The heart of this class is your research writing project. Your research papers will be developed throughout the semester, and will draw upon work in both the Monday and Wednesday class sessions (though Dr. Bloodworth will take the lead in the research paper assignment). You will turn in a variety of “stepping stone” assignments that will help your explore a topic and craft original,thesis-driven arguments that are validated through careful, well-evidenced reasoning (see MyClasses for more details on the separate elements of your research paper project). This work for your papers will count for 55% of your overall course grade. 

You wil write three interrelated argumentative essays as a means of conducting systemic inquiry into an urgent topic in environmental studies.  Your first essay will define your research project's central problem and will accompany an annotated bibliography of peer reviewed scholarship dealing with this problem.  The second essay will make an argument of qualification about your topic.  The third essay will integrate your arguments and revisions from the first two essays in order to make an argument of policy addressing the problem.