Topics to research on and keep abreast with our fast changing world

Topics to research on and keep abreast with our fast changing world

Dr Abe V Rotor

We are in the age of knowledge explosion. Every time we wake up there's always something new that touches our lives more directly and profoundly than in any period of human history.

On the other hand we are also facing a dilemma I call infollution, a contracted term for information pollution. Knowledge used to be what we seek and acquire through necessity and obligation, much of it through choice which was limited then. And we knew the measure and pace of learning. We had a better situation in what we should know or choose to know with the guidance of the family, community and the institutions.

Well, that was when the world was divided by distance, walls of culture, politics, etc. When the writers of history were mainly from the West. In the 1000 years that plunged the world into the Dark Ages. When empires split into fiefs and kingdoms. When the West colonized the East. When capitalism and socialism clashed. So with religions. When the Berlin Wall stood for half a century.

Then boom! Science and technology made the world walk on two large feet, so to speak: communication and transportation. Everyone is now a neighbor in a small global village. And he wants to know what's happening at the other side of the fence.

Now that globalization has shrunk the world, wired it, crisscrossed it with routes - land, water and air, and above all, with information highway, how does one stand amidst an overflowing pool of knowledge?

Here we are with a sample list of topics to research on.

University of Santo Tomas, oldest university in Asia, older than Harvard

1. Are we prisoners of our Genes? (Sociobiology and Human Behavior)
2. Post-Modernism
3. Whose History?
4. Ecosabotage
5. Globalization and Sunset of Nationalism
6. Sex tourism and the Patriotism Prostitute
7. Depression and Suicide
8. The Rainforest: Best Tribes and Lost Knowledge
9. Urbanization and Industrialization
10. Changing Image of Women
11. “Rent-a-uterus” (Surrogate Mothers)
12. Cybercommunication (Wiring the Globe)
13. Opposition to Technology (e.g. Unabomber)
14. Human Genome Project (HGP)
15. Pornography
16. Misguiding the Future
17. Body Beautiful
18. Cultism
19. The Fine Art of Propaganda
20. Homogenization and Loss of Cultural Diversity
21. Social Change and the Natural Environment
22. Age of Robotics
23. Religion and the Spirit of Capitalism
24. Endangered Species and Ecosystems
25. Social and Pandemic Human Diseases
26. Terrorism

27. Neocolonialism
28. Three Worlds of Development
29. Why Social Stratification is Universal
30. Imperialism and Capitalism
31. Capitalism and Consumerism
32. The “McDonaldization” of Society
33. Is EU Applicable in Asia?

Symbol of our revolution whaich has started with the age of computers, the creation of a noosphere - which literally means one mind-one world, visualized as a mental sheath over the globe.  

34. Japanese vs American Corporate Culture
35. Origin and Migration of Man
36. Genetic Engineering and Human Cloning
37. Gene Therapy: Frontier of Today’s Medicine
38. Vatican and Conservatism
39. Born to Buy (Consumerism)
40. IMF-WB and Capitalism
41. China: Socialism to Capitalism
42. India and China Dominate World’s Population: Forecast Consequences
43. The Expanding Field of Bioethics
44. Whatever happened to Space Race?
45. Why is the Philippines dubbed Rip Van Winkle of Asia?
46. Why is the Philippines the second most corrupt country in Asia, and among the world’s top countries with highest crime rate.
47. We are in the Age of Design
48. Natural Farming: A Return to Tradition
49. From Global Warming to Ice Age
50. Mind Benders (Brain Drugs)
51. Was Darwin Wrong? (Evolution Today)
52. Aftermath of the Cold War
53. Unsolved Murders of Philippine Journalists
54. Parliamentary or Presidential Government for the Philippines?
55. Herbal medicine – a Thing of the Past
56. Longevity Trends - Effects on Society
57. The New China – from Socialism to Capitalism
58. Effects of TV and Computers on child development
59. The Sunset of Fine Arts
60. Sustainable Agriculture
61. Sunset of apartheid and racism
62. Will China overtake the US as the world's biggest economy?
63. Same sex marriage - winning or waning?
64. Don't forget your pill, darling
65. Human Genome Project II
66. Gene therapy, latest in medicine.
67. Global Warming - more consequences than we expected
68. Ecological Migration
69. Where have all the fish gone?
70. Vertical farming. Farming in multistory buildings in the city.

Guidelines to students who are going to submit their research as school requirement
1. Research paper must be printed (12 pts New Times Roman), 10 to 12 pages, short bond, single space excluding illustrations and photos, in folder.
2. Final copy to be submitted before presentation of topic in class. No paper, no report.
3. References at least 5: journal, books, news magazine, popular publications, Internet, interviews, company papers and documents.
4. Parts of paper: Introduction and rationale, review of literature, research proper, case studies (including interviews), conclusion, media advocacy.
5. Presentation - 10 min, open forum –5; use audio-visual aids (conventional and electronic); other presentation methods.~