contest time! (a.k.a., Nastassja + American history + multiculturalism = durrr....)

[tsukikage]

Let us review:

For this paper, you will be using the texts and tools available through the library to research a particular time, place, and topic, and write a 1,500+ word paper. The topic has to be relevant to a class in American multiculturalism, which means that your paper should take into account at least two cultures that were affected by the time, place, and topic. If you need help thinking of a subject, try going back to Topic Suggestions for Paper 1 (available as part of the Definition Paper Assignment Sheet).

Keep the four aspects—multiple cultures, time, place, and topic—in mind as you think about a subject. You could do something like Chinese immigrant poets and the Beats in San Francisco during the 1950s, or the Chicago blues scene and the zoning commissions in the 1960s, or the GLBTQI people wanting to march in Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in the 1990s. . . . Is there some part of your own or your family's history that you would like to place in an historical context?

I have no fucking clue, and Wikipedia won't give me one either. So. First person to come up with a relevant time, place, two cultures, and a topic when a cookie. A real one if you live in the Twin Cities. And I still have to figure out the audience and thesis and find all my reference materials, and actually write the paper, so it's not really cheating. Just being clueless about American history. ^_^;;;

P.S. If you're really uncomfortable with just telling me what to write about, but you have an idea, if you could at least point me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated. For example, if cultures A and B were involved in C in the year D, you could just tell me to look into two of the categories so that I'd find the other two on my own.

Comments

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

How about the anglo-american church and the african american community during the civil rights movement?

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Mormons and Settlers in the western expansion?

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess that one's not very multicultural, but you could argue that Mormons were the minority...

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Really, I could do this all day. I'm great at brainstorming ;)

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

*laughs*
Seriously! So, should I send you five cookies in the mail? ;)

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

If you want, but you don't have to :) It was pretty fun :)

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

American Indians and White explorers during westward exploration (i.e. Lewis and Clark)... hey- they even had an african-american with them. That might be really fascinating- three cultures, one journey?

[jadeejf.livejournal.com]

Or this one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narváez_expedition

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

I thought about Lewis and Clark, too.

[tiwonge.livejournal.com]

It's probably not up your alley, but one thing that occurs to me is the development of the rodeo. It's probably a mingling of western/cowboy culture and native culture. (I know Navajos who claim that rodeos, or at least some rodeo events, came out of squaw dances, so there may be some native influences.) You'd have to do more researching, though. And there may not be a specific enough time for it to work.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know.

How about something like Mardi Gras in New Orleans (the parades?)? Think of places where there's a mixture of cultures, and how that influences the local culture. Miami, for example. Los Angeles. The migration of farm workers during the Depression and the Dust Bowl. Migrant workers. Maybe the mixture of cultures in Hawaii. The Harlem Renaissance. I don't have any ideas, but these are some things you might be able to look into. Once you can find a mixture of cultures, you might find an event or a topic that combines them.

[carve037.livejournal.com]

They talk about maybe stuff from your family's history. Don't you have like hardcore Germans and stuff? They've probably got some great stuff you could write about, like from Prohibition or the First World War era. As I understand, the Germans around here didn't cooperate very much with either. Could be interesting.

[tsukikage85.livejournal.com]

The hardcore Germans lived in Germany.

[carve037.livejournal.com]

...oh