ACWR 104 Academic Writing for the Social Sciences- Fall 2022

Lecturer: Dr. Mehmet Zeki Giritli / Tutor: Ege Atakan

Office: SOS 116
E-mail: mgiritli@ku.edu.tr
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:00-16:00

Please note that there might be some changes on the syllabus before the start of the
semester. You will be provided with the final version on the first week of classes.

Course Description
This is an interdisciplinary course designed to promote and encourage the types of advanced
critical reading and writing for students in the Social Sciences. While ACWR 101 introduced
students to conventions of academic writing, ACWR 104 presents more advanced reading,
writing, and analysis tasks to help students improve their writing and achieve an independent
approach to learning. Emphasis is placed upon critical analysis, close reading, finding,
evaluating and incorporating primary and secondary sources, appropriate and accurate
summary, paraphrasing, and the use of citation. Writing assignments are intended to help
students develop advanced analysis, argumentation, and research skills and to deepen an
understanding of the writing conventions relevant to scholarship in the Social Sciences. Over
the course of the semester, students will:

-write in accordance to the conventions of the social sciences.

-advance, develop, and support a sound academic argument in the context of the social
sciences.
-find, classify, and evaluate a variety of academic sources from the social sciences.
-gather data, organize ideas, draft, revise, and edit. 
-integrate their own ideas with the ideas of others through in-text citations and reference
pages in APA format.
-formulate research questions and design research papers.
-present and justify the need to study a research problem and present the practical ways in
which the proposed study should be conducted.
-inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited, and state how
these sources will be used in the paper. 
-provide a thorough overview of previous research on the topic. 
-practice a variety of revision and editing techniques for written content, structure and style
based on feedback.
-understand all facets of plagiarism and consciously avoid them through responsible note
taking and documentation.
-create and deliver oral presentations and share oral critiques with other class members

Course Theme
This interdisciplinary course will explore the notions of identity focusing specifically on
“gender and queer studies”. We will interrogate the myriad ways in which a subject’s identity
is developed and affected by a lifetime of events and happenings as well as by social
expectations and (unwritten) rules. We will mainly focus on the cultural implications of
sexuality and gender for identity formation, the representation of gender in cinema, media
etc., the relationship between gender and religion, gender and Turkish society. The readings
will come from a variety of sources. Our main book is “The Gendered Society Reader” and
half of the readings are from this book. The other half are articles and book chapters from
other sources. I will upload all of them on blackboard. Please take a print out of the articles
and bring them with you to the class.
You are expected to read around 20-30 pages of academic/artistic content weekly.
SOME TOPICS WHICH WILL BE COVERED:
 PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACHES TO GENDER IDENTITY
 GENDER AND SOCIETY (SPECIAL FOCUS ON TURKISH SOCIETY)
 GENDER AND ART/MEDIA
Course Requirements and Grading (Subject to Change before the start of the semester)

Proposal (Week 5) 15 %

In a 500-600 words proposal, students are asked to discuss what their paper will be about.
Students will introduce the topic, frame a research question, and explain why it is important
and how they plan to answer it. If the student fails to propose a proper topic, they will be
assigned a topic by the instructor; however, they will lose 20% of their overall grade. So,
before submitting the proposal, students are expected to meet the instructor and the tutor
several times to discuss the topic.

Annotated Bibliography (Week 9) 15 %

In a 500-600 words annotated bibliography, students are required to write a summary and
evaluation of minimum five secondary sources. Secondary sources are academic articles or
books written about the research topic of the student.

Research Paper 35 %

Students are required to write a 1800-2000 words research paper with both primary research
data and secondary sources. Primary data will consist of semi structured in-depth interviews
conducted by the students. Students are required to conduct interviews with minimum three
people relevant to their research topic. All interviews should be recorded and transcribed by
the student. Each interview should last minimum 15 minutes. Students are also expected to
use minimum five secondary sources on their paper.

Research Paper First Draft (Week 12)

Not Graded
(optional one-on-one conferences + a general feedback lesson)

Writing the first draft is obligatory. If the student does not submit a first draft, he/she will lose
10 points from the final paper grade.
Research Paper Final Draft (Week 15)

Presentations (Week 15) 10 %

Students will present their papers orally in a 5-10 minutes presentation during class time.

Participation 15 %

Only students who attend at least 70% of classes will be eligible for this grade. If you
fail to attend minimum 70% of classes, your participation grade will automatically be
“0”. However, this does not mean that attending the classes is enough for getting a high
participation grade. Please read the participation section below to learn more.
Attendance will be taken randomly.

Quizzes/Assignments 10 %

The instructor may give announced or unannounced quizzes during the semester. There
will be no make-up for the quizzes.

Plagiarism Policy

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own, without proper reference.
You are graded on your own individual work, not another's masquerading as your own. Any
student found plagiarizing on or colluding in writing assignments will be referred to the
university's disciplinary council. This may result in failing the assignment, failing the course,
and/or being suspended from the university. You commit plagiarism when:

1. You copy someone else's writing and do not put it in quotation marks and identify the
source;
2. You take someone else's writing, change some of the words, and do not identify the source;
3. You take someone else's ideas or sequence of ideas, put them into your own words, and do
not identify the source;
4. Someone else writes your assignments or changes your writing and thus creates a false
impression of your abilities.

You engage in collusion by receiving unauthorized help with your writing by paying or
otherwise inducing another person to do the writing for you.
Grade Disputes:
As a student, you have the right to petition for the reassessment of one or multiple course
assignments. If you believe that an assignment has been unfairly or inaccurately graded,
please follow these instructions:

1. Make an appointment with your instructor as soon as possible once the grade has been
posted in order to discuss your concerns.

2. During your meeting, ask the instructor to explain how the assignment was graded in
terms of Content, Organization, and Language/Mechanics or other grading criteria.
Clarify with your instructor whether your grade was penalized due to late submission,
 failure to comply with certain instructions, failure to meet the goals for the
assignment, or for any other reason. If you have difficulty understanding your
instructor’s explanation, ask for the explanation in written form. If you remain
unsatisfied with your instructor’s explanation of the grade, then proceed to step 3.

3. Fully complete the petition form in Part 2, and submit a printed copy to Merve
Dalyaprak in the CSSH Dean’s Office (SOS 222). Emailed copies of this form will
NOT be accepted.

4. If you have concerns about multiple assignments, include a separate petition form for
each assignment you request to be reassessed. You may NOT fill out a petition asking
for all course assignments to be reviewed.

5. Keep in mind that your assignment grade and your final grade in the course may go
up, down, or remain unchanged as a result of the reassessment process.

6. These petitions will only be accepted within seven days after the grade has been
posted to discuss the grade(s) in question.

Participation:

In order to qualify for earning your participation grade, you need to not only come to class,
but also engage in classroom activities and follow classroom policies. That means coming to
class having read the assigned text, bringing your book, notebook, and any related printouts to
class, participating in pair and group work, ignoring your Instagram feed or texts from friends,
and contributing to class discussions. To be eligible for a participation grade, you are
expected to attend at least 70% of the classroom sessions.

Policy on Late Work

No work submitted after the deadline for the next assignment has passed will be accepted. For
example, an outline of the research paper submitted on or after the deadline for the
submission of the first draft will not be accepted. No student work will be accepted unless all
previous stages of the assignment have been completed. For example, a student who has not
submitted a research paper proposal on or before the deadline for the outline may not submit
the outline. An instructor may accept work submitted late, but before the next deadline, in
order to validate the grading of the next stage, but the instructor is not obliged to award a
grade, read, or provide feedback on work that is submitted late. There is a five point penalty
for each day an assignment is late.

Grading Scale
A 100–90% B+ 86–83% C+ 76–73% D+ 66–63 F 59–0
A- 89–87% B 82–80% C 72–70% D 62–60
B- 79–77% C- 69–67%

Course Guidelines and Expectations

 Come to class prepared, with all your materials and tools, having read all assigned
materials.
 Behave respectfully toward your fellow students, and the instructor.
  Submit neat and professional work.
 Keep up with readings, work and all expectations.
 Be in charge of your own learning.
 Be awake and alert.
 Participation is active engagement with class work, discussions and all other aspects of
learning. Merely coming in the classroom and being present does not constitute
participation.

Student-Instructor Conferences
Students will be expected to attend occasional meetings (individually or in groups) with the
instructor. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss and review draft of papers and
assignments, or deal with issues relevant to the course matter.

Use of the English Language

Students are expected to use English and English only for conducting all class work and all
academic interaction with the instructor. Likewise, all instructor-student conferences and
tutorials will be conducted in English.

E-mail

Students are expected to use e-mail sensibly. Please do not send junk mail, images,
animations, executable files, or other attachment to your instructor’s account. All messages
must be written in clear grammatically correct English, in line with guidelines received in
your ALIS training. Please remember that some issues are not suitable for e-mail and better
handled in face-to-face meetings. Please send your e-mails in appropriate time. It is not
appropriate to send an e-mail at night or at the weekend. Also, if you send an e-mail about a
topic which has already been explained and discussed in the class, you will not receive a
reply.

When you are sending your e-mails, follow the rules of netiquette.
 Salute the lecturer at the start of your e-mails
 Introduce yourself and your section
 Use polite language
 Send your e-mails in English
 Send your e-mails at sensible hours. E-mails sent after 7 p.m. and at the weekend may
not be responded on time.

Semester Course Schedule (Subject to change. I am very flexible about reading texts. They
might change depending on the class dynamics and your departments. The reading texts here
are to give you an idea about the content of the course)

Weeks Writing Topics Readings/Movies Deadlines

WK 1  Introduction to the course No take-home readings for week
1.
 Syllabus and Expectations
Oct. 3-7
 Introduction to Social Sciences
Research Paper
WK 2  Topic Selection for Research 1- “The Second Sex”
Papers Introduction Chapter
Oct. 10-  Preliminary Literature Review
14 Simone de Beauvoir

2- “Sexual Orientation
Discrimination: Exploring
the Experiences of Lesbian,
Gay, and Bisexual
Employees in Turkey”
(Research Paper)

Mustafa Bilgehan Öztürk

WK 3  Topic Selection for Research 1- “Night to His Day: Social

Papers (continued) Constructions of Gender”
Oct. 17-  Preliminary Literature Review
21 (continued) Judith Lorber
 Research Methods in Social
2- “The Career Stories of
Sciences/ Survey of Qualitative LGB-Q in Turkey”
and Quantitative Methods (Research Paper)

Özlem Ulaş-Kılıç, Öznur Bayar &

Muharrem Koç

3- Documentary: “My
Child”- Can Candan

WK 4  Research Methods in Social 1- “Performing Gender

Sciences/ Survey of Qualitative
Oct. 24- and Quantitative Methods
28  Primary vs. Secondary Sources
 Writing a Research Proposal
Identity”
Deborah Cameron
2- “Denied Citizens of Turkey:
Experiences of
Discrimination Among
LGBT Individuals in
Employment, Housing and
Health Care” (Research
Paper)

Volkan Yılmaz & İpek Göçmen

WK 5  Primary Sources vs. Secondary “Doing Gender”

Sources RESEARCH
Oct. 31-  Evaluating Sources West & Zimmerman PROPOSAL
Nov. 4  Introduction to Conducting
Interviews DUE MONDAY
23:59
No class / Grading Week
WK 6 Movie: “The Danish Girl” – Tom
 Hooper
Nov. 7-11

WK 7

Nov. 14-
18

WINTER
BREAK

WK 8  Writing an Annotated 1- “Policing Masculinities:

Bibliography Investigating the Role of
Nov. 21-  Finding and Evaluating Sources Homophobia and
25 Heteronormativity in the QUIZ I
 Analyzing Interviews – Thematic Lives of Adolescent School
Analysis- Creating Codes Boys”
DAY TBA
Wayne Martino

2- Film: “My Own Private

Idaho”

Dir. Gus Van Sant

WK 9  Parts of a Social Sciences 1- “Dude, You’re a Fag”:

Research Paper Adolescent Masculinity
Nov. 28-  Integrating primary and and the Fag Discourse” ANNOTATED
Dec. 2 secondary sources BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Analyzing Interviews – Thematic C.J. Pascoe
Analysis- Creating Codes
2- “Tracing the Reverse DUE MONDAY
History of Homosexuality 23:59
from the Ottoman Empire to
Contemporary Turkey”

Ceylan Engin & Zeynep Özbarlas

WK 10  Parts of a Social Sciences “Racializing the Glass Escalator:

Research Paper (continued)
Dec. 5-9  Integrating Primary and
Secondary Sources
 Language for Research Papers
Reconsidering Men’s Experiences
with Women’s Work”
Adia Harvey Wingfield

WK 11  Parts of a Social Sciences “Performing Gender on

Research Paper Detailed Analysis YouTube: How Jenna Marbles
Dec. 12-  Integrating Primary and Negotiates a Hostile Online
16 Secondary Sources Environment”
  Language for Research Papers
Lindsey Wotanis & Laurie
McMillan

WK 12  Preparing presentations for “Gender and Advertising”

Research Papers RESEARCH
Dec. 19- Patricia Arend PAPER DRAFT
23  Editing&Proofreading&Academi
c Style in Research Papers DUE MONDAY
23:59
WK 13 Oral Feedback Movie: “The Color Purple”-
Steven Spielberg
Dec. 26- Classes Cancelled
30

WK 14 Paper presentations “The Pornography of Everyday

Life” QUIZ II
Jan. 2-6
Jane Caputi DAY TBA

WK 15 Paper Presentations Movie: “Laurence Anyways”-

Xavier Dolan RESEARCH
Jan. 9-13 PAPER FINAL

DUE LAST DAY

OF CLASSES