The Pluralism Project at Harvard University
Final Project Assignment Sheet
Comparative World Religions/Hajduk/Spring 2001
You do not have a final exam in this class, but you do have a final project. This project will make up about 25-30% of your final grade in this course because it is both your "final project" and some of your "journal reflection" grade. You have some choice in this project and there is always room for adaptation as long as you get permission about how you will modify the assignment before you proceed with your very cool and inventive ideas. :)
Project Timeline and Due Dates:
Friday, March 23: Work period to make phone calls, brainstorm, Internet research and THINK. A proposal (or two) with detailed brainstorming and resource ideas is due by the end of the period on this day!!! You may start drafting up your contract if you want! This will not commit you in stone yet, but you must be making a genuine effort to refine a plan (or two) that is exciting to you!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 26: Must have submitted an initial draft of contract for project.
Tuesday, April 3: Detailed outline and bibliography due. (Bibliography may only include addresses, people's names and contact #'s and/or literature- obviously this is dependent on your project). The idea is that you have done some preliminary research and exploration so that after break you will be ready to really dive into your project!!!!
April 23-May 1: One half or full research day to be spent either in Seattle or Tacoma. We can discuss this, but you can plan on one fun filled day of no classes to really focus on this project outside the classroom. (I'm working on making this a really fun day!)
Tuesday, May 1: Rough drafts or partially complete projects due. We can discuss the specifics of this as you refine your projects. Some of the major leg-work needs to have been completed by this date!
Friday, June 1: FINAL PROJECTS DUE!!!! This is an absolute deadline so if you are ill or absent have a parent or friend turn your project in for you!!!!!!! :) RELIEF...DONE...FINISHED!!!!!
Project Requirements:
• A detailed contract submitted to explain your goals and strategy to attain them. The contract will include specific requirements that you (and I) agree upon for the completion of this project. The more detailed the better. You may write in a certain amount of flexibility in your proposal, but once signed you will be committed to fulfilling those requirements. (20 points)
• Outline and bibliography (20 points)
• Participation in or full day of research when arranged during the school day and some evidence of accomplishing project goals on this day. (10 pts)
• Rough drafts (50 pts)
• Final projects (150 pts)
Project Possibilities: (Many of these projects have already been discussed and brainstormed about. Now, it is time to commit to one project and begin to follow through with the appropriate steps. Some class time will be given and several days are being arranged to help facilitate the fieldwork portion of this assignment.)
1. Begin interviewing (either in person, by phone, or e-mail) members of different faith communities in the Tacoma/Seattle areas. You should probably aim to choose about three people to formally interview. (Let's be careful not to have too much overlap with these people.) Establish your questions ahead of time, get them approved, and then based on the information you acquire you can write up conclusions and observations. The information you use from your interviews will need to be documented in a proper bibliography format and proper contact numbers for them will need to be a part of this documentation.
2. Active documentation (with photos and minimal research) of faith communities that have established themselves in the Tacoma/Seattle areas. This is more of "broad research project" rather than a "deep research project". You might choose to provide some analysis of the different communities that are in a certain location. (For example, downtown Tacoma). This will require that you are able to utilize a vehicle or public transit to get some of your documentation. I am happy to help accommodate this need outside of class time if you inquire ahead of time about transportation needs. Your end goal would include a "photo essay" with some text and observations about "who is here in Tacoma or Seattle". You could have a theme or go for extreme diversity. There is much room to "play" here.
3. Begin researching one community in depth and tracing their origins, development and existing worship schedule and community relations. This could either be a "book research" project, an experiential project where you visit a certain community several times or a combination of both. Remember that the aim is to really examine WHO has arrived in Western WA since the 1965 immigration act so you will probably want to examine an immigrant community. This leaves you with many options!
4. Choose one Interfaith relationship to study. This could be Christians and Buddhists, Muslims and Jews, Hindus and Sikhs and so on. The idea here would be to find EVIDENCE of two communities working together in Western WA and document what the common goals of each community were. (Remember we have already seen evidence of this with the Sakya monastery in Seattle). You might interview both communities to see how this relationship was established, how it evolved and give descriptions of particular events that have occurred between the two differing faith communities. You might also research what (if any) differences or obstacles remain between the two communities. It would take some initial research to find this Interfaith relationship, but would obviously be very rich once you began to explore it!
5. Write a newspaper article to submit to the NEWS TRIBUNE or SEATTLE TIMES about our class project. This may include observations about what we have done, reflections on the pluralism you witness in western WA or a modification of these things. There must be clear evidence that you have proceeded to get this article published. You will also want to include some evidence of research about what kind of communities DO exist here in Western WA as a piece of this article.