Choosing Your Topic and Initial Research

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Choosing Your Topic and Initial Research

Your first step for this session will be to choose your research topic. For this research project, you’ll be researching one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of the 20^th Century or alternatively, an individual on Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" list that still influences our world. There is some overlap in the two lists, and some of the choices on the "Person of the Year" list may not be appropriate, e.g., "You," but this second list is meant to expand your options. You can find the complete lists attached below as you select the one person you will study.

Look through the list and do some initial web searching on the names. See who sounds interesting. Double check whether that person has readily available primary and secondary sources since BOTH will be required for your final paper. You’ll want to choose carefully since you’ll live with your topic for the next five weeks.

Remember that some of the most famous people may not be the most interesting for this topic since your core question will be, “Why is this person influential in our world today?” The list contains the developer of penicillin, the inventor of the suburb, and even a world famous advertising executive.

Once you have your topic chosen, click to the next page to declare your choice! You may also want to pick a back-up topic or two in case your first choice is already taken.

Note: Once a person from the list has been chosen, they are no longer available. Only one student can have each topic so it's important to start early.