Students will write one short response paper that is between 750 and 1000 words. In this paper, students will critically engage with the assigned materials for a given week. Although there is no set format for the response papers, they should not merely summarize the readings. The strongest papers will explain how the assigned readings relate to each other (or to themes from earlier in the course), identify what you agree or disagree with (and why), examine the limitations or the authors’ theoretical arguments and/or evidence, and perhaps identify avenues for future research or policy implications that the authors have not addressed. The response paper will count for 10% of the final course grade.
During the first week of class, students will sign up for the class session for which they would like to write response papers. A limited number of students will be able to write papers for each session. Papers are due no later than 10 p.m. the day before the class for which you are writing response papers.
