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This website features work from the completion of Phase 1 of the SCALES Project.

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Paper

  • Paper 2

    Paper 2 (1250 words (5 pages)): You have a choice of writing on topics distributed in class or on a topic you pose (original paper topics must be approved in advance). 

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  • Paper 1

    Write a 5-page (1250 word) argumentative essay on one of the following topics. Note that your paper must articulate a thesis in response to the topic and defend the thesis with argument(s). At the top of the first page of your paper – above your title (if you have one) and your first paragraph – please state your thesis in bold. This is the claim that you are arguing for in the rest of your paper. (You should also state the thesis in the body of your text.)

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  • Assignment 5: Personal Reflection

    Please write 250-500 words (total) addressing the questions below.

    1. Please describe one idea you encountered during this course that you found powerful.
    2. Please critically reflect on the idea in your own terms. What makes it powerful or meaningful to you? How is it related to things you had thought before taking the course? How does it connect (or disconnect) with ideas that you take to be common or popular?
    3. Is there any way in which the course has affected your actions and choices (note that “not at all” is an option!)? Do you think any of the arguments should prompt you to change your actions, even you aren’t inclined to change? Are there ways they may change your actions in the future? (Why or why not?)
    Read more: Assignment 5: Personal Reflection

  • Assignment 4: Food for Free

    Please write 250-500 words (total) on the following questions.

    Please go to Food for Free and have a look at the 2016 report on hunger in Massachusetts and write a reflection answering the questions above with respect to what you learned from these resources about Food for Free’s work.

    1. Please describe one idea that you found powerful. What message did you get from it?
    2. Please critically reflect on the message in your own terms. Do you see connections with readings we have done so far on food justice, food security, food sovereignty, the social meaning of food/water, capitalism, labor justice, waste, industrial agriculture?
    3. If you were to teach someone something you learned from the presentation, what would you tell them?
    Read more: Assignment 4: Food for Free

  • Assignment 3: Activism

    Please read Brian Martin, “Activism, Social and Political.” and reflect on the question: do we all have a moral responsibility to be engaged in activism in the current social context, (and if not all, then who)? You may consider activism on any topic, e.g., food security, animal welfare, LGBTQ rights, feminism, antiracism, smaller government, pro-life, pro-choice, prayer in public schools, or any other topic that matters to you.

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  • Assignment 2: Flow

    Please write 250-500 words (total) on the following questions.

    1. Please describe one segment of or image from the film Flow that you found powerful. What message did you get from it?
    2. Please critically reflect on the message in your own terms. Did you see connections with readings we have done so far on global justice, food security, food sovereignty, the social meaning of food/water, capitalism, labor justice?
    3. If you were to teach someone something you learned from the film, what would you tell them?
    Read more: Assignment 2: Flow

  • Assignment 1: Pond and Charity

    In his essay, "Famine, Affluence, and Morality," Singer argues that there is a close analogy between POND and CHARITY (see p. 38 of FES).

    1. What are the relevant similarities between POND and CHARITY for the purposes of Singer's argument?
    2. Do you think that the analogy supports his conclusion? Why or why not?
    3. Suppose someone objected: But in POND, there is one drowning child. In CHARITY, there are too many starving children to help by a single action, so I would have to give something additional up daily for my whole life. This is too much to ask. How would Singer respond?
    Read more: Assignment 1: Pond and Charity

  • Practicing Poverty

    For the next week, limit your spending to $2 per day. Try to minimize your reliance on pre-existing resources (such as using food that is in the pantry, eating your room-mates leftovers etc.).

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  • Sector Paper

    Write a five-page paper (double-spaced, not including figures, tables or pictures) describing the current state of affairs in your country in one of the sectors that we have studied in class:

    Read more: Sector Paper

  • Discussion Questions: Mastering the Machine 3

    See [Smillie], pp. 44-66. Please answer the following questions (maximum 2 single-spaced pages), using examples from the book where applicable.

    1. According to the reading, what are some of the major reasons why NGOs and the Third Sector developed such an important role in what we call 'international development'?
    2. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of NGO organizational structure? Use some examples from the reading.
    3. What is meant by 'civil society'? In what ways might the concepts described by this term influenced the development of D-Lab philosophy?
    Read more: Discussion Questions: Mastering the Machine 3

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