Hey folks. We were supposed to have scheduled one-on-one meetings today to discuss your Topic Papers, which were designed to be an additional step in the research process that we started at the beginning of Week 11 (March 29). With the due date of April 23, the goal of the Topic Paper was to have a much more developed working document in hand that demonstrated your deeper engagement with your topic due to all the research that you’ve ostensibly been reading, taken notes on, and using to develop both the substance and shape of your analysis over the last month (by ‘substance and shape’ I’m referring to both the content of your arguments as well as the specific research method you’re actually utilizing & discussing in your work).
By extension, the specific purpose of todays’ one-on-one meetings was to discuss your written work, which I needed to have in advance so that I could give you written comments that I could elucidate in more detail during our conversation (as was the plan following your Final Project Pitch and, again, during your Topic Approval meeting). Unlike previous one-on-one meetings in which I was happy discuss general ideas and what you planned/hoped/wanted to do with your research project, today’s meeting was really supposed to be about the substance of your document – what you actually put on the plate. However, since only one of you submitted a Topic Paper to me on Friday, we will not be having one-on-one meetings today since I don’t have prepared entrees in front of me that I can taste or critique.
Since it’s too late to submit your Topic Paper, I strongly advise everyone to thoroughly review the guidelines for the Final Research Plan that’s due on May 5 and please be sure to read my detailed notes about what your paper needs to include in order to earn a passing grade. When it comes to meeting the basic requirements for the paper, I will be assessing your work based solely on what’s in the document, not your intentions.
I’ll be setting aside our class time on Wednesday for open office hours, so if you want to meet with me, please feel free to make an appointment in advance.
Best regards,
-z