Week 1 Application: Assignment 3: Introduction to the Final Paper

For the Final Paper in this course, you are asked to demonstrate your critical thinking skills by producing
a 1015 page position paper (not including references) on an important and perhaps controversial issue
that occurs in a country with which you are not overly familiar and lies outside of your academic and/or
professional familiarity. The goal of this paper is to infuse critical thinking skills into your approach to
global issues and to encourage constructive and ethical dialogue in areas beyond your comfort zone.
The paper will be written as an advocacy piece; that is, the sole purpose of this paper is to convince
someone who holds a contrary view to switch his or her beliefs on the issue and controversy. Your paper
should outline the issue; craft an approach to addressing the issue; anticipate and address
counterarguments; explicitly outline assumptions; reduce ambiguity and avoid jargon; and develop sound
factual bases for the conclusion. Evaluation criteria for the Final Paper is in Course Information.
The assignment:
Select an issue that adheres to the following criteria:
o

The issue must occur in a country with which you are not overly familiar. Please select a
country other than the one you grew up in and/or other than one in which you have lived
for five years or more.

The issue must lie outside the realm of your academic and/or professional field. For
example, if you work in the field of housing, you may not choose a housing-related issue
even if it is connected to a foreign country.

Examples of issues may include, but are not limited to, current global conflicts, trade
disputes, environmental controversies, human rights issues, and weapons proliferation
concerns.

Research the issue via a variety of information sources both within and outside of the United
States. You are expected to familiarize yourself with the issue and to draw upon appropriate
evidentiary resources for your position on the issue from a wide variety of materials, which may
include scholarly journals and publications, law review articles, national and international media
resources, and any other publications germane to the issue. These resources must be cited
appropriately in your Final Paper. A strong Final Paper will be supported by a strong factual
foundation based upon a broad and deep understanding of the issue.
To identify and to keep current on your selected issue, you are strongly encouraged to review a
newspaper of national and international significance on a daily basis. The following are
recommended:
o

Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com

International Herald Tribune (France) [Note: This is an English language newspaper.]

http://global.nytimes.com/?iht

Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com

New York Times

http://global.nytimes.com/

Times of London
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/

Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required)

http://online.wsj.com/home-page

Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com

This assignment will be done in stages so that you may incorporate feedback from the instructor into
your Final Paper.
Week 3: Submit Final Paper topic
Week 6: Submit first draft of Final Paper
Week 9: Submit second draft of Final Paper
Week 11: Submit Final Paper