The subtheme for Discourse III is “Civic and Community Engagement”. Think of a community that is important to you personally. How do you define “community”? It’s largely up to you! Obviously, geographic communities (such as a particular town, a particular KC neighborhood or district, etc.) arevalid candidates. But there are many others that students have used to good advantage in the past:◦Racial or ethnic communities
Bayless 4◦LGBTQ+ communities◦Artistic or literary communities◦Other identity- or interest-based communities (including subcultures & fandoms)◦Religious communities (either particular congregations or entire denominations/faiths)◦And, I’m sure, many more!Do exercise some common sense as to what’s respectful and appropriate for the class setting. This does not preclude discussing things such as, e.g., sexuality or drug use—these are legitimately relevant factors in some communities, and we’re all adults here—but for potentially sensitive topics, you should consider what sort of details your paperrequires, and how those details should be presented.If you’re on the fence as to whether a possible topic or details would be appropriate, feel free to email me in advance! You will be returning to this community for the second workshop paper, so I suggest quickly reading ahead and making sure you’re picking something that you think you can write about further. You do not have to draw on this same community topic for your research project later in the semester, although you may.
