Why do an op-ed?

The purpose of this assignment is to give you the experience of writing about a popular issue in society. In many societies, civic-minded citizens have had outlets to make their voices heard. Although social media outlets are a new/effective digital service that allows us to post our opinions, these media are not properly vetted and our duty as citizens is to ensure that our communication is not only palatable to a wide audience but that it is also accurate. Op-eds are short for “opposite the editorial page.” They are opinion articles written and published in newspapers or magazines by authors not affiliated with the publication’s editorial board. Thus, the reason to do an op-ed is to call attention to a key issue in your community. Because these articles are reviewed by the editorial teams, you can include your publication on your resume when applying for jobs. Your voice and perspective are important, and Op-eds are a great place to add to the greater good.

Requirements:

• Take a position on a social, political, educational, or cultural issue that relates to social psychology! For most of its history social psychology has been informed by current social issues, and so the links that you make to the class will likely be large in number. Op-eds are not literature reviews; they are opinion pieces. Please peruse the opinion page in this popular San Diego newspaper Union Tribune Opinion and this one for the New York Times NY Times Opinion for examples of how to write an opinion piece. Also, here is a nice link for some dos and don’ts for op-ed writing Tips for Aspiring Op-ed’ers
• Cite at least one study on the topic of social psychology, using a description + a link. For example, “As Daniel Berry and Athena Cairo showed in a recent study people who practice only 10 minutes of meditation show greater kindness to others.” You should also describe what the study found. The description of the study should be brief (you don’t have much space!) and used to support your point. The study does not have to be one that we talked about in class. Remember experiments are stronger than correlational studies.
• Approximately 800 – 1000 words; you can go longer if you show me that you are aiming for a publication that allows or encourages a longer op-ed. If you add this word count next to your application journals and the written portion of your exams, you will easily reach the 2500 words necessary to meet our university writing requirement.
• Follow the general guidelines below. The format does not have to rigidly follow the structure covered in class.

Do’s

• Think about a topic that interests you. I can’t tell you what to write about. That is on you! You can form a thesis statement based on (1) a topic this class has covered, or (2) an interest of yours on which this class has shed light (e.g., groupthink, bystander effect, ostracism, thought suppression; self-control).
• The topic that interest you can come from anywhere. Sports, education, politics, traffic and other infrastructure issues, workplace performance, and other various social topics.
• Hook your piece to something that has happened recently (more details below on this). The best hook is not necessarily a personal experience like “I was harassed on the street”, but rather something that your reader can relate to personally like “on Black Friday, US residents will hit the streets in large numbers in search of sales. How will they treat one another there.” Or more traditionally, your hook will be news on the global, national, or local level, or from within academia. So you could say “Last week in a small town in North Dakota…”, or you could say “CSUSM students yesterday received a public safety email that said…”, etc. etc.
  • Write in a way that is interesting to the reader. Remember they won’t have the same level of experience and breadth of knowledge that you will possess in terms of social psychology. Describe your position in a way that your PSYC 100 self would be interested.
  • Leading with statistics on deaths and money are great at grabbing attention. Telling a story about a person is good too. For example, if you work in soup kitchen you could tell an anonymous story about one of the struggles of a person who benefits from this service. Telling a story about something that has happened history can be really helpful if you think that point foreshadows something that is occurring or is about to occur. This is the time to let your creativity shine!
• Ground your opinion in social psychology. Make sure you defend your point with science. Again, this is where writing to your PSYC 100 self will be important. You don’t need to describe and cite studies from the syllabus or lecture. It could be a study that you find on a PsycARTICLES search.
• If you have questions about the op-ed thesis you are considering, or the article or articles that you want to mention in your op-ed, email me! Include in your email a one or two-sentence thesis, and one or two articles you will use to support. We can give you feedback on your idea based on these two things.
• Attending class will get us talking about social issues. We will have a scheduled discussion topic on most days of the class.
• Your application journals will be a nice starting point for your op-ed. Please note that these assignments are still quite different.

Extra credit: Forward me an email showing that you sent your op-ed to an online or print publication, seeking to have it published! Actual publication is cause for celebration! You will get an extra 10 points for submitting it and an additional 10 if it is published. I know that this is an extremely short turn-around, but that is why it is extra credit. You have to do a little extra to get the credit.

Here are a few places you can submit your op-ed. Please pay careful attention to the word count. Where can I submit my op-ed?

How will I evaluate you?