UWC2102B: Writing and Research: Controversies in the History of Ideas
Introduction
Topical Introduction
Where do scientific concepts come from? Are they the automatic results of applying the scientific method? Or do concurrent social, cultural, disciplinary, historical and epistemological assumptions and preoccupations sometimes also play a role in the development and adoption of explanatory schemata? This module asks students to consider the complex and often non-linear pathways through which certain now-familiar scientific ideas developed and became adopted, as well as the potential insights to be had by researching “the history (or histories) of an idea” per se.
By independently researching the history of a concept that we take for granted – such as “gravity” or “nutrition” – students will develop an appreciation for the controversies, beliefs, motivations, and circumstances that go into the making and/or the widespread adoption of an explanatory “idea”, and further refine their skills in the researching, writing, and oral presentation of university-level academic research papers.
The module, like all USP modules of its level, will emphasize interdisciplinary inquiry and is based on a topic that, while anchored in such disciplines as history, philosophy, natural science, anthropology, and sociology, offers the possibility of discussion, debate and research from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. Its uniqueness is that in addition to its explorations of the topic, it focuses strongly on writing for research as a process that culminates in rigorously argued papers.
Organization of the Module
This class is a writing intensive module that builds on the skills learned in the first-tier USP (UWC2101) writing modules, reinforcing the practices of close reading, posing worthwhile questions, and proposing arguments within the larger context of an extended research essay.
Employing the skills gained in introductory Writing Module, students will further hone their writing skills through drafting and re-drafting, as well as learn how to ask viable and genuinely motivated research questions, produce a research proposal, undertake library research, and ultimately produce a research paper on the history of a modern concept, exploring some of its normally under-examined assumptions and (arguably) unsatisfactorily settled controversies. In addition, students will acquire familiarity with, and practice in the use of, modes of oral presentation required in an academic setting. The module will stress the creation of knowledge both over time and across disciplines: it will thus enhance students’ engagement with other modules taken in the USP and NUS curricula, develop interdisciplinary inquiry, and prepare them for the rigors of actual research work.
PLEASE NOTE that this is first and foremost a WRITING module! The daily work of the course will be to focus in on issues of Motive, Thesis, Argument, Rhetoric and Organization of essays, which you will be expected to work on daily. Although a high grade on your earlier WCT Writing Module is not a pre-requisite for this class, it is expected that you have since mastered the basic Reading Practices and Writing Skills taught in the earlier Writing Module, in order to employ those skills and practices even more rigorously in this module. If you have any question about your suitability for enrolling in this module, please feel free to e-mail me with a copy of an essay that you wrote in your earlier Writing Module, and I will be happy to give you my honest opinion.
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