Overview
SOC 365 Term Paper: Cultural Studies of Sports First and foremost, this is a research paper; after choosing a topic, you must use outside readings to develop and refine your discussion. For the most part, the topic is wide open – as long as it addresses some aspect of identity and sports. You may examine how sport is used to construct, confirm, maintain, and/or display individual or group identity. Or, you may want to look at how other aspects of identity (race, class, gender, etc.) promote or deter participation in (a particular?) sport. You may consider any of the topics we have discussed so far this semester, or any of the topics yet to come, or even a topic that we will not address in this class, as long as it somehow relates to sports and identity. I strongly suggest you choose a topic in which you have a high degree of interest, so as to make your research more meaningful to you (and thus, more enjoyable). You will find that it is easier to write a quality paper about something that interests you than it is to write about a topic that bores you. Your paper must be written in standard essay format (introduction, body, & conclusion), and you will be graded on both substance and style. The length of the paper is to be between 1,750 – 2,250 words (~ 7-9 typed, double-spaced pages), not including a separate page for references. You do not need to include a title- page, though you can if you choose. You must use at least eight (8) outside sources: scientific or academic books, journal articles, and/or online archives. You may also use non-academic sources, but a significant portion of your paper must be based on the scholarly sources. Your reference page will include every reference you used to help create your final paper, and every reference listed MUST be cited somewhere within the body of your paper, at least once. The papers are due on Thursday, April 25th, by 9:00 p.m., and they MUST be submitted on-line to D2L. They MUST be uploaded using MSWord, .pdf, or a compatible format. If I (and Turnitin.com) cannot read your paper, then it will be counted as late (until you turn in a suitable format). It is NOT necessary to turn in a hard-copy. Additional Guidelines: 1. You must not “plagiarize” yourself. If you want to use part of a paper that you have written for another class, then you must significantly re-work it so that it does not get flagged as plagiarism. 2. Your paper must be written in accordance with APA stylistic guidelines (it is NOT necessary to include an abstract). 3. I encourage you to use the Library’s Social Abstracts: <https://www.proquest.com/sociologicalabstracts?acc...>