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Women's Studies (WOMS10): Topic

Assignment

Students are instructed to research and write about influential person's work/legacy, social and personal impact. They need to examine how this person influenced their own lives because of their struggles, values and accomplishments.

Research a topic

HOW TO SELECT A TOPIC from the University of Michigan

STEP 1. Brainstorm for ideas

STEP 2. Read general background information

STEP 3. Focus on your topic

STEP 4. Make a list of useful keywords

STEP 5. Be flexible and willing to modify

STEP 6. Define your topic as a focused research question

STEP 7. Research and read more about your topic

STEP 8. Formulate a thesis statement

More Ideas: Time Magazine's 100 Women of the Year

Toni Morrison on the cover of Time Magazine

Not sure who to research? Here is a list of 100 Women who made it on the cover of Time Magazine.

 

Image of Toni Morrison on the cover of Time Magazine in 1993.

Topic Assignment Ideas

  1. Dolores Huerta, labor leader and activist
  2. bell hooks, visionary author and activist
  3. Zora Neale Hurston, anthropologist, poet and writer
  4. June Jordan, feminist poet, teacher and activist
  5. Audrey Lorde, feminist author and civil rights activist
  6. Winona LaDuke, indigenous and environmental activist, politician
  7. Angela Davis, former Black Panther, feminist author, professor and activist
  8. Maxine Hong Kingston, NOW (National Organization of Women)
  9. Yuri Kochiyama,  Japanese American anti-war anti-nuclear activist
  10. Margaret Mead, anthropologist
  11. Charlene Spretnak, ecofeminist author/women’s spirituality
  12. LaDoris Cordell, retired judge and former Independent Police Auditor
  13. Sarah & Angelina Grimke, pioneers of the women’s movement
  14. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, pioneer of the women’s movement
  15. Alice Paul, Woman’s Suffrage Movement
  16. Barbara Lee, Bay Area’s Congresswoman
  17. Chelsea Manning, Famous Whistleblower, also Transgender
  18. Gloria Anzaldua, feminist scholar/author
  19. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, young Congresswoman, environmental activist
  20. Marsha P. Johnson, Stonewall Transgender Activist
  21. Temple Grandin, Professor, Activist for rights of people with disabilities/disabling conditions