PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH AND WRITING in Fall 2026 (PL4094)

In this course students develop further their ability to carry out research and write academically in the field of philosophy, as preparation for the Philosophy Capstone PL4095. Students learn how to plan and execute a research project with the professor’s supervision. This research project may take the form of a thesis, a series of reflection papers or essays on current research being carried out in philosophy at ongoing seminars in Paris, or other forms. To prepare the research project students are given further instruction on how to use various research instruments in the library, how to identify recent and pertinent research carried out in a philosophical field, how to develop and present a literature review of a philosophical problem or question in a given field, how to construct and annotate an up-to-date bibliography on a philosophical issue, and how to present and communicate their project in a brief format (students may choose written, oral or other audiovisual means for such presentation). The philosophical topics and texts examined in the course are determined by the specific directions taken by student research in any given semester.