This seminar will draw on your internship, intellectual interests and your major to help you craft an original research paper. Our seminar will visit with Washington officials where we will discuss how research of all kinds influences the daily work of political aides, policy experts, elected officials and the news media in the nation’s capital.
The seminar’s goal is to teach you how to write a major research paper, 20 to 25 pages in length, which contributes to your knowledge of a topic relevant to your internship and important to society. During the ten-week term, we will be discussing why academic research matters and how experts in particular fields understand contradictory evidence, sift competing claims and argue about issues of politics and policy.
This course will examine what a “literature review” is, help you to craft an interesting research question, teach you how to write with greater clarity, and help you to become an expert in your field of study.
Syllabus: Winter/Spring 2013 Syllabus