ESOL 22R Fall 2016

Below I have copied the project instructions which I have also handed out in class.  If you were absent on the day this project was assigned, you are still required to contact your group members and participate. Every group member is expected to do an equal and fair share of work for the project. Each member’s contribution will be outlined at the end of the project, and your grade will suffer if you do not participate within your group.

Groups (this may be jumbled if you look at it on mobile):

    3           |        6            |       2         |         1              |    7           |       5            |     4
Bihao       | Mengchen  | Jingxun   | Chenzhong   | Kexin     | Tianzhen   | Jiahua
Murjan    | ZhiJie          | Arman     | Hui Lin         | Tan         | Maged       | Mustafa
Cesar       | Tanvir          | Uri           | Sai                  | Dilmar   | Jenny         | Z
______ | Moses                              | Drake

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Utopia Project: Due October 18th

With your groupmates, you will create a country with what you view to be the best government possible. You are aiming to create a utopia where all of your citizens will be happy.

You will also act as the travel advocate for your country, trying to convince your classmates to move there when you present on the 18^th. Here is what you will need to do:

1. Decide where in the world your utopia is. Are you in the north, the south, along the equator, on an island, in a rain forest, where? The leaders of the world have agreed to give you any land you want to form your new country.
2. Decide what your utopia looks like and how big it is. Is it tiny and a perfect rectangle? Is it huge with beautiful fjords to rival Norway’s?
3. Decide the minimum and maximum population for your utopia and immigration rules. Do you want a large country with a huge and diverse workforce? Do you want relatively few people, letting in only the elites?
4. Decide on a type of government. Is your utopia a dictatorship, a democracy, a communist or socialist country, or something else?
5. Break down your government and explain the pieces. We know that the American government has checks and balances (the executive, judicial, and legislative branches all keep each other from gaining too much power). How does your government work? What is done to ensure one person or committee doesn’t gain too much power, or, alternatively, what is done to ensure the person or committee in charge retains as much power as possible?
6. Explain how laws and policies are made and who enforces them. Do people vote on laws or does the government dictate what is and isn’t legal? Are there police and courts to enforce these laws or does your country use a different system? How involved are citizens in this process?
7. Come up with 5-10 rules for your country’s constitution. In America, the constitution is the supreme law of the land. All other laws and policies must agree with this document. Ours explains things like how to maintain our military and what are the state’s rights, and it gives citizens the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, etc. What does your country’s constitution look like? You may want to look at the United States Bill of Rights for ideas.
8. Come up with a mission statement and a name for your utopia. A mission statement should summarize the aims and values of your country. What does your country stand for or what are its goals? Also, a country needs a name!

You will present this project to the class on October 18^th. Your presentation will be 7-12 minutes long and each group member must speak. At that time, you need to have a typed page answering all these questions with all the group members’ names and their contributions to turn into me.

You are campaigning to have new citizens join your utopia. Your presentation will include some sort of visual aid for the class. You can make a poster, show a Power Point presentation, or have handouts to distribute. Your visual aid should show where your country is in the world and what it looks like, as well as outlining the great things that make your country and its government the best. Try and convince your classmates to visit and settle in your utopia! At the end of the presentations, the class will vote on which country they’d like to move to, and the winning group will receive bonus points on their midterm.