Instructions for Asia Beyond Climate Change Research Essay
Instructions for Asia Beyond Climate Change Research Essay
Due: 8 June 2023 (11:59 pm)
Word Length: 2,500 words (excluding bibliography)
Research Question: Globalisation and the Question of Food
Conduct academic research using course materials, library & (Asian Studies) database searches. Your research should include substantive, relevant academic and non-academic (news articles, websites, etc.) materials.
Reveal the links to the issues presented in the course (lectures, Course Reader) and derive from your further research using books and academic journals. Your topic and analysis must demonstrate relevance to the course.
The introduction must introduce the topic, provide relevant background/context to the topic, and be supported with references as necessary, explicitly signpost to the reader what the structure of the essay is, and also point towards or directly state your central argument/point.
The essay's main body should be structured a paragraph or section per point/subtopic. Each paragraph should be well-balanced, opening with a topic sentence that introduces or states the subject of the paragraph before getting into the main content (data, evidence, a key example, case study, issue, sociological theory, your reflections, etc.). The structure should be in a sensible order that helps you progress your argument and helps the reader follow you through it most efficiently. You can use section titles if you want.
The conclusion needs to reiterate key points and your argument (without introducing new substantial data or topics), though you can point to implications/next step considerations, etc.
You must present an argument. Presenting a list of facts is not enough make sure you apply a relevant theory/framework/concept/perspective to analyse your chosen issue (in critical depth) and build a clear argument based on that evidence to answer your research question.
RESEARCH REQUIREMENT:
1. Use: at least 3 references from the Course Reader. References from Required Reading must be marked with ** (two asterisks) and references from Further Reading with * (one asterisk) in Bibliography.
2. Use at least 3 academic journal articles, book chapters, and/or books (in total) other than the above (the Course Reader) as sources of theory and explanations in particular.
3. Use at least 3 PowerPoint slides from the lecture as reference. Intext reference should be (Lecture Week X: slide number).
4. Use newspaper articles and relevant and credible web pages with due bibliographical details.
5. A full Bibliography separated from the main text using page break.
6. The number of items in the Bibliography is around 12 to 20.
7. Use the Harvard referencing system.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS
State your Research Question or Title
Use a standard size 12 font (Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri)
The text should be Single-spaced.
Justified both left and right margins. Have a 2.5 cm margin on both sides.
Pages should be numbered.
Separate paragraphs with a blank line (i.e. no indentation at the beginning of a paragraph) o Author-date (Harvard) referencing system to be used instead of footnote style.
Bibliography - separate pages using Insert Page Break
Do not use headers and footers.
Include the word count at the end of the essay.
Italicise non-English words, E.g. otaku, xiaofenhong, etc.
ELEMENTS OF ASSESSMENT (Summative checklist)
A developed introduction (Sets context who, what, when, where, why interesting/important etc., introduces the research question/topic, argument and signposts outline/structure of the paper.
Quality of argument (well structured, explicitly stated, and logically presented).
Critical & analytical thinking (avoid being just descriptive).
Substantiation (points being well supported by evidence and references).
Quality of research (substantive references used, including 3 from Course Reader, 3 non-Reader academic sources, 3 from lecture PowerPoint slides, and extra newspaper/website articles, etc. NB: Be mindful with the quality of website-based materials).
Writing style (English expression, grammar and paragraph writing, etc. NB: International students are advised to get help before submission).
Proper referencing throughout (Harvard author-date system of in-text referencing).
A formal bibliography (on a separate page).
References from the Course Reader are marked with * or ** in a bibliography.
The general quality of presentation and compliance with formatting requirements (see above).
Also, be advised that Turnitin has introduced an AI detection feature in addition to its existing plagiarism detection feature, and your markers will be assessing this when grading your work. This is automatically applied to all assessments submitted at the University.
References:
FAO (2015).Climate change and food security: risks and responses. [online] Available at: https://www.fao.org/3/i5188e/I5188E.pdf
Li, R., & Zhang, W. (2016). Climate change and food security in China: Quantitative analysis of impacts and adaptations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 4176-4184.
Lu, Yonglong et al 2015 Impacts of soil and water pollution on food safety and health risks in China, Environment International, 77, 5-15.
Tiejun, Wen 2008, Four stories in one: environmental protection and rural reconstruction in China, Positions, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 491-505.
Whiting, K. (2022).Food security: How China plans to feed its 1.4 billion people. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/china-seawater-rice-food-security/.
