|Research Paper: The Future of ...

As you know, your English 2 will culminate with an eight-page research paper. Below are the guidelines:

Topics:

 Explore the future development of ...

1. Privacy: The Bill of Rights broadly grants every American citizen a right to basic privacy. However, advancements in technology have drastically changed how we define and set boundaries around privacy. Whether willingly (phone apps and Facebook) or not (NSA spying), Americans have traded their privacy for convenience and security. What will privacy in America look like in the future? Will we strive to protect our individual thoughts, habits, and communications, or will the expectation of privacy eventually become an antiquated concept?
2. Religion in America: The United States is still a nation of believers. However, the religions we practice are shifting, with Protestant faiths (Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, etc.) set to become minorities in the near future. Indeed, more Americans are opting out of religion altogether. According to Pew Research, "Among Americans ages 18-29, one-in-four say they are not currently affiliated with any particular religion." Will the majority of Americans still practice and celebrate religion in the future, and, if so, with which religions will we identify?
3. Endangered Foods: A byproduct of climate change has been the emergence of so-called “endangered foods.” As a result of everything from over-harvesting and depleted environments to drought and disease, foods as diverse as cocoa beans, salmon, and bananas, may be threatened in the coming decades. For example, in North America, sugar maples (a major source of maple syrup) are now considered one of many threatened native species. What would be the impact of losing some of these foods? Profile three threatened foods (plant or animal), examining both the cause for their decline, as well as efforts to save them. 
4. Warfare: From muskets and pistols to drones and Humvees, the ways in which America has engaged in conflict has changed dramatically since its founding. Today, the US has the most technologically advanced military in the world, but also spends more on defense than the next 13 biggest militaries combined. How will that money be spent in the future? How are today’s military strategies, including counterterrorism and cyberwarfare, shaping the wars of tomorrow? 
5. Masculinity: The last century saw a radical shift in America’s perceptions of what it meant to be a man. How are future concepts of masculinity being shaped? For example, how will social movements, such as stay-at-home dads, increasing female economic equality, and non-binary genderism, affect what we expect of 21st century masculinity?
6. Water: In a 2001 speech, then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that "competition for fresh water may well become a source of conflict and wars in the future." Others, including environmentalists and economists, have also warned of impending “water wars.” Others disagree, calling the prospect of future water conflicts both alarmist and fabricated. Will future wars be fought over water? 
7. Cities: What forces will shape the cities of the future? Economics? Climate change? Overpopulation? Geopolitics? Are we on the verge of burgeoning urban utopias or will megacities envelope us in pollution and congestion? How are architects, designers, and engineers laying the groundwork for the future’s cities?
8. Fashion: The future of fashion is about more than just incoming waist lengths or new silhouettes. Instead, it’s about how technology and fashion might merge to meet 21st century demands, such as textile renewability and eCommerce? For example, if our future is to be hotter and more polluted, then might 21st century fashion gives us clothes that refract harmful UV light or can read our biorhythms? What does the coming century hold for fashion? 
9. Transportation: How will we move from one place to another in the future? Hover cars? Maglev trains? Pilotless planes? How transportation meet the demanding needs of the 21st century? Which of today’s developing technologies will revolutionize transportation? And what will be the United States’ role? Will Americans help usher in a new technological era or watch from the sidelines?
10. Social Media: We live in a social media landscape dominated by a relatively few amount of players (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, etc.). But as AOL, MySpace, Vine, and Zynga can attest, social media users are nothing if not fickle. What will future social media users, particularly those born after 2000, demand from their social media sites? And are today's biggest players—many of whom will be two decades old—up for the challenge? Is the next Facebook on the horizon? If so, what might it look like? Finally, will non-American social media sites ever gain a foothold in the US? Might Brazil's Orkut or China's Renren have the opportunity to infiltrate the American market? What is the future of social media?
11. The Olympics: What was once a cut-throat competition to host the world's most prestigious athletic exhibition has turned into a cautionary tale about cities abundantly wasting precious resources with little to show for it. For example, the Summer Games of 2024 and 2028 began with intense international attention, but after the financial fiasco of the 2016 Rio Olympics, only Paris and Los Angeles were left interested. And there was so little interest in hosting a Winter Games that Beijing—a city averaging only one week of precipitation per winter—was hastily awarded the 2022 ceremony. With a price tag increasingly out of reach for anyone but the world's richest cities, is there a future for the International Olympics? 
12. The Movies: Amidst ballooning budgets and declining box office receipts, Hollywood finds itself at a crossroads. Increasingly, Americans are eschewing what was once a cherished national pastime. But why? Inconvenience? Costs? At-home options, such as Netflix or Amazon? Will theatrical technological advancements (e.g. 4D, 8K) or increased amenities (e.g. reserved seating, food and alcohol) be enough to lure back moviegoers? And how will a diminishing American clientele affect Hollywood’s global outreach? What might the future hold in store for the movies? 

Requirements:

• 2,000 words minimum—illustrations are permitted, but must be captioned
• MLA Style, including parenthetical citation
• Minimum of 6 outside sources—at least 3 from peer-reviewed academic texts
• Works cited page

Include in your research paper:

• A thesis outlining a clear argument
• An deep analysis of your chosen subject matter
• A conclusion that illustrates an understanding of your subject matter as it pertains to its future development

Timeline:

Week 13: Fri 11.17 - RESEARCH PAPER THESIS & OUTLINE (BRING 2 COPIES)

Week 15: Fri 12.1 - RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PG. 3; BRING 2 COPIES)
Week 16: Fri 12.8 - RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PG. 6; BRING 1 COPY)
Week 16: Wed 12.13 - RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)