Students will write a second Special Topic paper on a sexuality topic of their c

Students will write a second Special Topic paper on a sexuality topic of their choosing, so long as it is a topic with multiple views within the Christian tradition. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, same-sex marriage, gender roles in marriage, masturbation, cohabitation, pornography use, contraception, sex outside of marriage, bisexuality, celibacy, transgender, polyamory, etc. Papers should be organized in the same two sections included in Special Topic paper 1, follow the same word-count (2,500-3000 words + bibliography) and bibliography-formatting guidelines, and be submitted via Sakai.
For this paper, students will gather their own research of at least ten academic resources from both the theological and biopsychosocial disciplines (non-academic sources may be used for the “experience” portion of the paper, but these are in addition to ten other academic sources). Except when writing on church tradition, all biblical studies or theology resources should not be more than 50 years old. All social-science resources should not be more than 15 years old, and older resources should be utilized only if they are considered foundational to the thesis.
This is the second stage of this project–the paper (you already submitted your annotated bibliography).
This paper should meet all the requirements outlined for Special Topic 1 (engaging all four theological sources, integrating academic resources, engaging divergent views, clear thesis and evidence, word count, correct grammar and formatting) and should account for any feedback given on the annotated bibliography (e.g., if the instructors say a source is not academic, the student needs to replace it; if they say the bibliography does not engage multiple views, the student needs to add diverse perspectives, etc.)
students will thoroughly and academically articulate what the four sources for theology—the Bible, church tradition, reason, and experience—contribute to an understanding of their topic. This section of the paper, entitled “Sources for Theology,” should be organized around those four sub-headings, and may be up to 2000 words of their total word count. Students should actively engage divergent viewpoints within the four theological sources (e.g., if writing on gender roles in marriage, they should engage biblical texts that advocate for mutuality and biblical texts that advocate for hierarchy). In other words, do not over-simplify the data. These sections should be a synthesis of your research, not simply a summary of the resources in the bibliography.
In the second section, entitled “Thesis and Support,” students will argue for their own view on the topic with a clearly articulated thesis and supporting data. This section will engage data from section one, including justification for which theological sources most inform their view and why. Successful papers will also engage the strongest objections to their own view.