Project II--"Terror and Crime and Y2K, oh my!"

This project includes the following:

Individual research and development of a collage (poster, single-page website, or 30-second video)

Annotated Bibliography & participation in and completion of the online & real library sessions

Individual, researched analysis of topic (5-7 pages)

Short Description
With your group project you investigated a fear from at least 20 years ago and developed a group project/presentation.

Three things will be different about Project II:

1. this time we're turning the critical lens on ourselves and you will investigate a more recent fear, one that is no more than 20 years old (preferably something from the last decade or so);

2. this time you're going to be using more academic sources for your research analysis. You will complete online library work & attend one class in the library to learn to use the library's databases, search engines, and other resources.

3. this time you're working on your own; although you will have time to peer review and consult with your classmates on your project, your analysis, annotated bibliography, and collage will be done on your own.

Your researched analysis will include both online and library resources, so be prepared to choose a fear that you sense has been covered by academics, researchers, and/or the government. In other words, a project examining more current iterations of the "end of the world" might bear little fruit, while one examining the SARS epidemic (and our and the media's reactions to that epidemic) will be very fruitful because we can assume that the medical community has researched SARS as well.

NOTE: you must choose a fear that has been exaggerated or that has been used to manipulate a group of people (voters, congress, consumers, parents, etc). In other words, as with the last assignment, you are taking a CRITICAL and SKEPTICAL view of this fear and showing us how it has been exaggerated and/or used to frighten NEEDLESSLY or manipulate Americans. You are doing what Glassner does in his book.

So the goal is to discover both the hype of that fear (probably in online sources, the media, and movies/TV) and the reality of that fear (probably in library and more authoritative sources): to do what Glassner does.

Steps in the process:

Your first step is to determine what fear you're going to investigate. Go here for a list of possibilities.

Next you will use the library instruction next week to begin researching your topic.

Then you will write an annotated bibliography of five sources that you may use for your individual researched analysis.

Next you will write your individual, 5-7 page researched analysis.

And finally, you will develop a collage (poster, single-page website, or 30-second video) about the fear you researched.