Final Paper Prompts (1750-2000 words), choose one of the prompts
Prompt 1
Pick a (more or less) well-known person and analyze their life and/or actions through two texts we studied. At least one of the texts you use should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). This person can be real (e.g., politician, artist, celebrity) or fictional (the protagonist of a novel or a film). Possible angles: Rousseau on the “noble savage”, Gandhi and/or Fanon on the right way to resist colonialism, Mill on individuality, Wollstonecraft on liberating women, Lorde on the Erotic, Nietzsche’s will to power, Freud’s psychoanalysis, Marx on alienation. These are just options. You can develop them or find others.
Prompt 2
In September 2018, India’s supreme court struck down a law prohibiting consensual gay sex (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/world/asia/indi…). Discuss this event through two of the texts we studied. At least one of these texts should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). Possible angels: Rousseau and the Western image of indigenous sexuality, Mill on individual freedom, Said on the orientalist image of the non-Western as sexual, Gandhi on resisting colonialism, Freud on the repression of Eros, Nietzsche on slave morality, Ahmed on resisting Western culture in the non-Western world, Foucault on the origins of gay identity. These are just options. You can develop them or find others.
Prompt 3
Is having and expressing sexual and/or gender identity (you may write on either or both) an expression of freedom or a sign of oppression? Discuss this question through two of the texts we studied. At least two of these texts should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). Possible angels: Foucault on the origins of queer identities, Freud on the repression of Eros, Kristeva on the abject, Nietzsche on will to power and/or slave morality, Marx on alienation from the body/senses under Capitalism, Mill on individuality. These are just options. You can develop them or find others. You can write on sexual or gender identity in general on a more specific identity people claim (e.g., “queer”, “trans”, “nonbinary”, “gay”, “straight”, etc.).
Prompt 4
China has been implementing a “social credit system” that rewards or punishes citizens based on their ordinary social behavior as described in this US article (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/china-so…). Discuss this system through two of the texts we studied. At least one of these texts should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). Possible angels: Said on orientalism, Mill on individuality and conformity, Lin Zexu’s claims against the West, Marx on oppression under Capitalism, Rousseau on amour-propre, Foucault on knowledge as power, Kristeva on the abject, Freud on how civilization makes us unhappy, Nietzsche on slave morality. These are just options. You can develop them or find others.
Prompt 5
In the past few years, enhancing “diversity” has become a chief route for addressing minority concerns in culture, politics, education, and business. Organizations strive to have a more diverse face – be it in their workforce, students, customers, etc. Discuss pros and/or cons of this approach through two of the texts we studied. At least one of these texts should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). Possible angels: Fanon or Gandhi on resisting colonialism, Said on orientalism, French Revolution texts on civic equality and freedom, Nietzsche on will to power and/or slave morality, Kristeva on the abject, Mill on individuality, Wollstonecraft or Lorde on liberating women and/or Black women. These are just options. You can develop them or find others. You may write on diversity in general or focus on a specific minority.
Prompt 6
Recently, especially given the pandemic and the riots in the US Capitol, there are increasing worries about conspiracy theories and their adherents. Discuss this issue through two texts we studied. At least one of these texts should be from the second half of the semester (starting Gandhi). Questions you may explore (but you could rather formulate others): Are conspiracy theories an exercise of will to power and/or a form of slave morality? Do they reflect fear of the abject (Kristeva)? Do they express resentment among the lower classes (Marx, Ahmed)? Do they unleash repressed instincts (Freud)? Resistance to knowledge as power (Foucault)?
Prompt 7
Your own topic. If you’re interested in this option, you must email me by December 6 with a paragraph describing it – the question/s you will explore and the sources you’d like to use (must be two sources, one of which from the second half of the semester; starting Gandhi).