This section contains descriptions of the two papers and final presentation, as well as examples of outstanding student papers. Each paper is courtesy of the student named, and is used with permission.

Best Student Papers — Assignment 1

Organizations as Diverse Communities and Social Entities, by Abby Spinak (PDF)

Civil Society and the State, by Zeina Saab (PDF)

Untitled, by Kendra Leith (PDF)

Best Student Papers — Assignment 2

Finding Leverage, by Abby Spinak (PDF)

Sustaining Free Trade: Addressing its Opposition, by Dana Erekat (PDF)

Untitled, by Marilia Magalhaes (PDF)

Assignments 1 and 2

For each of the required readings through Ses #10 for Assignment 1 and Ses #19 for Assignment 2, write a paragraph or two about points that intrigued, struck, or surprised you, revealing something you did not know before. You can react to each reading separately, or group more than one reading in discussing your reaction. Though either option is equally acceptable, the latter approach is sometimes easier and more stimulating to think about. Whichever approach you choose, be sure to list in parentheses at the end of the paragraph or other appropriate place the author's last name for the reading to which you are referring, followed by the date (e.g., Evans, 200X). By the end of the paper, you should have referred to all of the required readings.

Say what it was that struck, intrigued, and/or surprised you, and then explain why. Examples are: "I had always thought that... but the article (or a particular point made by it) showed me that my previous way of seeing things may have been inaccurate because..." Or, "this point struck me because from other things I have read, or experience I have had, I had always thought that..." Or say how the reading illuminated and made clearer to you (and how, why) something that you had experienced in your own work experience, or cases that you had read about or heard about from others previously. Choose points that made you see things differently or that created perplexity in the place of previous certainty.

Requirements

Papers should be handed in before class on the due dates noted above. They should be up to 10 pages, double-spaced, with one-inch margins, in a font no smaller than Times New Roman 12, have page numbers, and your name and date at the top of the 1st page. Missing or arriving late to class the day papers are due is not allowed. Late papers will not be accepted.

Helpful Hints and Common Mistakes to Avoid

Feel free to write in the first person — i.e., "I," though you do not have to. Use concrete examples to illustrate a general point. Do not try to cover all the points made in the readings (you may well be able to mention only one point from any particular reading), and do not summarize the articles. There is no "right" answer or set of answers.

Write your thoughts about the questions in concrete language, be specific, and give examples. Write concisely and clearly. Try to avoid abstract and vague writing — this will definitely prejudice your grade. The assignment is a good opportunity to learn how to write this way, since you will need to be able to do this in your future work, let alone in order to do well on papers you will be writing in other courses. You are encouraged to take a draft of the paper or part of it to your writing instructor, if you are taking the writing course; or, if English is a second language for you, make an appointment to have your paper reviewed and given writing feedback by MIT's excellent program of instruction and individual assistance for ESL students.

Do not try to summarize the articles, or to cover all points. You won't be able to write concretely and give examples if you do, and the questions do not require a summary. Do not write an introduction to the paper, or an introduction to each section. As in all writing, write a topic sentence at the beginning of an answer or paragraph, which sets out the argument you are going to present the evidence for. You want to concentrate on the points that stand out for you, affected your thinking, illuminated something new for you, etc. In some cases, you may want to discuss some points that run across more than one of the articles, rather than one particular article. This is fine, as long as it does not cause an increase in abstract and vague writing. It is important that you write parsimoniously and economically, not only because of the length constraints, but because you will need this skill for your professional life, as well as for papers in your other classes.

Use the active rather than the passive voice and "to be" verbs (examples of the latter: it was decided, the program was proposed, it is said). This is not only because the passive voice and verbs deaden your writing, and make it difficult to read, but, more importantly, the institutional actors are key to the outcomes in programs, and it is important to identify them. Try not to speak of "the government" as actor, but the particular agency; this is because government is often not monolithic or homogeneous. There are usually strong differences of opinion between agencies, not to mention within them, and outcomes often depend on one agency winning out over the other, or taking the initiative, or one group of reformers within the agency winning out over others.

Be sure to avoid simply critiquing the article. Avoid choosing for surprises points with which you simply disagree. Avoid saying you are surprised that the author left out certain points or evidence or perspectives that you consider important (there is always something that is left out, even in the best of articles and books). You may disagree with or simply not like the article as a whole, but there is almost always something new you can learn from it.

Last Day of Class

On the last day of class, each person will speak for up to 6-7 minutes about a few things that struck you about the readings and/or patterns or contrasts that struck you, in the spirit of what you have done in your written assignments. You should anchor your observations about the readings done since Assignment 2; since these are fewer than for the first two assignments, you can also stand back from the readings during the whole semester, and talk about some patterns that run across the last group of readings and the rest. As in the papers, be specific, give examples, and be reflective. As usual, there is no "right" answer to this assignment, which is what makes it interesting when we do it verbally all together.

Since your time will be short, and it won't be possible to exceed the allotted time in order for everyone to have a chance, you should prepare a brief outline of the points you want to make, and the examples you want to use. At the same time, however, avoid reading from a prepared paper. One of the points of the session is for all of us to hear from each other. Be sure to be concrete, and use examples from the readings.

Attendance is required, and in order to fit everyone in, we have to start exactly at 5:05 pm and extend the class time to 7:05 pm (good pizza will be supplied to make it more enjoyable!). Those who cannot attend class that day should let us know beforehand, and can instead complete an assignment in writing that should be handed in no later than the last session of class.