Assignment: This assignment asks your group to investigate a problem/issue related to women; to situate that issue within this Fargo/Moorhead community, to investigate the resources (commercial, government and public service) available for responding to this problem/issue; and to evaluate whether these resources are adequate to respond to this problem. When you have finished this project, your group will present the class with:

• a 15 minute overview of your findings.
• a handout (or brochure) describing the local situation, the community resources you discovered, along with contact names, numbers, e-mail addresses.

Objectives: The objectives of this assignment are simple. When you have finished this project, you will:

• be aware of how a major issue in women’s studies plays out locally.
• understand how real women facing this problem would find solutions—and whether those solutions are available easily to women of various ethnic and socio-economic groups. (Are equal resources available to those who cannot pay for them?)
• have the opportunity to present your findings to the class (increasing our understanding of the problem/issue.
• further develop your research and problem-solving skills.

Planning Strategies: As a group:

1. Talk about what you already know about the issue you’ve chosen. Who is affected by this? (Demographics.) How pervasive is the problem or situation in this community??
2. Talk about what you already know about what the community has done to respond to this situation. What agencies, businesses, etc. deal with this situation?
3. Discuss how effective your group feels these responses have been. What groups have benefited most by these attempted solutions? Who has not been helped by these various responses?
4. Decide what you still need to know. Where will you find this information?
5. Compile and organize the information that you need to respond to the areas listed at the beginning of this assignment.
6. Design a handout that will relate your research to the rest of the class and divide speaking roles for a 15 minute presentation.

Grading: Criteria:

• Presentation shows good research, preparation, intelligent analysis.
• Handout is well-designed, offers readers useful information on the topic, is accurate and carefully proofread.
• Presentation and handout content closely follow assignment expectations and make every effort to locate and share local information about this issue.

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