Students will select and study one example of Forbidden Love that is not present in the course material. This means that students will research the personal and contextual factors around their chosen case of forbidden love. To build a robust case study, students will search and analyze archival sources.
This assignment will emphasize archival digital research literacy through Open Educational Resources available at the CUNY library. To prepare for this assignment, we will have a visit (during class time) to Lloyd Seal Library and speak to a librarian. More details and guidance about how to conduct the “case study” methodology will be discussed in class.
Words: 600-800 | Openly-licensed artifacts: 4-6.
First, you will select a historical figure or groundbreaking legal case that represents an example of forbidden love (one we have not covered in class). Then, you will write a Blog Post that delves deep into that example. The main goal is to focus and deepen your analysis into one case of forbidden love. The same case cannot be chosen twice, we will use a “first come, first served” rule.
In this assignment, we encourage you to use archival artifacts, in other words: images, posters, letters, legal documents, artwork, etc. You should aim to use 4-6 artifacts.
Sections of the Paper:
- Introduction
- In your own words, define forbidden love. What does forbidden love mean to you in this assignment?
- Give a brief description of the case you selected. What, who, when, and where? Describe the people involved directly/indirectly and the context.
- Elaborate on why you selected this case. Why are you interested in it? Why do you find it important?
- Timeline: Create a brief timeline of relevant events for your case.
- Provide at least 4 historical events in the timeline. They have to be highly relevant for the case you are studying.
- Zooming in, dive into the case. At least half of the following prompts should be responded to through your writing and images, in any sequence that fits your narrative best.
- Who are/were the people directly involved in the relationship?
- Who else is/was involved? How did they participate?
- Relationship history, milestones and challenges:
- What brought them together? How did they meet?
- How did they get closer?
- How was this relationship forbidden? Who forbade it and why?
- What challenges has the relationship gone through?
- How did the relationship deal with those challenges?
- What are the strengths of the relationship?
- What type of support did they get/wish they received?
- Zooming out, the big picture:
- Why is this an example of forbidden love?
- How does this case exemplify, support, expand, or refute the materials and ideas discussed in class so far? How does it speak to other cases?
- What lessons for individuals, families, and societies do you draw from this case?
- Is this love still forbidden? How has it changed/evolved over time?
References (APA, MLA, or Chicago Format)
