Writing the Rationale and Preparing for the Colloquium

Catalog description

The aim of this course is to help students develop and write the Rationale, compose the List of Works, and prepare for the Colloquium. We will begin the course by asking students to hone their Concentration and to think about the relation/difference between a Concentration and a Rationale, and identify key words, questions, and themes to guide their thinking and writing. We will also discuss different disciplinary formations of knowledge and methodologies, how to think interdisciplinarily, how to contextualize works and key themes across cultures, geographic locations, and knowledge formations, and how to historicize key questions and topics. We will do this through weekly guest lectures, short writing assignments, and in class workshops and discussion. The first part of the class will be devoted to drafting, revising, and completing the Rationale and List of Works. Students will work as a class, in small affinity groups, and individually with their advisers and with the professors as they work toward their final drafts. The latter part of the course will focus on the colloquium. We will discuss expectations and strategies for preparation, and in the final weeks of the semester students will practice presenting their ideas and fielding questions in brief, mock colloquia.