Theo 305 Research Project
Dr. Gerald W. Schlabach, professor
Basic tools:
·
Research note cards: Every student should prepare
a half-page note card for each chapter or article assigned for class. Important
exceptions are Gilgamesh and chapters from the textbook by Fr.
·
Research journal (online): This is the central
gathering point for most of your research notes and reflections about the
project as you proceed. Six specific
journal entries are assigned throughout the course. These assignments will be of two types,
reflective and research. You should also do additional unassigned
research journal entries as you proceed.
These can be in any format, tone, and length, so long as they prepare you
to handle evidence accurately and fairly when it comes time for you to write
your research papers.
·
Annotated bibliography (online): At every stage of the research process students must
enter a proper bibliographic entry for every source they find useful, together
with a 1- to 5- sentence annotation. Doing
this online allows your professor to comment along the way. Assessment will be completed at the end of
the semester. (Note: this part of the project is
essentially the same as Smith’s major project
step 11. Consult for ideas.)
Task #1: Two Reflective
Journal Entries
Genre: If you have ever kept a personal journal,
you may have some idea what these are like – more extensive than a “diary” but
less formal than an essay. Length and
tone should be equivalent to a 2-5 page essay but journal entries are not
expected to be quite so well-crafted and polished as a formal essay or research
paper.
Length: 600-1600 words each.
Topic for entry no. 1: Who is my “other?” When you read Miroslav Volf, you will find in his very first paragraph
(p. 9) that he knows exactly who his “others” are. But what about you? Who is your
other – and why? Here are some questions
to prompt your reflection; you do not need to answer all of them in your actual
journal entry, but all of them will help you understand what we mean by an
“other.”
·
Is there a
worldview that I find especially strange and incomprehensible?
·
Is there a group
(religious, ethnic, political, etc.) that I find especially threatening?
·
Do I consider
some group or nation to be my enemy?
·
Do I secretly
believe that the world would be a better place if a certain group or worldview
simply disappeared?
·
Is there a group
that I try to avoid, or a worldview whose challenges to my own I find so
uncomfortable that I simply dismiss it?
Once you identify your
“other,” write a reflective journal entry answering the question, Who is my “other,” and why?
Topic for entry no. 2: Who am I to my “others?” Now turn
things around, using a little imagination and as much critical self-awareness
as you can muster.
·
What do I look
like to my other?
·
What is the group
with which I most identify? What does it
look like to my other?
·
What would seem
most strange and incomprehensible about my worldview to my other?
·
How might my
group, my worldview – or even I myself – seem threatening to my other?
Again, you do not necessarily
need to answer all of these questions in your actual journal entry, but should
use them to write a reflection answering the question, Who am I to my “others?”
A reassuring note about both topics: You are not
expected to become an instant expert about the “other” worldview or group you
are engaging in these exercises. You
will not be graded on whether you portray them accurately. You don’t even have to do any research to
learn more about them before you write.
The point is to record what you think you know about your relationship
to this worldview or group, in order to establish a baseline for the research
project you will do throughout this semester.
Additional resources:
·
Steps 1 & 2
of Smith’s major
project deal with some of the same issues as this assignment, though not
all. You might find some additional
prompts for reflection there.
Task #2: First Short
Research Paper
Genre: Though only
4-6 pages in length, a “short research paper” should have all the apparatus as
any research paper – footnotes or parenthetical references, bibliography,
conformity to an academic stylebook such as the MLA, APA, CMS or Turabian. It should follow a clear argumentative
outline employing an easy-to-identify thesis, sub-theses, well-crafted
paragraphs and conclusion.
Length: 1200-2000 words, not counting bibliography.
Note: Task #3 may provide you with some of the
research material you need for this assignment, so it would be wise to work at
both tasks simultaneously. You should
expect to do additional research for this paper, however.
Topic: Recognizing Exclusion: As you begin
to study one particular worldview and engage the group(s) that hold it, pay
attention to the challenges that its adherents face as they attempt to maintain
their identity. Challenges may be
cultural, economic, political, geographical, religious, etc. Key these to Volf’s analysis of “exclusion”
by writing a paper that answers this question:
How does the other whom you are
studying and engaging feel threatened by exclusion in any or all of the
following ways…?
·
Expulsion or elimination
·
Assimilation
·
Domination and subjugation
·
Indifference and abandonment
Additional resources:
Task #3: Three Research
Journal Entries
Genre: In length and tone, assigned research journal entries
should be equivalent to a 2-5 page essay, but do not have to be quite so
well-crafted and polished as a formal essay or research paper. The main difference between reflective and
research journal entries is that reflective entries can be more internally
directed and research journals are more outwardly directed.
Length: 600-1600 words each.
Overall topic: Embrace,
act I: Hospitality (“opening the arms”)
1. Do a journal entry based on one of the
following:
·
Meeting and
conversing with a local resource who has intimate
knowledge of the group or worldview you are studying. Cf. steps 3 and 10 of Smith’s major
study.
·
A vicarious
experience of the group or worldview you are studying. Cf. step 4 of Smith’s major
study.
2. Do a second journal entry:
·
Describe the ideas
and practices of the worldview you are studying. We are looking here for the sort of thing you
would find in a standard encyclopedia article, supplemented by information on
the worldview’s attitudes and actions towards topics such as identity, peace,
justice and prosperity. Cf. step 5 of Smith’s major study.
3. Do a third journal entry:
·
Savor, describe
and record your encounter with at least one of the sacred books, classics or
traditions of the worldview you are studying.
What are the sacred
traditional sources of this worldview?
What are those sources like?
Cf. step 6 of Smith’s
major study.
Additional resource:
Reminders:
Task #4: Second
Short Research Paper
Genre: Though only 4-6 pages in length, a “short research
paper” should have all the apparatus as any research paper – footnotes or
parenthetical references, bibliography, conformity to an academic stylebook
such as the MLA, APA, CMS or Turabian. It should follow a clear argumentative
outline employing an easy-to-identify thesis, sub-theses, well-crafted
paragraphs and conclusion.
Length: 1200-2000 words.
Topic: Embrace, act II: Acknowledging
boundaries (“waiting”). Write
a paper that answers this question: How have people holding the worldview you
are studying sought to preserve their identity in a globalizing world? Base your paper on one of the
following:
·
The biography of an
influential promoter of justice, peace, prosperity or security. Cf. Smith’s major
study step 7.
·
A real dispute, either
historical or contemporary.
Suggestion: Even
though you base your paper on only one of the paper options above, you might
wish to use your research journal to record some notes concerning the paper
option you do not pursue.
Additional resource:
Task #5: Literary Work
Genre: Here we open up. The only formal requirements are that your
writing incorporate some kind of dialogue, and that
you not plagiarize! Suggested genres are
short story and short drama. Poetry,
music and visual arts might also be possible, in consultation with your
professor.
Length: Anywhere from 900 to 2500 words (3-8 pages)
for the suggested genres. Length negotiable for other genres.
Topic: Embrace, act III: Reciprocity (“closing the arms”). Write
an imagined but realistic dialogue
between yourself and someone who represents well the worldview you are
studying. As you do so, be sure to
explore:
·
What are the
presuppositions of each worldview?
·
How do the dreams
and the utopian vision of the other worldview express its presuppositions?
·
What can I learn
from the other?
·
What might I
share with the other?
Additional resources:
Task #6: Final
“Value-Added” Integration Paper
Much
of the above now feeds into a 12-15 page final research paper. You are free – in fact expected – to take
entire paragraphs and sections from your earlier papers, along with re-polished
paragraphs from your journal entries, and weave together a final research
paper, replete with the necessary scholarly apparatus. Note the word “weave” here. The added value of this paper will be that it
holds together in such a way that the seams do not show. In other words, previous material should be
edited together to form a coherent whole in which the reader can follow a
single argumentative thread.
Length: 4000-5000 words (12-15 pp.), not counting bibliography.
Topic: Embrace, act IV: Ongoing negotiation of
difference (“opening the arms again”). Hopefully, as
we come to the close of our course we will have gained some kind of vision for
how diverse peoples and nations might thrive together in a just peace without sacrificing
the richness of their cultural and religious identities. Your own engagement with one particular
culture or worldview that is “other” than your own should serve as a case
study.
Your assignment is to pull together
major learnings from your semester-long research project by sharing your own
hard-edged dream of a peaceful relationship between the worldview or group with which you identify, and the “other”
worldview or group that you have been studying.
As you pull together major
learnings from your research project and share your own “hard-edged dream of a
peaceful relationship” with your “others,” here are some questions to explore:
·
How does the
relationship of a true “embrace” enrich both parties to that embrace?
·
What risks might
an embrace between you and your “others” involve?
·
Is it possible to
combine these two identities and form a hybrid identity? How?
·
Is it possible
for these two groups to live together as overlapping communities? How?
·
Does honesty
require that these two groups still be considered rivals or even enemies? What prospects for “embrace” exist
nonetheless?
Additional resources:
Task #7: Final
Reflective Journal Entry
Genre: See task #1.
Length: 600-1600 words.
Topic: How have
I changed? Look back at the first two reflective journal entries
you did for task #1. Compare what you
know and believe now with what you did then.
How did your study confirm your expectations, challenge or surprise
you? How could this course be
improved? Cf. Smith major
project step #10.
Reminder:
§
Be sure to do
final revisions on your annotated bibliography.
The deadline for changes is the start time of the final exam period.
§
Attending class
during the final exam is required.