Tar Heel Basketball or Football (this includes all current and former coaches and players)

Individual sport teams or players

Bands/musicians

Travel/vacation topics (e.g. "backpacking in Europe," but a more academic topic like Eco-Tourism might work…ask your T.A.)

Napster

The rise and fall of…(Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, etc…i.e. generic bios of already well known people)

Planning a wedding

Planning to buy a car or bicycle

Hobbies (fly fishing, frisbie golf, golf, turkey shoots, stamp collecting, making beer, toad racing)

The Real World, Survivor, Fear Factor (concerns over reality TV might be OK)

***General Topics Areas That We Love***

Technology and Communication (How technology changes commerce, community and reality). An examination of significant issues, critical skills, and scholarly research perspectives on the social, economic, ethical, legal, and rhetorical aspects of technology, media, society and culture.

An understanding of the process and effects of media technologies on political, social and economic structures and how media affect cultural norms and values.

Advertising (Specific ad campaigns, Ad Age or Adbusters magazines, Trademark or copyright law)

Public Relations (Non-profits, Managing crises, History of PR, PR educators, privacy and ethics issues)

Visual Communication (Web design, Web-standards, New media art, Interactive multimedia, Flash, Streaming video). Dramatic forces are remaking the principles and practices of visual communication and graphic design. Any topic relating to rich history of visual communication, typography and graphics design theories, proven techniques and elements of visual design, theoretical concepts, methodological strategies and models of multimedia storytelling, and current research trends and milestones in visual communication and Web design. Diverse visual elements in graphics design, multimedia storytelling, Web design, site planning and navigation, computer-mediated communication, human interface design, navigation and accessibility.

Mass Communication/Media Studies (Violence on TV/Net, Censorship, E-commerce, SMS messaging, Cybersex, Cyborgs, Media effects, Uses of media, Net radio, Mobile communication, FCC, Cyberlaw, Virtual communities/cultures [e.g. hackers, gamers, chatters, etc.], Media literacy, International communication, NWICO, United Nations, Libel, Poststructuralism, Postmodernism, Online identities, Virtual reality, Netiquitte, Cloning, Online drugstores, Social justice movement, Blogging), Electronic entertainment advances.

Key concepts and issues in media, technology, society and culture.

Any topic exploring the social, legal, political and other issues relating to access and use of the digital domain.

People and products, companies and concepts, issues and innovations that are shaping the future.

The global impact of new communication technologies. The role of interactive media in transforming business and society around the world from social, ethical, legal and economic perspectives. The global impact of new communication technologies such as the Internet, digital communication, wireless computing, media technologies, electronic mass media, computers, consumer electronics, satellite systems, telephony and personal communication devices.

Any examination of the psychological, political, social and cultural implications of various communication technologies and the future of communication.

Strategies for effective digital communication. New technologies have created a new world of communication, with new language, new meanings and new media. Successful communication means understanding your audience, knowing how the medium works and how to develop the appropriate communication content.

***Do You Have Other Topic Ideas?***

If you have other topic ideas, please feel free to discuss it with your instructor.

Examples of previous Treasure Hunt Research Topics

http://www.unc.edu/~efoster/research.htm

(Comments - topic not related to major, some style errors (italicize book titles), key words searches too basic, includes all required elements).

http://www.unc.edu/~jbailey/research.html

(Comments - Key words repetitive, style errors (first names of authors), not all required elements - no web sites for mini-essay)

http://www.unc.edu/~jjoye/research.htm

(Comments - Key word search too basic, all required elements)

http://www.unc.edu/~jrgibson/research.html

(Comments - Needs footnotes instead of web sites for mini-essay, better key word searches, has all required elements).

http://www.unc.edu/~waller/research.html

(Comments - Includes all required elements, some style error (italics for book titles), key words repetitive).