1. Identify your chosen focus for the Paradigm Shift project. Indicate the boundaries of your intended focus as clearly as possible. What is the story that you seek to tell? As you now envision it, how long of a time period is covered by the expected focus – several centuries, just the last decade? Remember that the story should end in the present day.

My chosen focus for the Paradigm Shift project is the shift in view of the LGBT+ community in America. I want to tell the story of how we went from seeing homosexuality as a mental illness to legalizing gay marriage and seeing representation in all forms of media. I think the boundaries for this topic will have to stay within the realm of de-pathologizing homosexuality, representation in the media, and the legalization of gay marriage and how all of these things were seen and affected by Americans. The time period for this spans many decades and maybe even closer to a century.

2. Why is this specific shift significant enough to merit your close investigation and the attention of your audiences? Why does this shift need to be explored and understood?

The LGBT+ community has been through a lot to get to where they are now in regards to their rights and how they are treated, and as a country we still aren’t fully where we need to be. I think by showing how far we’ve come, it can also show how far we still have left to go.