Instead, it’s about how technology and fashion might merge to meet 21st century demands, such as textile renewability and eCommerce? For example, if our future is to be hotter and more polluted, then might 21st century fashion gives us clothes that refract harmful UV light or can read our biorhythms? What does the coming century hold for fashion?
- Transportation: How will we move from one place to another in the future? Hover cars? Maglev trains? Pilotless planes? How transportation meet the demanding needs of the 21st century? Which of today’s developing technologies will revolutionize transportation? And what will be the United States’ role? Will we help usher in a new technological era or watch from the sidelines?
Requirements:
- Minimum 10 pages in length
- MLA Style, including parenthetical citation
- Minimum of 6 outside sources—at least 3 from peer-reviewed academic texts
- Works cited page
Include in your research paper:
- A thesis outlining a clear argument
- An analysis of your subject's development over the next 50-100 years
- A conclusion that illustrates an understanding of your subject matter
Due:
Week 11: Th 03—RESEARCH PAPER THESIS; ANNOTATED WORKS CITED
Week 13: Tu 15/Th 17—DRAFT 1: UP TO PAGE 2 (BRING 2 COPIES)
Week 14: Tu 22/Th 24—DRAFT 2: UP TO PAGE 4 (BRING 1 COPY)
Week 15: Tu 29/Th 01—DRAFT 3: UP TO PAGE 8 (BRING 1 COPY)
Week 16: Tu 06/Th 08—FINAL DRAFT
