Description
Global Politics Reflection: Towards the end of the semester (week 14), you will submit a Global Politics Reflection paper, worth 18% of the course grade. For this assignment you will choose a global politics issue that interests you (for example, human rights, migration, environmental harm, etc.). The reflection paper should explain how the issue is impacting current events, how it does or does not affect the United States, and why the issue matters to you as an individual. Appropriate sources should be cited, including our textbook along with news stories from the “recommended global news outlets” listed in Canvas.
Assignment goals:
(1) Gain experience applying International Relations concepts to real world current events.
(2) Gain experience evaluating the importance and interconnectedness of global issues.
(3) Develop deeper interests in global politics through pursuit of individual topics of interest.
Papers submitted after the deadline (December 6) will be penalized 10 points/day and no late papers will be accepted after December 11. Emergency circumstances delaying submission should be communicated as soon as possible and must be verified by the Dean of Students office. Plagiarized papers may result in a zero for the assignment and other academic misconduct disciplinary procedures.
Length: The reflection paper should be approximately 1000-1200 words in length. When standard margins and formatting are used (for example: 1 inch margins, Times New Roman font size 12) this typically produces around 4-5 double spaced pages. Note: The works cited/reference list does not count toward the length.
Required sources & citations: The paper should cite our Mingst et al. textbook whenever possible, providing specific page numbers where the information, terms, or definitions you are applying can be found. Drawing connections to concepts from our textbook throughout your reflection paper will strengthen its overall quality and grade. Parenthetical citations should be used for this purpose – for example: (Mingst et al., pg. 170). The paper should also cite at least (3) current event news stories, using our “recommended global news outlets” provided in Canvas. The current event news stories should be cited throughout the paper using parenthetical citations – for example: (“Manus Island Refugee Arrives in New Zealand,” BBC, 2019). Note: If the news story title is very long, you can just include the first couple words of the title in the parenthetical citation. At the end of your paper, a full list of references or works cited page should provide the citations of all sources used in either APA or MLA format. For guidance in how to create a reference list in APA format, for example, you can use the following: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_articles_in_periodicals.html (Links to an external site.)
Tips for organizing your paper:
I. Overview of the global politics issue you have chosen (background on the issue’s importance or history, defining what the issue is, etc. – using our textbook and current event stories)
II. How the issue is impacting current events (this is the portion where you can focus on describing the current event news stories you found related to your topic)
III. How the issue does or does not affect the United States (based on your current event news research and our textbook)
IV. Why the issue matters to you as an individual (this is the portion of the reflection where you can bring in your own views on the topic and reflect on how you are connected to the topic)
Sample Solution
