Assignment: Your research project
The third week is a tiny bit lighter in
both reading and online requirements than the previous two weeks, so
it may be a good opportunity for you to look around for a research topic
that will be interesting to you. Since there won't be any duplication
of research topics, when you find one that you like, you'll want to
get dibs on it right away. The way you do that is to a.) send me an email with your proposed
topic. (Please send this to my regular email address, not the one inside our Angel classroom.) Once you get an OK on that, then b.) you send me an email with four things
listed on it:
- your name
- your topic's title
- some of the books and other resources you
plan to use for your research (with authors, title and publisher for each book)
- the date on which you will post it to the
class
From that point on you've
got dibs on that topic.
I'll then ask you to post a version of that
same note to the classroom also, so everyone can see what everyone else
is planning to do their research on. People may be interested in each
other's topics, and may even be able to help point each other to resources
that they happen across in their own research.
So here's the process:
Hunt and discover a topic or thinker that
sounds like it could be interesting to you, research that topic or thinker,
then post a short written report to the whole class (in the class forum)
on what you have learned about that topic. The report can be as short
as you like, even one page if you can cover your material in that short
space, but the maximum length of your presentation should be no longer than approximately
five pages. Measured another way, no longer than 1500-2000 words.
Here are some possible topic
areas:
You may choose to research
- a philosophical idea or theme (e.g., the
idea of free will, arguments for the existence of God, life after death,
or any of a thousand other themes and questions)
- a school of thought (epicureanism, stoicism,
existentialism, natural law, phenomenology, etc)
- a spiritual tradition (Hinduism, Buddhism,
Islam, etc)
- a particular thinker (Aristotle, Augustine,
Confucius, Immanuel Kant, or any other thinker, ancient or modern, male
or female, eastern, western, northern or southern)
- classic text and commentaries that have
been done about it. (preferably not a text that we are already reading
in class)
- a comparison of two classic texts, or two
philosophical viewpoints, or two schools of thought, etc
The requirement is that your project be in
some way related to Philosophy. That's a very broad range of stuff, so
the main way for you to tell whether the topic you're thinking about is
related to Philosophy or not is to just ask me.
This project is not just to do a book report;
it is expected that you will use at least three or four sources in your
research.
You may wish to work together with another
person or two, perhaps creating a kind of online "panel," or
perhaps each of you presenting different viewpoints on the same general
theme, or whatever. Working with another person or two can be fun and
fruitful.
How to get ideas for your
project
You might get ideas about various topics by
going to the philosophy section of a bookstore or library and just browsing
through the books there, or by paging through some philosophy textbooks
(such as the ones used in some Introduction to Philosophy courses), or
by browsing around some of the websites I've linked to various parts of
the class website (there's some great stuff out there). You could also browse the online Stanford Encyclopdia of Philosophy for ideas, or review the table of content of an Introduction to Philosophy textbook you find on amazon or other online store. Doing these things
may reveal something that sparks an interest in you.
Let yourself get creative here, and find something
that sounds like it might actually capture your interest. Your idea needs
to be OK'd by me prior to your starting on it, though, so propose the
idea to me early so I can say yea or nay. You need to get it OK'd by
me (via private email) before the end of week four (week three
in the summer quarter, or earlier), and then it needs to be posted
to the online classroom before the end of week eight (week six
in the summer session). I've indicated this on the class schedule (see
the class schedule page on our website), but you may want to underline
those dates and circle them in red to remind yourself.
click
here to see the onerous consequences of
getting projects OKed after the deadline
Project self-evaluation
Then after your research project has been
presented to the class, you will then need to write a self-evaluation
of your project. Click here to download your research
project self-evaluation form. You should fill out this form within a day or two of completing your project. Then you'll turn it in on the last day of class along with your Final Self Evaluation for the course.
I hope your research becomes an interesting
and learningful (?) project
for you.