Research Writing and Methods

Writing a dissertation, as you will soon realize, is an intimate and
personal process. Some even go as far as calling it akin to childbirth,
but I will spare you the gendered imagery. Yet, I will say it is indeed
intimate, private, personal and momentous. At the same time, graduate
students often feel that writing within an academic institution does not
bear much relevance to their lives outside of academia. To dispel such
myths and make more happy ones for ourselves, in this course we will
ask; How should we begin to think about writing? How is it possible to
learn to write? Is writing purely a technical craft? What is criticism
and how do we write critically about literature?

 While we discuss and dissent on the answers to these questions, we
will also learn about all the delicate ways in which a hypothesis can be
formulated, how to fashionably synthesize materials from written
sources, organize ideas in almost perfect forms and develop marvelously
captivating arguments. 

Writing a dissertation, as you will soon realize, is an intimate and
personal process. Some even go as far as calling it akin to childbirth,
but I will spare you the gendered imagery. Yet, I will say it is indeed
intimate, private, personal and momentous. At the same time, graduate
students often feel that writing within an academic institution does not
bear much relevance to their lives outside of academia. To dispel such
myths and make more happy ones for ourselves, in this course we will
ask; How should we begin to think about writing? How is it possible to
learn to write? Is writing purely a technical craft? What is criticism
and how do we write critically about literature?

 While we discuss and dissent on the answers to these questions, we
will also learn about all the delicate ways in which a hypothesis can be
formulated, how to fashionably synthesize materials from written
sources, organize ideas in almost perfect forms and develop marvelously
captivating arguments.