Discuss topics you care deeply about that are important to you and your community.

Your proposal, which counts as 20 points of this assignment, is due by 11:59pm on March 6. Only one person from your group needs to submit it on Canvas.
Objective: The social action project gives you the opportunity to take concepts learned in class into the community at large. The objective of the action project is to make what we have learned in class more tangible by connecting class readings, ideas, and discussions to our social world.
Expectations: Although your project can take many forms, it should adhere to the following criteria:
· Focus on an issue related to gender, race, and/or sexuality
· Be geared toward promoting social change
· Engage with a group outside of our class
· Utilize a framework or analytical method from the course materials
· Incorporate actions that originate with you. For example, you cannot simply show up at a demonstration, you must come with something to contribute besides your presence.
Ideas for Content: Your project can be any of the following:
· Informational. For example, you can design and distribute flyers about a topic, create a forum for discussion, or create a display that teaches about an issue. You could write a letter to the editor that gets published, or hold a discussion group or film screening. You could interview marginalized groups of women, making their voices and experiences heard. You could examine a current law or practice that is discriminatory and propose changes.
· Performance. For example, you can stage a display of art. You could create a film, play, song, or other form of art that will be displayed or performed in public.
· Service. For example, you could volunteer at a local non-profit organization or participate in an activist campaign. You could interview immigrants and design a brochure educating them on their rights, what to do in cases of domestic violence, and sources of assistance.
Requirements for Proposal: The proposal must be 3 to 5 pages long (12 pt Times New Roman, double spaced. It must contain the following items:
· The topic you are going to work on and its relationship to our course
· A discussion of the topic that references at least five sources outside of class. Two of these sources must come from a scholarly journal or a published book (use the library resources to do this research; Wikipedia is not an academic source). Your additional sources may come from organizations that work on your topic, news media, documentaries, or other reliable information sources.
· Background discussion on why your topic matters and how it is understood.
· Method or action you will use to address your topic and conduct the actual work.
· Timeline for implementing your project.
· Bibliography of works cited, with full MLA citations for your sources.
Grading Criteria: Proposals and presentations will be graded according to creativity, writing clarity, and extent to which they follow the requirements above. All members of the group will receive the same grade for the proposal. For the presentations, each student will receive a grade that is based on the group presentation, the individual’s contribution to the group, and the individual’s participation in asking questions and making comments during other groups’ presentations. Also see the rubrics that are posted on Canvas for each of the assignments.
Optional Guidelines to Get Started:
· Get together as early as possible and brainstorm ideas. Discuss topics you care deeply about that are important to you and your community. Make a list of potential topics.
· From the list, select an issue that you as a team feel most strongly about and which you can finish by the deadline.
· If you are addressing a problem, research if a similar problem is faced by communities in other parts of the country or world and find out what is being done elsewhere to address this problem. Sending emails to community leaders elsewhere may help.
· Learn who are the local leaders who can make changes to help the community. Write the leader to see if your group can participate.
· Write down your plan of action to make changes to the situation or solve the problem as your team sees appropriate.
· Start acting on the plan.
· Every week, discuss your progress and keep a journal of your action and research. Your journal will come in handy when you put together your presentation.
· Take photographs of the people you meet and the events you attend. Video or audio tape your interviews and your team visits. These pictures and tapes will make a nice addition to your presentation. Make sure you have their consent to do so though!
· Good luck, work hard, and enjoy the process.
Examples from previous semesters:
· A student created an MMA class on campus to teach women self-defense; they then made this an actual club at Rutgers! (great for your resume!!!)
· Songwriting and covers of songs to evoke conversations on a given topic, to be held after a group of people listen to the album
· Show a video/film/documentary and hold interviews or panel conversation on the topic
· Create a survey to find out people’s attitudes on a given topic, then create some sort of educational component to inform them of the facts, & re-survey to see if attitudes change
· Work within sports/Greek life for inclusivity or knowledge building
· Creating a sex-ed curriculum with which they reached out to their high school principal to discuss changing the curriculum and the difficulties associated with it
· Interview people of different generations on a topic to chart generational changes in attitudes
· An RA created the ABC’s of sexuality education to post on their floor’s board for 26 consecutive days, with resources to learn more about the days given topic & opportunities for questions, as well as feedback, from their peers
· Renting out a room in the art museum to hold an “art gallery” on sexual abuse in Hollywood
· Write a children’s book & publish it on Amazon

Last Completed Projects