Optional (Extra Credit) Essay (pdf version of this page)
worth up to 10% in extra points/
Due Thursday, March 1, 2007 (in class).
Step I. Pick any one of the major topics covered during USP2 (listed below).
Topic 1. Rapid urban-demographic growth and resource-intensive industrialism have become large-scale biogeophysical forces on earth.
Topic 2. The world’s global city-regions are increasingly interdependent economically and ecologically.
Topic 3. Theories and concepts of development, modernization and progress change over time; the capital-mobility model currently has a major influence on urban and regional planning and development.
Topic 4. The costs and benefits of globalization are unevenly distributed across and within the world's city-regions and their hinterlands.
Topic 5. The call for sustainable development reflects a more ecological approach to improving quality of life and habitat in the world's city-regions and their hinterlands.
Topic 6. The globalization of capitalism is giving rise to a new regionalism.
Topic 7. Global urbanization and uneven development combine in ways that make traditional planning and policy approaches problematic.
Topic 8. Research universities have a vital role to play in the quest for integrated regional planning and sustainable development.
Step 2. Once you have selected a major topic, identify a process, event, trend, initiative, or problem that illustrates the topic. Here a few examples. Topic 1: global warming, Topic 2: ecological footprints and problems of unsustainable development, Topic 3: regionalism and the new economics of competition, Topic 4: movement of jobs overseas, globalization and multiculturalism, undocumented workers crossing the US-Mexico border. You can use one of these examples, or find another example. Use a newspaper article (feature length story or op-ed piece), magazine article (Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, Business Week, Scientific American, etc.), academic journal or book to do this Step.
Step 3. Write a thoughtful essay (approximately 5 pages long, double-spaced, 1 inch margins)
Highlight something interesting about the process, event, trend, initiative or problem you choose in Step #2. For instance, why is it happening, who is responsible, what is the evidence, what are the major points of contention/agreement, who cares, what are the processes involved, what does it mean for you and me, for future generations? This assignment challenges you to demonstrate that you understand the major topic you selected. A successful essay will identify key concepts associated with your major topic (cite assigned readings) and use these concepts to say something meaningful about your exemplary event, process, trend, initiative or problem. Make sure your essay incorporates at least three references from USP2's assigned readings. Be sure to include a bibliography. .
Format instructions (cover page, essay, and bibliography)
Cover page
Your name
Your TA's name and section
The major topic you chose from the list of four major topics
The title of the news story or academic source upon which your essay is based
The title of your essay and a 50 word summary
Essay Body
Introduction: Outline in your own words the major topic your essay addresses. Identify the process, event, trend, initiative, or problem you'll be highlighting to illustrate this major topic, and tell us why you choose this focus.
Midsection: Make an argument or present a critical point of view about your major topic/illustration. Identify key concepts associated with your major topic (as spelled out in assigned readings) and use these concepts to say something interesting about your exemplary event, process, trend, initiative or problem.
Conclusion: End with some observations/ideas of your own. For instance, how should we think about the issues you raise, what can/should we do as scholars, citizens, social activists? What are the most troubling aspects, promising lessons learned, etc.
Bibliography
Use the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.), author/date style. For examples of this style, including how to cite literature in your essays, click here.