final Project or Paper

Whichever project you pick, it should be significantly informed by the readings and discussions from the class and should represent a full semester’s worth of work.

General Requirements

  • Proposal / Consultation – By March 7 at the latest, you should submit to me a 1 page formal proposal for your final project OR consult with me in office hours or by appointment. You should receive explicit approval of your project plan before moving forward in earnest on your project.
  • Written component – Each project option will have a significant written report or essay.
  • Final presentation – Each project option will have an in-class presentation.
  • Evaluation – Each option will be graded according to the following criteria: informedness (theoretical and practical/empirical), insight, quality of communication, strength of argument, effort, and creativity.

Project Options

Research Paper

A scholarly research paper on a topic related to the intersection of gender, sex, or sexuality with some aspect of science, technology, or medicine. It should articulate a clear research question and have a clear thesis or claim that answers that question. It should be based on a significant quantity of outside research.

  • Turn in: Research paper with complete bibliography, 2500±500 words
  • Additional criteria: Quality of outside research (depth, breadth, and relevance); quality of main claim (clarity, significance).
  • Examples research questions and topics: How has gender bias affected a particular field of scientific research? What changes have happened in a specific scientific field as a result of changing demographics? Should cognitive differences research continue to be supported and funded? Historical accounts of under-appreciated women in science or recoveries of their contribution. Should science be value laden? Solutions for increasing representation of women in STEM fields where they are underrepresented. (These represent a small slice of the possibilities; use your creativity and consult with me early and often.)

Service Project

A public service intervention that works to improve the role of science, technology, or medicine in society, especially when it comes to gender, sex, or sexuality. (Outside research will be necessary on the subject of your intervention.)

  • Turn in: (1) Documentation of the intervention itself; (2) project report that argues for why you pursued that particular intervention, describes what you did, and reflects on its effectiveness and how it could have been better, with bibliography 1500±500 words.
  • Additional criteria: Effectiveness of the intervention; self-assessment of the intervention.
  • Example projects: Information campaigns or informational events about a specific issue. Volunteer work for a women’s health organization that allows you to have some form of creative input. Organize an activity for a youth club. “Take back the lab” event. Work to dispel high school students’ stereotypes about gender and STEM. Extracurricular education workshops. (These represent a small slice of the possibilities; use your creativity and consult with me early and often.)