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Prerequisite: One 200-level, three-credit course in philosophy This course is designed to help students understand what it means to do research in philosophy and how to apply these methods in the production of philosophical writing that meets professional norms and standards. We will focus on developing the skills needed for success in this medium, including the formation of a philosophically informed thesis statement, gathering sources and doing a literature review, making sense of the available source arguments and seeing how they pertain to the thesis, composing the structure of the
essay in a way that incorporates argument and counter-argument, proper citation practices and making an abstract. We will also discuss best practices for presenting papers in conference or colloquium settings. This course is required for the philosophy major, and recommended but optional for the philosophy minor. As this is a one-credit course, we will meet once a week to workshop and track progress, culminating in a finished paper which demonstrates understanding of and competence in these methods and practices. Topics for research will vary from year to year. Offered annually.