Be creative, think carefully and critically, and demonstrate your knowledge of the key issues at hand.  Draw on earlier readings when applicable but focus especially on the readings assigned in the current section of the syllabus.  Support any assertions with logic and evidence from the readings, and with examples from the New York Times.  In presenting your position, briefly consider the opposing position to demonstrate the strength of your position.  Avoid generalities by citing specific authors, articles, and quotes.  Finally, include a bibliography of the articles you cite.

How and to what extent have global political and economic forces brought peoples of differing religious and ethnic identities into contact with each other?  What have been some of the local consequences of these contacts?  Finally, how do you expect current trends in immigration and religious and ethnic relations to affect the sociopolitical stability and economic condition of the United States in the near future?