Housing/Homelessness Final Paper Assignment
30 Points    Due 12/18 @ 11:59p

The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to engage more thoroughly with the topics we have covered in class which are of interest to you. In addition, it’s a chance for you to further sharpen your writing and researching skills.

Through readings, lectures, policy reports, podcasts etc. we’re learning that adequately and fairly housing people, especially low-income people, has been (and continues to be) a problem connected to (hyper)commodification, explicit racism, and market failures—issues endemic to a capitalist system.

The class materials have provided both overviews and deeper dives into many topics concerning housing and homelessness. These materials and our class discussion should serve as a source for topic ideas for your final paper. The graduate students will have more robust requirements (detailed below) with an emphasis on homelessness.

For this assignment I’m asking you to explore, in greater detail, a topic(s) we’ve covered in class that is also relevant to housing/homelessness issues in NYC. You can think through your topic at any scale of the city that works for you—from neighborhood, borough, or the city as large.

You have some liberty with your final paper in terms of what you want to write about, but it must do three things:

1. Focus on a topic(s) covered in this course that is also relevant to NYC (graduate student will have a homelessness focus/emphasis)
2. Utilize course material and outside research materials (Max Thorn, our department librarian will visit us on October 12^th)
3. Clearly communicate your ideas and research and include all the requirements (listed below)

Final Paper Requirements are as follows:

• TOPIC (Due 10/12): Have a topic of interest by October 12^th so you can begin some research. Please upload a few sentences (i.e. short paragraph) about your topic to Blackboard so I can see what you’re thinking of writing about and offer any feedback/guidance that may be helpful. If you find you want to change your topic later – no problem! I want you to work with a topic you enjoy (that still fulfills the assignment).
  • Graduate Students: Please focus your paper on a topic that is either directly related to/about homelessness or that allows you to clearly emphasize the impacts on homelessness in NYC.
• OPTIONAL DRAFT (Due 11/30): You may choose to upload to Blackboard a draft or fleshed out outline so I can do a high-level review (not line editing) to provide feedback that can help you hone your topic and/or point you to relevant literature. I will work to address any feedback by Sunday 12/4.
• THE FINAL PAPER (Due 12/18):
  • For Undergraduate Students:
    • Please write 5-7 pages (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12pt font-size, Times New Roman, not including a bibliography page).
    • Please include a bibliography at the end or use endnotes. Be consistent and clear with whichever citation method you use.
    • Reference at least 5 sources—these should include both course materials (e.g., readings, lectures, podcasts etc.) and at least 2 outside sources (e.g., academic articles, book chapters, policy reports etc.). You may find you easily surpass five sources!
  • For Graduates Student:
    • Please write 12-15 pages (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12pt font-size, Times New Roman, not including a bibliography page).
    • Please include a bibliography at the end or use endnotes. Be consistent and clear with whichever citation method you use.
    • Reference at least 7 sources—these should include both course materials (e.g., readings, lectures, podcasts etc.) and at least 4 outside sources (e.g., academic articles, book chapters, policy reports etc.).
    • Please include at least 2 relevant graphics.

 

• PRESENTATION (12/7 & 12/12): Your final paper presentation is a short presentation to share the topic and provide a brief summary of your paper’s key points as its developed so far (the final paper is not due until 12/18). This is also an opportunity for general feedback if you need it. Doing a presentation also helps you to not leave the paper to the last minute:)
  • You can use power point, the dry erase board, handouts – whatever you want so long as we can understand what you are presenting in a clear way.
  • You have 6 minutes to present – if you want feedback leave time for that and be specific about what you would like feedback on.
  • We only have 2 days to present and 22 presenters, please have your presentation ready to go (if using the computer, send me the file in advance) and do not pass 6 minutes.

PLAGIARISM: Please refer to your syllabus regarding Academic Dishonesty & Plagiarism. Egregious plagiarism will result in a zero for the entire paper and a report to the Office of Academic Integrity.

REMEMBER, I’m available for office hours if you need help!

RUBRIC (30 points total)

Paper Topic – 5 pts Due: 10/12	0 pts: Didn’t  turn it a topic	1-2 pts: Put in very little effort, just a few words or very vague phrasing. Very unclear as to what the topic is.	5 pts: Shows effort in explaining a clear topic of interest in a few sentences or more.
Final Paper – 20 points Due: 12/18 @ 11:59p
Focus/Relevancy/Research – 10 pts	0-3 pts: The focus is unclear, and the paper demonstrates little to no relevancy to the course/NYC and is poorly researched.	3-7 pts: The focus is somewhat clear, and the paper demonstrates some relevancy to the course and/or NYC but  is not well researched.	7-10  pts: There is a clear focus, and the paper demonstrates relevancy to the course and NYC, with adequate to strong research.
Paper length/Formatting – 3 pts	1 pt: Falls far short of the page requirements, needs to write more	2 pts: Falls a bit short of the page requirements, needs to write more	3 pts: Meets page requirements or more
Bibliography – 3 pts	0 pts: Didn’t cite anything	1-2 pts: Inadequately cited sources or made little effort	3 pts: Properly cited sources
References – 4 pts	0 pts: Doesn’t use any references	1-2 pts: Doesn’t use enough course/outside references	3-4 pts: Uses enough course/outside references somewhat to very effectively
Presentation – 5 pts Due: 12/7 & 12/12	0 pts: Doesn’t give a presentation	1-2 pts: Gives a poor, hard to follow presentation	3-5 pts: Gives a somewhat to very clear and informative presentation