The paper can be on any technology and policy issue, but since the course concentrates on information technology policy it may be best to write on issues in this domain. You do not need to get your topic approved by the instructors but you are welcome to propose a topic in advance. The topic should have some reasonable "degree of difficulty" and not be overly played out in the popular media so there is room left for you to demonstrate some original analysis.
The paper should be between 2500 and 3500 words.
You are expected to research your topic from a cross-disciplinary perspective. If you are primarily a technology person, try to do some research on policy issues, and vice versa. You needn't have a large number of references (10 or so would be fine) but we do want to see that you've done some research.
The term paper is due on or before Nov. 26 (the day before Thanksgiving) by 5pm. (No extensions will be granted except for grave illnesses, a death in the family, or like exigencies.) It is acceptable to submit your paper early.
Please submit your term paper in electronic format at https://cardea.sims.berkeley.edu/upload/techpolicy
If you are a SIMS student, you'll use your regular SIMS login and password. Everyone else should login using their last name (lowercase) as the login and their student id as the password.
You can submit your paper in any format that we have some likelihood of being able to print and read. This includes MS word, PDF, HTML, and XML (with a stylesheet).
When you submit your paper it will be time-stamped.
The paper is worth 75% of your overall course grade (leaving 15% for your service as a lead discussant, and 10% for general class participation). The paper will be assessed based on the originality and insightfulness of the technology policy issue you've chosen, the coherence of your paper, and the quality of exposition. You may direct the paper to an audience of your choice: technology developers, policy makers, or the general public.
(version 1.1 last modified 24 November 2003)