PHIL 400 Senior Seminar

 

Professor Martinez-Saenz

Office: Hollenbeck 301

Phone: 937 327 7847

e-mail: mmartinezsaenz@wittenberg.edu

 

The course will begin with us talking about time management and writing and research methods. On the hopeful assumption that we can help one another produce a worthwhile product we will share most of our work.. All of us will provide two articles or book excerpts (not to exceed 25 pages) for the class to help us work through our topic. Yes, I will be working alongside you writing a “thesis” of my own.

 

Time Management Logs:  Due January 22, 2007

(This is a slightly modified version of an assignment made available by Doug Andrews.)

 

Part I: Categorize your day’s activities as follows:

  • Class, lab, or other official academic contact time
  • Doing academic work outside of class
  • Senior Seminar Research
  • Extracurricular activities (including sports and clubs)
  • Working for pay (on- or off-campus)
  • Sleeping
  • Other

For each day (defined as midnight to midnight) in a two-week period, record the time spent in each category, rounded to the nearest half-hour.  I strongly recommend that you log your time every day, as you’re unlikely to remember your activities precisely for more than one day.  You might also consider scrawling down notes periodically throughout the day to remind yourself later on how long you’re doing each kind of activity.  The more accurate and precise you are about this assignment, the more reliable your data will be.  And be sure that your time for each day does indeed add up to 24 hours!  You might consider logging the first set of categories and then subtracting from 24 to find time spent in the “other” category.

 

Part II: Set up a writing/research schedule. How many hours a week will you devote to your project? When have you set aside time to do research? When have you set aside time to free write, review your notes, create an outline etc? Have you provided yourself a reasonable timetable to ensure you meet all of the deadlines?

 

Be prepared to discuss the logic behind your schedule. You need to make copies of your schedule for the whole class.

 

Article Reviews: Each person is supposed to prepare a response to aid the presenter and to facilitate a discussion of the articles for the day. We will devote approximately 45 minutes to each article. The person presenting will be responsible for carrying the discussion. I will model what I am looking for on January 15th.  You will provide a copy of the article or book excerpt one week prior to our discussion. In other words, if you are leading a discussion on the 22nd you need to have an article to each of us on the 15th. I will evaluate the presentation and each of the prepared responses. Prepared responses should adhere to the following guidelines:

 

1) Identify the thesis/or main idea.

2) Identify the reasons the author provides that support his/her claim.

3) What are the strengths of the article? (at least 4 sentences)

4) What are the weaknesses? (at least 4 sentences)

5) Questions for the presenter. (at least two questions)

 

You need to make copies of your responses for the whole class.

 

Senior Paper: This, as should be evident, is YOUR project.  The goal of senior seminar is to produce and present a substantial, high quality research paper in philosophy.   To this end you will be engaging in research, critically assessing the materials you find and learning to critically assess your own writing.  You also will be working collaboratively with your fellow students, assisting their research, helping them to assess the quality of their materials as well as the quality of their writing. 

 

Time Management Logs: 10%

Article Reviews: 10%

Annotated Bibliography: 15 %

1st Draft: 15%

2nd Draft: 15%

Final Paper: 20%

Presentation: 15%

Schedule

 

1/8 –Introduction, Time Management Logs, Articles, Stages of Writing

 

1/15- THESIS TOPIC DUE: A paragraph describing your thesis topic.

MMS article

 

1/22- Time Management Logs Due

MMS article

A revised paragraph describing your thesis topic AND a paragraph describing a view on your thesis topic with which you disagree. In other words, while you are asking a question, it is fair to assume you are leaning towards an answer. Tell us what your claim is, although tentative, and how someone would respond negatively to your premature assessment.

 

1/29- Ted article, Alison article, Joe article

 

2/5- Fred article, Dale article, MMS article

 

2/12- Ted article, Alison article, Joe article, Fred article, Dale article

(We will probably go longer than 8:00 PM, but I will sponsor dinner this evening.)

 

2/19- NO CLASS: I will be available during the week to meet with you individually.

 

2/26 – NO CLASS: I will be available during the week to meet with you individually.

 

3/5- SPRING BREAK

 

3/12- Annotated bibliography (We will pair up to edit our papers.)

  1. Abstract: should spell out clearly the argument and problem you are examining. (approximately 400-500 words)
  2. Detailed outline:
  3. Annotated bibliography: Should include, at a minimum, 8 references and an explanation detailing why the article (s) is important for your paper.  This should be accomplished in a short paragraph (4-5 sentences).

(Go to http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Assignments.html and see “Writing an Annotated Bibliography” and “Writing an Abstract”)

 

 

3/19 – First Draft (We will pair up to edit our papers.)

1.      8-10 page draft of research paper.

2.      Complete reference list

3.      Footnotes/Endnotes with proper citation.  I don’t care which manual you use, but you need to be consistent.

4.      Should include title page

 

 

3/26- NO CLASS

 

4/2- NO CLASS:

Second Draft Due April 7th, 2007

1.      Complete research paper 15-25 pages.

2.      Complete reference list

3.      Footnotes/Endnotes with proper citation.  I don’t care which manual you use, but you need to be consistent.

4.      Should include title page

 

4/9- (We will pair up to edit our second drafts.)

 

4/16- FINAL Draft DUE

1.      Complete research paper 15-25 pages.

2.      Complete reference list

3.      Footnotes/Endnotes with proper citation.  I don’t care which manual you use, but you need to be consistent.

4.      Should include title page

 

4/23- Abbreviated/Edited version of your final paper for presentation due (We will pair up to edit our papers.)

  1. Abbreviated/Edited version of your final paper for presentation
  2. Paper should not exceed 8 double-spaced pages (12 point font)

 

4/30- Presentations

  1. I recommend you practice your presentation because you will be expected to talk for 20 minutes not more and not less.  If you want to practice and test it let me know and I would be willing to help. You might also consider going to the ORAL COMMUNICATION CENTER.
  2. Grading Format:

 

Introduction

___      Introduced Topic/Problem Clearly

___      Explained the importance and/or relevance of the problem

___      Overall thesis is presented clearly

___      Established a connection with the audience

 

Content

___      Presentation length (___ minutes)

___      Organization: The presentation contained a beginning, middle and end

___      Information is presented in an interesting manner and all information is relevant      to the presentation

___      Methodological lens is made explicit (What framework is being used to evaluate      situation?)

 

Delivery

___      Student demonstrated he/she had planned, prepared, and practiced the        presentation

___      Appeared confident and used effective eye contact

___      Fielded questions effectively