As I mentioned in class, your research paper will be the heart and soul of your work in this class.  Here’s my goal: that in several years, you will not only still remember the idea that you tested in this paper; you will also still touch on the lessons from this paper.

Here are some guidelines as you begin to develop and test your idea:

• Select a specific global challenges that is at the right scale.  As noted in class, you would be unwise to try to tackle solutions to global warming; on the other hand, avoid minor challenges.
• Your analysis should encompass much of the material that we discuss in class – but by no means should it be exclusively based on this material.
• After setting up and analyzing your challenge, a large part of your paper should be a convincing assessment of potential solutions.

The paper should be typed in double space, no more than 25 pages of text. You are welcome — indeed encouraged — to include, as part of your research, a useable website or even a video that helps the reader of your paper to learn more about your question.