In addition to reading the texts, viewing the films, and attending class as outlined in the syllabus by the dates indicated, several out-of-class assignments are described briefly below that will complement one another in meeting our goals for the course.
1. Examinations. There will be three examinations (February 17, April 5, May 3), each based on the readings, films, and lecture/discussion materials for the preceding segment of the course.
2. File of advertisements on alcohol use. Each student will collect a file of images and advertisements on alcohol use and related topics from at least two popular magazines of your choosing for a three week period beginning April 4th. The advertisement file will be used in discussion near the end of the term as we assess how the media represents alcohol and its use and in the third exam.
3. HWS student survey. The class will assist in conducting a campus-wide survey of student alcohol use during the term. The survey will provide first hand insight into research on alcohol. Students will discuss question content issues, help collect the data, and discuss results in light of the course material.
4. Term Research Project. Each of you will choose some specific aspect of alcohol
use (eg. cause, consequence, particular group pattern, social issue, or policy)
to study in detail. You may choose to base the project entirely on research
literature or on a combination of research literature and some data based on
first hand research. You may choose to complete this requirement in one of several
possible ways:
• Individual Research Project. You may choose to pursue a multidisciplinary
research project on your own. Your final research paper submission should be
10-12 pages in length.
• Investigative Team Research Project. You may team up with one or two
other students in the class to conduct a multidisciplinary research project
on some aspect of alcohol and society. If you are a two-person team, the paper
should be 14-16 pages in length. If you are a three person team, the paper should
be 18-20 pages in length.
• Policy Research Paper (15-20 pages, >25 sources). A student may elect
to thoroughly research a policy position related to alcohol use from both natural
scientific and social scientific perspectives. This research paper is designed
to meet the capstone policy brief requirement for the public policy program.
If you are using this course to satisfy the capstone requirement for the public
policy program you must choose this option.
Additional project option: You may choose to create a media presentation (eg.
audio, video, or PowerPoint) as a component of your project that conveys a significant
portion of your project and that can be made available for the wider HWS community
through course and other campus public media. If this option is chosen, minimum
written paper page lengths may be scaled back accordingly to 6 (one person paper),
8 (two person paper), 10 (three person paper), or 12 pages (policy brief). If
this option is chosen, contributors must agree to permit their media presentation
to be viewed or played through public HWS venues.
We have designed an intermediate assignment to help you in your term research project. The assignment is described below. This will assist you and your instructors in seeing the development of your project. It will also be a record for you of suggestions and criticisms to help you produce the best project you can.
Project Proposal with Annotated Bibliography (Due March 10). This one-page paper describes a point of view that you wish to pursue. You should briefly describe your question, show how your project relates to the general problem of alcohol use, and show how natural and social science perspectives might be incorporated in the investigation. The annotated bibliography should contain periodical references and supporting books that bear directly on your project topic. The reference citations should conform to either MLA, APA, or ASA research paper bibliographic format. Annotations of one to three sentences are required showing the importance of each article to the project. If you are pursuing a group project, you should identify your team members. Only one submission is necessary for each team.
Final project submission (Due May 8).
Extra Credit
1. Info-Link. You will have the opportunity to communicate some key aspect of your term project or other material your learned in the course through an optional short video production. We call these productions Info-Links because some will be digitized and incorporated into online campus bulletin board and communication networks at appropriate places where others might want to find additional information. One info-link can be produced for extra credit (20 points maximum). Students submitting the info-link must agree to it being publicly displayed.
2. Class Participation: Strong class participation can increase the course
grade up to 25 points (1/2 of a letter grade).