Social Movement Interest Paper
• 2 + works cited
• Single-spaced
• 12pt Times New Roman
• 1" margins
• No title page
For this paper Identify a social issue that interests you and do some independent research in order to identify a social movement, community, or organization that attempts to address that issue. This paper will provide a basis for future assignments so choose an issue and a movement that you are interested in studying in depth.
PART I: The Issue
• Define the issue and tell me how it relates to human rights and social justice.
• Who does this issue impact?
• What is at stake? In other words, why should people care about this issue?
PART II: The Movement
Find a movement that addresses this issue and provide a brief overview. Be sure to include the following:
• What is the movement called?
• How and when did this movement start? (It must be a contemporary/current movement).
• Where is the movement located and who is involved?
• What is the issue this movement is focused on and what are the movement's goal/s? (I.e. what would a successful outcome look like? (You will likely find many of these answers on a website or blog hosted by the movement or organization).
PART III:
Why are you interested in this movement?
• How do your own identities/experiences/investments relate to the social issue you have chosen?
o It may affect you directly, or it may be something you are passionate about because of certain values you hold. Be explicit about this-as you will learn, our own investments as activists play a significant role in how we pursue justice.
Discuss the relationship between the specific social issue and the movement you have identified. Use the texts from the course to situate your discussion of human rights, social justice, privilege and oppression-must use at least 3 sources from the course. In addition, at least 1 outside source must be used since you are starting to learn about/investigate this movement. At this point they can include websites for the movement and/or newspaper articles. Be sure to include both in-class and additional materials in works cited.