Course Schedule
Monday, January 22
Overview of the Honors Tutorial and the Senior Honors Thesis
What is it like to write an Honors Thesis in Jepson? Q&A with current Senior Honors student Patrick Hughes.
Correspondence Assignment: Always do the same assigned readings/work as the regular class
In addition…
Please email 3-5 questions you have about the thesis process for Patrick or Dr. Bezio (or other current thesis students) to Dr. Bezio by Monday at 9am Eastern time. (This assignment will serve as your “participation” for the first day of class.)
Monday, January 29
Mapping Topics and Ideas
Reading: Lipson, 9-34; Badke, 1-40; Craft, 33-64; Berg 41-46
Writing Assignment (due today on the course blog): Make a list of 5-10 questions you have about starting the research process (including choosing a topic, making a thesis, etc.). These can be simple, big questions, or nuanced, complex ones – it all depends on what you already know!
List five topics or questions you are passionate about or interested in researching—these might be the same as the idea you proposed when you applied for honors, they might not. You aren’t held to anything!
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response to Dr. Bezio.
Read (in Correspondence folder on Blackboard): Ciulla 20-35; Harvey 199-229
Monday, February 5 – Boatwright Library Seminar Room 1
Where do I find…? – How to do research in a library and with a librarian, with Ms. McCulley from Boatwright Library.
Reading: Badke, 116-186; Craft, 65-83
Writing: Make a list of things you think you will need to research—what are the topics or keywords you would use to conduct a search? What are some possible databases, sites, or other places you would go to find your research materials?
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Archer & Clinton 1-18; Bezio 48-63; Toulmin
Monday, February 12
Research Spotlight: Dr. Hoyt
Reading: Badke 214-241; Hoyt & Price 1-23
Writing: Based on what you learned from Ms. McCulley last class and the Badke for this week, begin to collect possible sources (you don’t have to read anything yet). Using Argument and the handout from class, make maps of the Big Topics you think you will need to discuss (these can be the same or different from some of the things we’ve done already), along with smaller topics, questions, etc. that fall under them. As you map them out (you should have at least 10 bubbles in your map), make lists of keywords or topics you will use to search. Use one of these sets of keywords to find at least five sources (you can find more!) that you think might be helpful (again, you do not have to read any of them yet) and make a bibliography using Zotero in the appropriate format.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above (the Toulmin chart is the handout from class). Email your reading response to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Hoyt & Murphy 387-399
Monday, February 19
Research Spotlight: Dr. Semán
Reading: Lipson 37-65; Craft 85-103; Chillier & Semán (http://americasquarterly.org/node/2432)
Writing: Finish doing your keyword searches to create a lengthier bibliography of about twenty sources (you aren’t reading them yet!) that you think might be useful to your topic or research question.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Plot & Seman 355-372; Hayter 534-567
Monday, February 26
Research Spotlight: Dr. Von Rueden
Reading: Von Rueden & Von Vugt 978-990; One article, chapter, or short source from your bibliography list.
Writing: Choose one article, chapter, or other short source (if you want to choose the whole book, begin with the introduction and chapter one) and take notes, using the methods and suggestions from your readings for today. On your blog, upload the notes file (either a document or photos of your notes, if you take them longhand or in the book) and talk briefly about how these methods are similar to or different from your “usual” way of doing research.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response to Dr. Bezio (you should include a brief discussion of your own research reading, as well—it does not have to be related to the assigned readings unless relevant).
Read: Von Rueden & Jaeggi 10824-10829
Monday, March 5
Research Spotlight: Dr. Harwell & Dr. Price
Reading: Lipson 66-86, 110-119; another article or chapter
Writing: Repeat the note-taking procedure with the new article/chapter and upload.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Eckel et al 1-13; Price 478-487
March 10-18 SPRING BREAK
Monday, March 19
Research Spotlight: Dr. Flanigan
Reading: Flanigan 1-24; another article or chapter
Writing: Narrow yourself to 1-3 major research questions. Bring those questions to class (can be on your laptop) so we can discuss the fields that might be relevant to answering those questions. Keep taking notes as you read, but you no longer need to upload the notes.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Flanigan 579-586
Monday, March 26
Research Spotlight: Dr. Goethals
Reading: Kugler & Goethals 149-164; keep reading articles/chapters
Writing: Contact the faculty in Jepson whose research best matches with your ideas and talk with them individually about your thoughts (in person or by email—and talk to as many people as is relevant based on your topics). Ask each of them to recommend at least one really important source for you to read in the field. Write up 1-3 paragraphs your conversation with a faculty member – what are your thoughts about pursuing each direction? What are your concerns? What do you feel you “still need to know” to move forward?
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Goethals & Allison 2-38
Monday, April 2
IRB with Dr. Forsyth
Reading: They/I 156-192; Yermack & Forsyth 169-178; keep reading articles/chapters
Writing: Think about what methods will best suit your topic. On the blog, write up 3+ paragraphs explaining what possible methods you might use: science, social science, humanities. Within each, explain what kinds of things you think would be appropriate (experiment? survey? archival research? creating a database? creating a timeline? creating a map of geography or relationships or influence?). What materials, software, or other objects will you need access to? If you are looking at the humanities, think about what kinds of things you will need to read (historical documents? novels? what kinds of theories might you need—such as communism or feminism?) and how you think you might best use that material (will you use visualization? close reading? causal arguments? artistic interpretation?).
Assignment: Take the basic online IRB Training here: http://irb.richmond.edu/training-requirements/students/index.html and bring any questions or comments about the process to class (and post them on the blog).
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: http://www.prisonexp.org/the-story/
Monday, April 9
Narrowing it Down
Reading: Berg 1-20; At least two short or one long more sources (including at least one recommended to you by a faculty member).
Writing: Pick a research area and a faculty mentor, and ask that mentor if they would be willing to work with you on your project (if not, move on to the next-most-qualified mentor). Remember that faculty don’t say “no” because they don’t like you – they’re busy people and sometimes just can’t make the time, even if they want to!
Make a list of additional sources in the area that you think are most important to read (at least five).
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Forsyth et al 447-459
Monday, April 16
Trimming the Excess
Reading: Lipson, 89-98, 123-142; keep reading articles/chapters as you can
Research: Find at least three articles that talk about your chosen method of research (even if they aren’t perfectly suited to your specific question). Read them, then try to adapt their methods to your own chosen topic and research question. (These can be some of the sources you have already read.)
Writing: Outline your research plan based on the above assignment (you only need one plan). Include other sources that you will (eventually) need to read, things you need to learn more about, and people you might need (or want) to talk to.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email your reading response (including your own reading) to Dr. Bezio.
Read: Hildalgo 1-22
Monday, April 23
Drafting
Work together on your proposals – ask each other questions, ask Dr. Bezio questions, talk about how you can best organize the materials you have with you into a coherent proposal.
Writing: Bring in a draft outline of your proposal. It should be at least an annotated outline, but could also be in a more finalized paragraph form. You should have a bibliography of things that you plan to use in your thesis research, and you should have a one-paragraph-per-source summary of the articles or books that you have already read. You should also send this outline to your advisor for his or her comments.
Correspondence Assignment: Do the above. Email a response to your own reading/research to Dr. Bezio.
Friday, May 5