One of the central goals of this course is to make the familiar strange by providing you with a new set of conceptual lenses through which to view and evaluate your experiences and the world around you.

To put course concepts and ideas to work, you will interview an older person in your life about how gender and/or sexuality – in conjunction with race, ethnicity, nationality, class, ability, age, etc. – have shaped this person’s sense of self and their opportunities.

In writing the paper, your aim will be twofold:

1. to identify and describe two or three defining moments in your interviewee’s life, and
2. to deploy relevant concepts drawn from course texts and discussions in order to make sense of the dynamics of gender and/or sexuality at play in these moments.

The paper must be 7-8 pages (1750 to 2000 words, double-spaced, 12 pt. font).

A first, abbreviated draft (3.5-4 pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font) must be submitted on the “draft” due date.

The final (revised and expanded) version of the paper must be submitted on the “final” due date. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/part/main-body/