Write an Op-Ed about a topic of your choice in which you draw on at least
some of the course content to make your argument.
What is an Op-Ed? It is the kind of thing you find here, here and here. It is an opinion article
submitted to a newspaper in which the author makes an argument about a topic of public
relevance. I am asking you to do the same:
(1) Pick a topic that interests you and is publicly relevant (in some way).
(2) Make an argument about that topic drawing from some of our course content (how much
and what you use is entirely up to you)
(3) Try to make this argument in less than 2000 words (usual length for an Op-Ed).
Can we use non-class resources?
Yes! Absolutely you can. But if what you write about has some (even remote, distant, tangential)
connection to our course material (in some way) then I will know it and I will expect you to draw
that connection, even if you primarily use non-class resources.
Keep in mind that this Final Essay “Exam” is done in lieu of a “normal” Exam for our course. So
show me what you know about sociology (something I hope) by putting it to creative use.
How will you be grading us?
On whether or not your argument convinces me!
How well do you make your case in your Op-Ed? How bold and creative is your argument?
Does your argument show a reasonably good grasp of the “sociological lens” we’ve been
reading about and discussing this semester?
These are the questions I’ll be asking myself as I read your Op-Eds. Who knows, if you really
like what you write, feel free to submit it to a newspaper of your choice!
If sociology is a lens, then whatever you write about, it will have some sociological relevance, so
keep that in mind.
