I have an American history class and the first day our teacher informed us that we would have a 8-10 page research paper. We can do the paper about any subject we find interesting about (person,place,event,etc) that we found interesting as long as it fit in to the time frame of when America started to just after the civil war, which is how far the class covers. He then went on the say "But none of that transgender stuff because it wasn't around back then." Of course, this just encourages me to write a 8-10 page paper titled LGBT in the Old West. My requestion is will I be able to find at least t sources that will make this paper possible. Or if I should even risk the paper knowing that my teacher is super religious (believe me he never shuts up about it)?
From anyone else that's run-of-the-mill ignorance, but from a history teacher that is appalling! I'd say it would make a great topic, albeit one you'd have to dig really deep to find good sources for.
That sounds like the paper would be really awesome but because your teacher is lame I wouldn't do it because he's bound to give a poor grade or at least grade much harsher than he would any other topic But if you're feeling it go for it haha
That is awful. Is there someone on staff who *is* supportive? Are there policies or guidelines in place in the school board to protect LGBT members of the community? If so, get to know the guidelines, talk to the supportive person on staff about the comment, then write whatever damn paper you want and hand it in. If there are any negative repercussions, you'll have someone to go to and a policy to back up any request you make to have this teacher's assessment reviewed.
Depends on how much of a nuisance you're willing to make for yourself. If you do decide to write on LGBT or even just gay/lesbian issues, be prepared for harsh grading. Also, keep in mind that colleges and universities generally grant their academic faculty pretty wide leeway in assessment and grading, meaning there may not be a whole lot of redress if you aren't graded fairly. This tends to be particularly true if you're attending a private institution with religious background. Additionally, if the paper is held to the sort of academic standard I personally hold to for academic writing, I think you're likely to have difficulty getting an adequate number of quality articles from respected, recognized peer-reviewed journals on this topic. There are probably some articles in various LGBT journals, but most such journals aren't very rigorous in what they accept. I think if it were me, I'd choose to fight this battle in a different venue.
I wouldn't write about something your professor has a negative bias toward. Unless you don't care about your grade.
This being the South I do have little hope of anyone caring. Majority of the class laughed at the comment and I really don't expect other teachers to care. I will probably still write the paper, and if he grades it bad for reasons such as not believing the concept of transgender is old as hell then I will take it to the head of the history department (who happens to be the teacher for my history 101 class). Because if I hahavacademic sources that back me up then he has no real cause to decline my paper has being unfactual It is also a technical college, so don't expect the same sort of unbiased teaching I'd expect from a university. If I can't find enough sources I'll switch my topic to something generic like the Oregon trail or Salem witch trails
