COURSE PROJECT GUIDELINES For this course, you will write one 10 page (minimum) paper that utilizes scholarly research in the support or answering of a research question posed, and stated up front, by you. Below are some foundational topics that can be used to inspire or help you in the formation of a researchable course project question. These foundational topics should ONLY be used to help you on the road to your research. This means, they are listed below ONLY to get you thinking. All of the topics below have been taken from our course text. Please use them as seeds for your course project. Don't not proceed with any of them in the form they are in. Use them to get the ball rolling. Remember, your job is to come up with a good research question. Just keep in mind that good research questions take time, so you should start thinking about one sooner rather than later. I'm requesting no specific format for this course project though I do touch on things that are an absolute must below. Just approach it as you would any small research assignment. I want a clear research question or statement made in the introductory paragraph of your paper followed by the body of your paper which integrates all of the research you've done that precisely supports the point you're trying to make and/or answers the question you're trying to solve. The proper footnoting throughout is key (see above). I want to see where your research is coming from and how you're using this research to support your efforts. At the end of the paper, I want a clear conclusion that re-states the paper's key points and drives home just what the paper did. Lastly, a "Works Citied" page is needed. 1. Is China's interest in Africa's raw material resources a kind of neo-colonialism or an example of South-South cooperation. What can be learned from Chinese investment in Sub-Saharan Africa and how can this information prove useful regarding future dealings b/t majority world cities and countries in the decades ahead? (see pgs. 85 and 117) 2. How should international environmental negotiation be done when considering both the needs of the "developed" north and the "developing" global south? What should this type of negotiation look like? Is sustainable development a reachable goal for fast-growing cities and their countries? Why or why not? (pgs. 90-91) 3. What lessons can be learned from the study of extracted resources like Guano and Coltan? In a fast-growing world hungry for raw materials, can equity, the environment, and economic needs fit together with maximum benefit or will the struggle become only more pronounced? (pg. 100) 4. What does resistance to the prevailing method of oil production in Nigeria look like now and what will it look like in the future? How do these resistance movements work, what kinds of success have they had, and what can we in the so-called "developed" world learn from them? (pg. 108) 5. To study the majority world city is to study the many diasporas shaping urban life everywhere we look. Keeping imperial, trading, and contemporary cultural diasporas in mind, what are the challenges regarding identity and place in an increasingly globalized world? (pgs. 144-145 & 148) 6. What are the limitations of housing provision programs in places like Mexico and South Africa? Can socialization, communal solidarity, and responsibility be encouraged by housing providers like INFONAVIT without treating very poor informal housing dwellers as persons lacking not only decent housing but "proper" social conditioning. (pg. 155) 7. What is cultural exclusion like in the cosmopolitan city? Where can this phenomenon be found? (pg. 159) 8. Can a balance be found between heavy-handed state-conceived modernization schemes like "villagization" in Julius Nyerere's Tanzania, South Korea's state-led 'Tiger Economy Development,' and the state-replacement activities associated with the drugs, violence, and authority issues found in Rio de Janeiro's favelas? (pgs. 179, 189, 273) 9. What is the role of ICT in social protest and how is this form of protest evolving in other majority world cities? (pgs. 193-194) 10. Why is domestic labor often unnoticed when considering the economy of the majority world city? Why is it important that we bring domestic labor into the discussion involving diverse economies, gendered labor, and the livelihoods of female urban dwellers? (pg. 221) 11. Why is it important to empower street

vendors and informal traders in the developing world city? Why has this part of the economy and those who participate in it been consistently overlooked? (pg. 227) KENASVIT and NASTHA in Kenya 12. What are the problems associated with Modernization Theory and why does this theory continually have such a hold on our contemporary way of seeing and understanding the majority world city? (pg. 269-270) 13. How has "good governance" in Indonesia been implemented from above with the KDP? What was implemented and how successful has such a strategy been? (pgs. 280-281) 14. Has Porto Alegre's participatory budgeting program been proven to work? What has been learned from its process and how have other cities or regions in the world adapted this process to their own needs? (pg. 284) For this project you are strongly urged to use the library, scholarly internet resources, and in-class discussions to further your interests. Come to me sooner rather than later if you need any assistance. Even though I am not on campus often, I’m more than willing to have phone meetings with you all. Just let me know what you need. I want you to do well.