Green Sheet Examples
Example Projects by Breadth Area
Astronomy 140 — “The Exoplanet Revolution”: Through an evaluation of various sources, including Kepler’s Somium, Margaret Canvendish’s The Blazing World, and various episodes of Star Trek, a student explored how different time periods have viewed aliens and made connections between pop culture and the study of exoplanet revolutions in the course. The student and instructor met biweekly to discuss the extra materials the student had prepared. At the end of the semester, the student held an informal virtual lecture on their findings, and the professor invited all students from the course to attend.
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences 140 — “Natural Hazards and Disasters”: With this particular topic, the student and instructor mutually agreed upon five films representing varying aspects of natural disasters. The student was then tasked with watching each of the five films throughout the semester, then completing a detailed analysis of the portrayals in relation to what had been discussed in the class, resulting in 1–2-page responses for each of the films.
Microbiology 303 — “Biology of Microorganisms”: Covid-19 became a primary focus of Microbiology 303. A student then found the lack of information and the spread of misinformation as concerning. As a result, the student proposed that they would conduct extensive research into primary sources and develop a PowerPoint presentation aimed at dispelling many widely espoused incorrect beliefs surrounding the virus.
Communication Sciences and Disorders 503 — “Neural Mechanisms of Speech, Hearing, and Language”: In order to further their understanding of course topics, a student agreed to attend three separate seminars put on by three separate UW institutions. Once each seminar had concluded, the student then developed a minimum of a 3-page response (for each seminar) and held a one-on-one discussion with the course instructor about what was learned.
Zoology 603 — “Endocrinology”: This student identified oxytocin as an area of interest, particularly the misconceptions and uncommon effects. They then devised a project to provide insight into how oxytocin acts in humans along with its mechanisms of action. To do so, the student conducted extensive research, developed a 10-page research paper, accompanied by a 1–2-page infographic, highlighting key findings.
Gender & Women’s Studies 102 — “Gender, Women, and Society in Global Perspective”: The student conducted research related to current programs aimed at preventing sexual assault. In doing so, the student analyzed 40 studies on current college violence prevention programs. Using that research, coupled with an emphasis on perspective-taking, the student then created a brochure aimed at helping male students recognize biases experienced by women and planned to distribute it to their class.
Sociology 134 — “Sociology Of Race & Ethnicity In The United States”: The student dove into the topic of racial housing inequalities with a specific focus on redlining practices in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The student produced a painting that reflected research on redlining, and the artistic elements of the painting were chosen after examining pieces of artwork from the Chazen Art Museum. The painting was accompanied by a written summary and interpretation of the painting that referenced primary and secondary sources on redlining.
Public Affairs 200 — “Contemporary Public Policy Issues”: A key focus of this course was to analyze a specific societal issue through a policy lens. In this case, the student elected to analyze insulin affordability. In doing so, the student synthesized research to create a published podcast in the form of an investigative radio story.
Economics 468 — “Industrial Organization and Imperfect Competition”: A student more deeply explored current events surrounding antitrust litigation by creating a case study on a recent case related to the regulation of firms with market power. In doing so, the student conducted research resulting in a lengthy research paper, combined with a 10-minute presentation to their discussion group, highlighting the practice of price-fixing, while also summarizing their primary findings.
History 515 — “Holocaust: History, Memory, and Education”: The student focused on the relationship between their interest in neuroscience and the course’s study of the Holocaust. The resulting research paper investigated the epigenetic transmission of Holocaust trauma and what that meant for descendants of Holocaust survivors.
Geography 566 — “History of Geographic Thought”: This Geography course focused on analyzing geographic thought, examining theories in which geography is situated. As a means to better understand the topics addressed, this student committed to attending a lecture series put on by the UW Geography Department. In addition, the student chose to actively participate in each Q&A session with at least one question, share findings from each lecture with their discussion group, and complete a five-page reflection and summary of how each of the four lectures applied to the course.
English 153 –“Literature and the Environment”: The project consisted of a (minimum) 10-page analysis paper reflecting on Chakrabarty’s thesis and illustrations in “The Planet: An Emergent Humanist Category.” Sources for the analysis included Chakrabarty’s arguments as well as further reading into the sources Chakrabarty used to make said arguments.
English 156 –“Literature in Medicine”: The student explored mental health through the analysis of the novel Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett. In conjunction with reading the novel, the student created a written product that involved asking and answering critical questions that demonstrated personal engagement with the text, resulting in 5-6 pages of analysis.
English 176 –“Literature and Film”: Inspired by the work of the student’s favorite film director, this project was an eleven-minute video essay exploring “the passage of time” across the three films known as Wong Kar–wai’s trilogy: Days of Being Wild, In the Mood for Love, and 2046. The video essay applied literary and cinematic analysis from the English literature course, as well as video production skills the student was learning the same semester in Communication Arts 355.
German 278 –“Migrants and Refugees in Berlin”: The focus of this German course was on migrant literature of Berlin, focusing more specifically on novels written by authors with immigrant backgrounds. The student chose to create a project of “literary cartography.” In doing so, the student mapped out locations in Berlin that were mentioned in the novels read in class, then followed with an analysis of what the map illustrated.
Spanish 420 –“Advanced Spanish Phonetics”: In Español 420, Advanced Phonetics, students conduct different experiments to analyze various aspects of a person’s speech such as vocal space and the voice onset time (VOT) of different consonants. The student then used the scientific process, formulated in-class experiments to devise their own tasks and investigate those tasks on five Spanish and English speakers.
Religious Studies 430 –“Indian Traditions in the Modern Age”: A student read two novels, Samskara (1966) and Bharathipura (1973), then developed a thesis through which those novels could be comparatively studied. As a culminating project, the student developed a research paper of at least ten pages in length, coupled with an organized PowerPoint, which was then used in a 10-minute presentation at the UW–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium.
Example Proposals
Zoology 603 explores the functions of the various hormones of the body and how they play a vital role in many psychological and physiological processes of the human body. Upon studying oxytocin in this class, I learned about its various roles as a hormone and neurotransmitter. I understand all too well the critical role of hormones and why research and time must be dedicated to better understand them. This specific project will provide me with a more comprehensive overview of the roles and mechanisms of oxytocin. The question that I will be investigating is as follows: What are some of the uncommon effects of oxytocin, and why are these factors important to our current understanding of oxytocin (in addition to a review about what we already know)? I will be addressing what people know and think about oxytocin, along with some misconceptions and more uncommon effects.
My research methods and sources include looking at primary sources of scientific literature that detail studies about oxytocin and what we know about it. Additionally, I will be evaluating articles that discuss lesser-known effects of oxytocin. Normally, these research studies evaluate effects on animals such as rodents and mice, but the results can provide insight into how oxytocin acts in humans, along with its mechanisms of action. [The student could list the specific minimum number of sources required by the instructor.]
The final project will be an infographic that will be created using a website called Canva. The infographic will present my findings on uncommon effects/mechanisms of oxytocin, what the scientific community already knows, and ideas for future studies. The infographic will be about 1-2 pages long with multiple subsections. To ensure that the project meets the green sheet proposal length requirement, an additional component will be added. This will include a research paper regarding all of my findings of oxytocin (what science knows, uncommon effects/signaling mechanisms of oxytocin, areas where further research is needed, description of studies I will be looking at to gather information, etc). A section of the research paper will also present a brief rhetorical analysis of what information was chosen to be included in the infographic and why the intended audience of the infographic and visual or infographic layout choices. In total, this paper will be about 10 pages in length.
I will be meeting with [my instructor] as needed during normal office hours, sessions held every Wednesday and Friday. While I ask questions about the materials during these times, I will be able to ask questions about the infographic. However, I will be meeting with [my instructor] at two‐three specific times (November 6th, November 20th, and December 4th) to discuss only the project specifically.
The project aims to explore alternative narratives while preventing campus sexual assault and distribute the information to peers. By applying perspective-taking as a technique, I hope male college students can better understand the situation their female peers are facing on a daily basis, and thus reduce the likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior. It is proposed in the current project that perspective-taking might facilitate the conversation, understanding, and empathetic feelings among different gender groups in the context of sexual assault. Specifically, the project will demonstrate how perspective-taking could help young men to recognize the bias and difficulties young women are experiencing daily, and thus to reduce the tendency of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior towards women.
I will do a close analysis of 40 studies on current college violence prevention programs. By doing so, I will identify what the weakness of the current programs is and explore how perspective-taking could be helpful. As a final product, I will create a brochure [a specific length could be included], developing from my research on the current college sexual assault programs and perspective-taking. My instructor and I will work towards distributing it to peers in class.
My instructor and I will meet on a bi-weekly basis starting in November. During the meeting we will discuss current progress, the difficulties I have encountered while completing the project, and plan for the next meeting. After distributing the brochure, my instructor and I can create a survey to determine the efficacy of the brochure.
This is a translational work, in which I am able to convert a theoretical framework to real-life application. Hopefully, it will have a meaningful impact on my community. While completing this project, I will definitely get to work closely with my instructor and have a richer experience of the course objective.
In Geography 566, we examine the history of geographic thought in relation to both the human and physical sides of the field by looking critically at the theories and ideas in which geography is situated. In doing so, we analyze readings and concepts to see what assumptions the author makes, who is excluded from the narratives we create, and what the implications of research are, among other questions. With this project, I intend to apply this critical approach to geography in real-time by attending department programming events and applying this line of thinking by actively participating in any discussions.
I plan to attend at least four events related to course subjects, primarily focusing on the Geography Department’s Yi-Fu Tuan Lecture series that brings together experts in the field to talk on subjects that broach both physical and human geography topics. At these lectures, I plan to actively utilize the ideas and questions we’ve discussed in class to the lecture’s concepts, and I will then participate in discussions or Q&As after the lecture to apply our course’s style of questioning/thinking directly. Provided the speaker has time, I plan to ask at least one question per event, and I would keep a record of the questions I ask (or additional questions) in a document that I would then discuss with the Professor outside of class. As a final product, I will submit a compilation of my lecture reflections and concluding findings in the form of a 5-page document, which is the length of current reading reflection papers from the regular coursework. This document would include any preliminary research I did to better understand the speaker’s background.
I will meet with the professor at least twice to discuss my reflections and strategize meaningful lines of questioning. Before these meetings, I will complete my individual reflection notes and any questions I’ve asked, and I will take notes during these meetings to apply our conversations to the next events.
This project is particularly meaningful to me because it allows me to apply my learning to real-time field topics over a wide range of topics within the Geography Department. Since this is my last year at UW–Madison, I am particularly interested in seeing how course concepts apply outside of the classroom. The Yi-Fu Tuan lecture events are interesting to me because it covers such a wide range of topics while most of my studies have stayed in the human geography part of the department.
This German culture class is focused on migrant literature of Berlin and revolves around a discussion of specific novels written by authors with immigrant backgrounds. The proposed project is one of “literary cartography.” I will map out locations in Berlin mentioned in the novels read in class and analyze what this map illustrates (i.e., how it illustrates or refutes common themes across the novel).
I am investigating the question of what literary locations can reveal about a novel’s themes, as well as how they reflect other aspects of the novel. I am particularly interested in how literary locations are used in literature with themes of migration because changing location is such an important aspect of these texts. I will pick a select number of assigned novels for my analysis (no fewer than two). As a final product, I will submit my map of literary locations and an analysis of this map that is at least 500 words in length. I will analyze the locations of individual novels, as well as complete a collective analysis of the whole map.
I will be meeting with my instructor every other week on Thursdays at 1:00 pm. Our first official meeting is planned for Thursday, October 29th, and we will meet every other week after that until the project deadline. We do not have specific benchmarks, but there is an expectation of steady progress between every meeting.
I am submitting a Green Sheet Proposal for this course because the material has been incredibly interesting and thought-provoking for me, and I wanted an opportunity to do more with it. I also have a particular interest in what literary locations, and specifically gradually increasing narrative space, illustrate the novel as a whole, and would like the chance to explore that more with this project. I hope to hone my skills in literary analysis in a new way with this project; I have never used a visual component for literary analysis, and I think it will be an interesting avenue for exploration.