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 2: Core II: Writing and Research Methods: Imagining the Future. Instructor: Ron Levy
Stock brokers, fortune tellers, and some college students think seriously about the future, but their hopes and expectations might reveal more about them than about what really lies ahead. This says something of next semester's "Imagining the Future." The course explores ideas of the future for insight into the times and places of their origin. The semester as a whole emphasizes research, making use of a range of resources -- both traditional and futuristic -- that enable serious research at JHU. Here's a sketch of what we'll do:
We focus first on a popular 19th century novel (Edward Bellamy's Looking Backwards: 2000 - 1887), then turn to an historical essay (Robert Heilbroner's Visions of the Future) to make sense of a sweeping interpretive thesis. With a thesis to test, we'll consider the popular, global tradition of the "World's Fair." Treasures of the George Peabody Library launch this inquiry; collaborative work exercising new tools, and laying foundations for new habits of research, carry it forward. Other readings will complement our inquiry as each student pursues a topic of personal interest. As this independent work is under way, study of the enigmatic visionary Marshall McLuhan, who anticipated a "global village" long before the internet, will cast interesting perspective on oursemester's work, raising questions about the value of "prophetic" claims and observations.
A personal laptop or iPad, etc., that can be used as a research tool in class will be required for productive work in this class.
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.
