PY 260.216 CORE II: Writing and Research Methods
During the spring semester, most first year Peabody students will take a Core II: Writing and Research Methods course, PY 260.216. The objective of the course is ensuring competence in academic research and writing. Students will select a research topic, find source materials, and complete a formal academic research paper (15-20 pages) with appropriate references properly documented for a C+ or better grade.
In the Spring 2013 semester, four Core II sections will be offered.
Section 1: Core II: Writing and Research Methods: Moby-Dick. Instructor: Hollis Robbins
This course will involve a close reading of Herman Melville's Moby-Dick (1851) and will entail a research paper examining any aspect of the novel. Moby-Dick is celebrated today by readers and scholars but largely overlooked in its own time. During the semester we will explore the novel's reception as well as its three main literary thrustsAhab's obsession with the white whale (manifested by his desire to kill it); Ishmael's inexorable desire to know not just the whale but also to understand the human condition; and the presentation of facts (which seems, at first, not a line of action). By the end of the semester, students will not only know the text well but will also have completed a focused research paper that explores and illuminates some particular point of the novel or its reception.
Section 3: Core II Writing and Research Methods: How-To: A History of Instruction. Instructor: Elizabeth Archibald
In this course, we will examine a group of important historical texts designed to provide instruction about particular topics. In theory, readers of Plato's Republic could learn how to create a just society, readers of Ovid's Art of Love could learn how to seduce Roman ladies, readers of Machiavelli's The Prince could learn how to manipulate political power, and readers of Benjamin Franklin's The Way to Wealth could learn thrift and frugality. In addition to the (more or less) practical tips they provide, such texts also offer modern readers a glimpse of the historical preoccupations and cultural contexts that inspired them. We will examine these and other works as instructional manuals and historical artifacts, and students will complete a research project on an instructional text of their choice.
Section 4: Core II Writing and Research Methods: Philosophical Foundations. Instructor: Oliver Thorndike
This course offers an introduction to central topics of philosophical inquiry. We will be reading philosophical "classics" ranging from ancient and modern theories of knowledge (Plato, Descartes), to the philosophy of mind (Searle), personal identity and freedom of the will (Hume), to moral and political philosophy (Kant). The course will require close reading of the primary texts, careful analysis and evaluation of the philosophical arguments presented in them, and active participation in class.
