Your paper will explore the Prophet and Wizard perspectives in depth. Drawing from research literature from a variety of disciplines (science and technology, sociology, urban planning, psychology, international development, etc.), explain how prophets and wizards would: 1) describe the problem, 2) describe the problem’s causes or drivers; 3) identify potential solutions; and 4) your personal leaning towards one of the perspectives and reasons why (this might include criticism of the other perspective). Word limit: 1200-1500 words (not including references)
Here is a suggested outline for your paper. You are encouraged to use headings to organize your paper:
- Cover page (your name, BOO number, title of your paper, date, word count)
- Background to the issue (describe the topic that you have chosen, provide evidence such as statistics to explain why this is an important sustainability issue, explain the scope of your discussion – are you focusing locally, provincially, nationally or internationally, and provide a thesis statement)
- Wizard perspective on the causes of the sustainability problem and solutions (how would a wizard analyze the root causes of your issue, and what would they say should be done to address the issue?)
- Prophet perspective on the causes of the sustainability problem and solutions (how would a prophet analyze the root causes of your issue, and what would they say should be done to address the issue?)
- Discussion of merits and shortcomings of each perspective (what do you think is the optimum blending of approaches/perspectives, and why?)
- Conclusion (provide an overall reflection on what the prophet vs. wizard analysis tells us about solving sustainability issues)