Due date:  Friday Dec. 6
Topic:  Your choice!  Reaction paper or other creative response to an issue related to gender/sexuality, potentially course material covered November 1-Dec. 4.

The purpose of this assignment is for you to explore an issue of interest to you that relates to gender and/or sexuality in some way, and to integrate references to readings, in-class and outside material in your discussion/project.  In either a paper or an alternative (but substantive) creative response, you will creatively engage and analyze the gender-related material you've chosen.  You will probably find this assignment most appealing if you choose a topic that either intrigued you a lot or troubled you. Be sure to give your own critical evaluation of the material -- do not merely summarize ideas presented in readings or in class.

You can do a response paper (similar to assignment #2), a research project, ethnography, artwork, or something else. Whatever format and medium you choose, demonstrate that you have thought independently and creatively about the readings, class discussions, and other material related to the topic you've chosen. You can write/produce anything you like, as long as you follow these guidelines:

Option 1: Paper

1. Write a 3-5 page reaction paper that critically engages issues covered in readings and/or discussed in class (or that relate to gender/sexuality but may have not been explicitly addressed in class).

2. Make two specific references, one to a reading assigned at some point during the course, and another to an additional assigned reading, a film or topic discussed in class, or an outside source (see Assignment #1, Option 1, and "Note," below, for examples of outside sources).

Option 2: Creative Response

1. Create a piece of art, video, film, poetry, prose, performance or other form of expression in response to a topic related to gender or sexuality. The media and format are flexible, but you must critically engage issues related to gender/sexuality.

 2. Write 2-3 pages (typed, double-spaced) explaining your piece and how it responds to the reading/issue you're focusing on.  What do the elements you chose for your piece represent/mean to you?  What do they signify/symbolize with regard to your chosen topic? 

3. In your piece and/or writeup, make at least one specific reference to an assigned reading from the course. 

For either option:

1. Your paper/write-up should be typed and double-spaced with 1-inch margins.  Correct spelling and grammar is expected.

2. You must use citations correctly and provide a bibliography!  See Assignment #1, Option1 for examples of acceptable ways to cite and document references.

Note: As discussed in class, textual research, interviews, ethnography and/or participant observation are optional means to access outside sources -- you can read academic or popular journals, interview someone, conduct a small "focus group," or observe human interaction in a specific environment as a means of collecting information on a gender-related topic. (If you plan to do a "non-traditional" project, send me a 1-paragraph email specifying your research question(s), methodology and informed consent concerns/procedures ASAP, by Friday Dec 1 at the latest, so I can give you the "OK.")