New Student Seminar Research Paper Guide

Step 3: Investigating a topic

The first step in writing your paper is choosing a topic that interests you. To find a topic, consider the many topic areas described in pages 195-302 of Blessed Unrest. These topics fall into four main categories: social justice, destruction of the environment, economic abuse, and preservation of indigenous cultures. The website wiserearth.org provides a list of topic areas by clicking on Explore then Areas of focus, or you can search the website by topic.

Here are some examples of topics related to these areas:

Broad topic	Narrower topics	Example of specific issues or topics
Social justice	fair trade access to education access to health care human rights monitoring human trafficking and slavery ethnic equality poverty alleviation gender equality	How do fair trade organic coffee cooperatives benefit coffee growers?
Destruction of the environment	global warming water pollution endangered species ozone layer acid rain petroleum pollution toxic waste chemical pollution recycling and reuse renewable energy	Can increases in funding for mass transit help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What role can hybrid and electric cars play in reducing global warming? What are the potential benefits and risks of increasing the use of nuclear power for electricity generation?
Economic abuse	microcredit socially responsible development corporate ethics globalization impacts worker health and safety international debt trade balance sustainable employment	How can small loans given through microcredit organizations help to reduce poverty in developing nations?
Preservation of indigenous cultures	indigenous lands natural heritage conservation democratic participation biodiversity hunger and food security environmental justice land use policy conflict resolution refugees	How is illegal logging impacting indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest? How is global warming impacting the Inuit?

One way of investigating a topic is to browse in a reference book related to the topics discussed in Blessed Unrest. For example, you could look through one of these books below to find a topic that interests you:

International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics - Ebook available online	A Handbook of Globalisation and Environmental Policy - Ebook available online	Encyclopedia of Human Rights Issues since 1945 - Ebook available online
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism - Ebook available online	Encyclopedia of Animal Rights and Animal Welfare - Ebook available online	The Human Rights Encyclopedia - Located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor at call number JC571 .L523 2001
Encyclopedia of Environmental Issues - Located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor at call number GE10 .E52 2000	Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice - Located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor at call number HM671 .E53 2007	Encyclopedia of Catholic Social Thought, Social Science, and Social Policy - Located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor at call number BX1753 .E595 2007
	Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life - Located in the Reference Collection on the 1st floor at call number BX1753 .E595 2007

Once you choose a topic that interests you, a reference book can also be a good resource to gather some basic facts and background information on your topic. For example, if you are interested in the issue of illegal logging, you could find an article providing a basic overview of this topic in A Handbook of Globalisation and Environmental Policy.

Need more help with narrowing down your topic? Try Choosing a topic guide from Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL).