Optional Individual Project: Advanced Policy, Aging

Students who successfully complete all the tweeting, annotations, and team assignments will earn a grade of B or B+ (with B+ indicative of the extra value you have added to our discourse in the course). Those who wish to try for an A or A- must complete an Individual Project by Monday, May 8. If you wish to collaborate with another student on your project you must clearly carve out your own individual part and contribution to the project, and add your descriptions of your individual contributions as an addendum to your project.

For those who choose to do an Individual Project for the course, you have a number of options, but most  of them require the development of a topical page for our Scalar Book. Your goal is to provide a critical overview and an analysis of an age-related policy issue you are passionate about. Your Project can take a number of forms but must demonstrate your own original thinking about the issue and include a statement of your Standpoint.

As for the format, you are encouraged to stretch beyond your usual modes of academic communication and use at least some of the multimedia affordances of Scalar and hypothes.is. Of course your page can take the form of a traditional paper (with APA format), but it may take the form of a Scalar book, an Op Ed essay, a White Paper, a position paper, a photo essay, a blog, a Storify, an interview, podcast, public service video, a graphic (comic) critique, a map and timeline of the development of arguments about the issue, a critical comparison of position statements by advocacy or political organizations, a critical look at portrayals of the issue in popular culture, literature or film, or another form that you propose. (You may find hypothes.is useful for some of these formats.) Whatever form you choose be sure to do background research on the general rules for effective communication in that format.

The policy issue you choose should be one that is currently being debated and can viewed from a: global (geopolitical, economic); macro (nation, state); mezzo (community, worksite); or micro (family, locality) level.

The first step is to post a plan statement explaining the rationale of your Project (if collaborating with another student you must clearly provide a rationale for collaborating and delineate your separate parts of the project). Your project plan can take the form of an “artist’s statement” (see samples here http://www.sarahschmerler.com/work-­‐samples/). To be certain of the doability of your project you should state what form, process, and media you plan to use. This should be added to the Scalar book page, Individual Project Proposals. This is due no later than March 8 by midnight.

Your Project plan statement will have six main parts: (1) a working title; (2) your standpoint statement (why this is important to you); (3) a statement of the question/issue you plan to address; (4) a tentative list of the types of media that you will employ and a brief rationale in choosing them; (5) a brief bibliography; and (6) a timeline for completing your project.

That’s the gist of it; here are some details:

• The working title: titles often work with metaphors or images, so thinking of one early may give you a surprisingly powerful tool the thinking about your project’s goals.
• Standpoint statement: What personal beliefs, attitudes, experience, and/or point of view do you bring to this issue? How do you plan to keep your own biases under reflective observation?
• The question you’d like your project to pursue. State this as a question! (See below for the type of questions you might ask.)
• The list of media: if you are writing a traditional paper or essay, this could take the form of an outline; if you are planning a media heavy project this could take the form of a media plan as described in Scalar 2 Guidelines. If you are doing a map or timeline, it could take the form of a list of events and places.
• Bibliography: This will consist of a list of sources you have researched that may be helpful to you in exploring the issue/question your project is focused on. Items from some of our readings may be helpful to you. To the extent possible use original sources (be sure to search Information for Practice http://ifp.nyu.edu). Avoid using aggregating sites such as Huffington Post or Wikipedia unless they are objects of your analysis.
• The timeline for completion: here you will map out the steps towards completion of your project, allotting your best estimate of the time you’ll need to devote to each.

Grading (adapted from Mark Sample)

In order to earn an A your Project must be focused and coherently integrate examples with explanations or analysis. The project should demonstrate awareness of its own limitations or implications, and considers multiple perspectives when appropriate. The Project must reflect in-depth engagement with the topic.

In order to earn an A- your Project must contain all of the required elements, be reasonably focused, and explanations or analysis based on examples or other evidence. Connections are made between ideas, and though new insights are offered, they are not fully developed. The Project reflects adequate engagement with the topic.

Projects that are underdeveloped, mostly description or summary, without consideration of alternative perspectives, and with few connections made between ideas will not earn an A or A- for the course.

Questions to consider in your analysis

You need not answer all of these but use them to assure your understanding.  Keep in mind the overall question to ask of any policy:

On what basis, does who, do what, to whom, toward what end, for how long, at what cost, at what benefit, and with what consequences (including unintended)?

How is the object of attention being defined?

Who is affected and in what numbers? Are some groups impacted more than others?

What are the controversial issues?

What ideological/theoretical perspectives inform the debate?

What knowledge base and research informs the debate?

What historical precedents shape the policy (e.g., past policies, case law)?

What social, political, and economic factors shape the debate?

Who are key stakeholders and what are their positions.

Research the legislative history of the policy: Who proposed it and why? Who opposed it and why? What path (e.g., hearings, testimony, committee actions, advocacy efforts, conflicts and compromises) did the legislation take before it was finally voted upon? How did the bill fare in the legislative process? Who were the various stakeholders in the legislative process and how was their stake evident in the process of deliberation, lobbying, testimony, public information and the legislature’s vote/amendments.

ONLINE RESOURCES TO TRACK LEGISLATION:

LexisNexis Congressional Universe

http://web.lexisnexis.com/congcomp/form/cong/s_pubadvanced.html

Library of Congress/Thomas

http://thomas.loc.gov/

LexisNexis / Flowchart on how a bill becomes a law / U.S. Senate and U.S. House of  Representatives

http://www.lexisnexis.com/help/CU/The_Legislative_Process/How_a_Bill_Becomes_Law.htm

United States Senate

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/d_three_sections_with_teasers/process.htm