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“Practice in the skills and processes necessary to the graduate student, including compiling and evaluating sources, writing literature reviews, generating research topics, conducting research, and presenting one's findings within a discourse community.”In a nutshell, this means we will be examining in sometimes excruciating, but always necessary detail the various resources, methodologies, forms, and expectations of doing graduate level work in literature, communication, and/or education. This will necessitate a great deal of time to be spent in the library, both at Potsdam and in all likelihood at St. Lawrence as well, not only during class meeting times but also on your own time as well (you should get used to this if you want a graduate degree…). One of the main objectives of this course will be to make the time you spend in the library the most efficient and productive time possible, since, as a graduate student, you will inevitably have more demands on your time than you did as an undergraduate.
Given that our meeting time provides us with an extended block of time that would put anyone to sleep if it were devoted solely to lecture and discussion, what I intend to do is break most every session up into roughly 45-minute theoretical and philosophical discussions and a practical, hands-on researching session in either the Crumb library or the SLU library for the remainder of our time. We can accomplish a great deal more useful work by actually getting our hands dirty in the “field” collectively than just by looking at models.
I will frequently pass out theoretical or other readings from professional publications for discussion in our class meetings. This will generally not range more than 15-20 pages in length, but it will be very important that you be prepared to discuss them for the class period after they are handed out, as they will constitute the substance of our discussion. I will also bring in examples from my own recent research experience (I have completed a dissertation and several professional publications – articles, conference presentations, departmental studies, abstracts) to help give some examples of good (and bad) research ideas. I’ve learned a lot from my missteps, so I hope you can learn from them as well.
Among the kinds of papers we will work on are: abstracts for professional publication submissions, research summaries, project proposals, thesis prospecti, conference papers, annotated bibliographies, and professional articles.
Among the databases with which you will be expected to be familiar are the following (there may be others that are pertinent to your discipline, but these are the ones most likely to be useful to you during your graduate career – don’t worry, it’s easier than it sounds):
(available through SUNY-Potsdam’s library)
September 9 – Basics of research in language and literature; how graduate research differs from undergraduate research; what is needed and why?
September 16 – The forms that research takes; discussions of samples from masters’ theses, professional articles on literature, professional articles on pedagogy, conference presentations, etc. Read handout packet for class.
September 23 – Philosophies of research; close examination of examples derived from various methodologies and approaches.
September 30 – Assignment One (critical evaluation of source) due. Getting Started: Formulating topics; how to avoid dead ends from the beginning; what the profession(s) are looking for.
October 7 – Choosing the best forms and sites of research; assessing the viability of a given topic; weeding out unnecessary or distracting information; focusing on a topic after you’ve begun; learning to be flexible and take what the sources give you.
October 14 – Assignment Two (Preliminary Proposal) due. The relative merits of various kinds of online research; Crumb library online databases session.
October 21 – Assignment Three (Source evaluation) due. Discussion and commentary of papers. Assessing the value of sources.
October 28 – SLU library orientation session; Compiling and using bibliographies.
November 4 – Assignment Four (Annotated Bibliography) due. Assembling a prospectus or
preliminary
abstract.
Meet with another faculty member to discuss your prospectus before revising your draft to turn in on Nov. 11.
November 11 – Assignment Five (Research Prospectus) due. Assessing the validity and comprehensiveness of your research; additional research session.
November 18 – Presentation and refinement of ideas; working with the constraints of various documentation systems and other discourse community expectations. General research methods free-for-all; focused guidance with librarians and me consulting with you on specific resources, etc.
December 2 – Draft of Assignment Six (Conference Paper) due for all. In-class student presentations and commentary.
December 9 – Assignment Six (Conference Paper) due. In-class student presentations and commentary. Summary and evaluation.
| Arnice Che |
| Cindy Daniels |
| Xi'an Glynn |
| Amanda Hill |
| Emmanuel Janvier |
| Christopher Marquart |
| Laura Mitchell |
| Steven Newtown |
| Laura Pierie |
| Tom Reilly |
| Jennifer White |