Research Paper Workshop

Mandatory for first year MA Students (but open to all). This workshop encourages students to get an early start on developing their research projects and their academic identities. To prepare for the workshop, students are to send to MA Director a one-paragraph (max 200 words) synopsis of a seminar paper they are planning for the end of the semester. The paragraph should concisely introduce the paper’s topic, thesis, and significance. MA Director will distribute paragraphs at workshop. Students will then be separated into smaller groups of three to four (representing different fields), where they will workshop their paragraphs and discuss their research interests more generally. The point of this exercise is to 1) prompt students to think about seminar papers, and to explore how their paper topics may be scaffolded into an MA thesis project; 2) learn how to concisely and effectively articulate one’s project in the space of a paragraph—an essential skill for many genres of academic writing; and 3) give students the opportunity to share and discuss their research ideas, and receive feedback from peers and faculty on their project development. 

403 Kent Hall