Research Methods for English Studies

Catalog description

This course teaches core research skills using exciting and varied real research topics by practicing scholars in the department. Students will consider the ethics of responsible research and analysis, and they will learn the fundamentals of library and internet research, document analysis, and rigorous evidence-based writing, including their grasp of academic writing in English. English scholars draw upon a wide range of fields and disciplines and embrace various research methodologies, and research in English is more than just locating and synthesizing peer-reviewed scholarship. Students will therefore also be introduced to at least one other method of research, for example archival, ethnographic, or digital humanities methods. They will also be taught the moves that writers of academic research writing often make. As students synthesize research into their writing, they will negotiate those moves to develop further their academic voices.