Instructor: Quỳnh N. Phạm

MAIS-690: Global Feminisms

Final Project

Due: Thursday, May 19

Points: 25

1. You are required to submit the assignment on Canvas by Thursday, May 19.

2. Late submissions will lose 2 points a day.

3. If you would like to ask for clarifications or have any questions about the assignment,

you are welcome to see me after class or by appointment before the last day of classes.

PROMPT

Please draw from the key concepts and diverse feminist analyses in this course along with your

own independent research to examine an issue related to the politics of gender and sexuality that

you strongly care about.

To prepare, you are recommended to do the following:

1. Select an issue that really interests/excites/concerns you. Then do research on various kinds of

materials related to this issue. You can use Google Scholar and the Gleeson Library access to

look up existing scholarship on it. In addition, you can do a broader online search to look for

other materials and gain an understanding of popular discourses on this issue.

2. List all the key concepts and questions that you find significant from various texts in this

course. Think about why they are crucial in considering the complexity of feminisms, especially

regarding aspects that were less obvious or unintelligible to you before.

3. Consider how these key concepts and questions help you think about the selected issue from a

critical global lens. What connections can you draw between the course’s concepts/texts and the

scholarship/discourses/materials that you found on the issue?

The purpose of this assignment is to develop your analysis of an issue in a way that is attentive to

questions of power, violence, knowledge(s), and being that are integral to feminist inquiry.

You should engage with at least 3 texts from the course and reference at least 5 outside sources

from your research. All of these should be included in your bibliography.

OPTION 1: ANALYTICAL ESSAY

You will write an essay (3-4 single-spaced pages) to communicate your research and critical

thinking. Your paper should have a clear framing of the issue and substantiate your claims and

arguments with careful analysis, concrete examples, and relevant references. The more

specifically you engage with the course materials, the more insights you can offer to shed light

on the issue you select. The typical length for the paper is 2,500-3,000 words (12-point Times

New Roman font, 1-inch margins).

OPTION 2: STORYTELLING / ART MAKING

Joy Harjo highlights the power of storytelling and art making in her memoir Poet Warrior. You

can create a project of storytelling and/or art to communicate your research and critical thinking.

More specifically, your project should convey why this issue matters, reflect on what it means to

you personally, and offer a critical perspective on the issue that remains silenced or marginalized

by structures of violence and dominant narratives. Please include a written reflection in response

to these questions if the answers are not evident from your project.

Your project will be evaluated on:

- Effective understanding of the theories from the course: a compelling grasp of key

concepts and arguments

- Independent research: sufficient and effective outside sources to support your analysis of

the issue

- Careful development of ideas: thoughtful conceptualization and elaborate substantiation