Sexuality

Final Project & Paper.
50 points total.
Students have three choices for their final projects (choose one project below) on
which you will base your final paper:
1. Create a sexuality family tree: Create a family tree going back to your
grandparents. Trace what you know about how your family has experienced
sexuality and relationships: marriages, divorces, affairs, sexual violence, domestic
violence, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender roles, attitudes and beliefs
toward sex including religious beliefs, and anything else you feel is relevant. Pay
attention to strong patterns and overall themes you see in your family tree, and what
you notice has directly and indirectly impacted your own experiences with sexuality.
2. Keep a sex diary: Keep a sex diary for one week, in which you keep a record for
every time you think about sex and sexuality, and every time you engage in an act
you consider sexual. Write down whatever those thoughts and experiences are
and how you feel about them, questions you have about your experiences, etc.
Pay attention to your internal conversations, your beliefs and attitudes, and the
feelings that arise for you as you record your experiences. 3. Interview a close
family member or friend: Choose someone close to you that
you feel comfortable interviewing about their experiences with their sexuality.
Ask questions like: Where did you learn about sex and sexuality? When did you
know how you identified (in terms of sexual orientation, gender identity, etc.)?
What were some of the pivotal moments for you in defining your sense of
sexuality? What do you wish you had been taught growing up about sex and
sexuality? Pay attention to your personal reactions and take note of similarities
and differences between your interviewee and yourself.
I will not be reading any of these actual projects; they are your private
conversations with yourself and others and I want to respect the highly
personal nature of these projects. The final product that you submit, however,
will be a 5-page paper that you write in response to the project of your choice.
Questions to address in your paper (you need not answer all, but please be sure
to answer Questions 1 and 5):
1. What final project did you complete? What did you gain from doing your project?
2. From whom did you learn messages about sexuality in general and about your
sexuality in particular? What were those messages? How have you carried those
messages into adulthood? What values do you hold about sexuality? 3. Have you
had any critical moments, experiences, or relationships that have
made you question your values about sexuality? What were they and what were
their impacts on you?
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4. Can you identify larger systems that have impacted your experience and
relationship with your body and with other people’s bodies? 5. What material from
class (textbook, other readings, videos, conversations with
classmates) prompted you to think about sexuality (yours, or in general) in a new way?
Why? Has anything changed or solidified for you regarding how you think about sex,
sexuality, and/or relationships?
Criteria:
1. Integration of experience completing project choice with class material. It is not
enough to simply talk about class material; you must demonstrate how the class
material informed your experience with your final project.
2. No less than 4 1⁄2 pages, no more than 5 1⁄2 pages. The reference page does
not
count toward your page limit.
3. Double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman font.
4. A minimum of 5 references to classroom materials (textbook, additional articles,
videos, etc). The references do not need to be distinct- you may use one source for
all of your references (if, for instance, you find it most useful to only reference the
textbook).
5. Cite appropriately using APA format, and include a reference page. Papers not
adhering to proper citation format will be docked one point for each
inappropriate citation or improperly formatted reference page. (Access APA
formatting help at OWL Purdue:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/). Please note that you are
not required to include a title page, abstract, or running headers; the citations
and reference page formatted in APA is all that is required.
***Note: You MAY NOT simply copy and paste previously written discussion
posts into your final paper. Your final paper MUST be original writing.***
Category Points
Category Points
Appropriate length and formatting 5
Appropriately cited references and
reference page
10
Grammar, spelling, and paper
structure
10
Answers the questions fully, and
integration of class material with final
project experien