and language to language. They function as gatekeepers and access points of power. You should
have the freedom to write meaningfully about important topics in any form, but you should also
be able to write in a way that allows you to access power through the research academy in the
U.S. It’s a skill, nothing more.
Research Paper (5-6 pages, 25%, 36 points)
You will research some aspect of data or data-adjacent themes we’ve tackled so far in class.
Synthesizing two new sources with existing class reading assignments. The purpose of this paper
is to show your ability to synthesis research and draw conclusions based on your survey
For this paper, you use three sources. One of your sources will be something we have read in
class up. This paper should be 5-6 pages, double spaced, 12pt font, Times New Roman. Internal
and external citations will be in Chicago format.
Picking a topic: Find something that interests you that we’ve touched upon this semester that
engages with our readings. One of the easiest ways to engage with our texts is to use them as a
framework to look at more contemporary examples.
For instance: Sabrina Strings in Fearing the Black Body examines advertisements and
newspapers of the day that privileged whiteness and admonished blackness. We can approach
contemporary advertisements (like Savage X Fenti, as a site of anti-fatness and anti-blackness).
For this paper you might find an article on anti-blackness in contemporary ads and an analysis of
Savage X Fenti…).
In addition to one source from our reading lists, you made use newspaper articles, some
websites (preferable authored), journal articles, books, etc.
You may want to run your topic idea by me via email or during an upcoming Zoom
office hours session.
Developing a thesis: Once you have researched your topic, you will develop a thesis. For
instance, “With extended sizes and Black models, social medial posts for Savage X Fenti lingerie
become sights for a convergence of anti-Black and anti-fat rhetoric.”
Possible topics and their connection to our readings:
Simone Biles (Fearing the Black Body)
How fat people are treated in weight loss shows like “Biggest Loser” (Flegal or
fat/medical care articles)
Mistrust of medicine (Covid vaccine) in Black communities (Medical Apartheid)
(Medical Bondage)
Or whatever else you find interesting that is connected to the ideas in our readings.
Weapons of Math Destruction by Cathy O’Neil pages 12-24 (available on Canvas)
How Body Size Became a Disease: A History of the Body Mass Index and its Rise
to Clinical Importance” by Katherine Flegal (available on Canvas)
“Association of All-Cause Mortality With Overweight and Obesity using Standard Body
Mass Index Categories” by Katherine M. Flegal et al. (available on Canvas)
Gina Kolata,
“Dear Doctor, Here’s What Fat Patients Need From You,” by Your Fat Friend (Aubrey
Gordon)
“The Shocking Ways Large Women Are Mistreated by Health-Care Providers” by Kelly
Coffey.
Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia by Sabrina Strings,
pages 1-11, 187-203.
Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington, pages 1-25, 386-404
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