First of all, I want to congratulate you on a job well done! I’ve been perusing the Unit 1 Work section of this website, and it looks like everyone has not only followed my posting instructions, but have written some interesting speeches and letters!

I’ve also had some delightful conversations about this project, and I want to encourage more of you to take advantage of my office hours as we move into the project for Unit 2. Like many of you, I really miss classroom interaction, and while a Zoom meeting doesn’t make up for that experience, it’s a chance for us to connect as people as well as talk about questions or ideas that might be more difficult to discuss via email. If my office hours don’t work with your schedule, please email me with alternate days and times, and we’ll find a good compromise.

Oh, and I’m sure you’re wondering when I’ll get the evaluations for your Unit 1 assignment finished! I hope to be finished by the time your next deadline for Unit 2 comes around. It seems like a long time, I know, but I have three sections of writing classes, and there’s only one of me, so please focus on Unit 2–Unit 1 is “in the books,” as they used to say at one point in history! 🙂

Let’s continue with Inquiry-Based Research!

Hopefully, you watched that short video that basically stated what this is, and that we’re going to model Level 4.

Basically, Level 4 research has you at the wheel with the map and the destination.

There’s more details on the Agenda for Week 7, but the basic idea is for you to think about issues that you feel passionately about and would be willing to sacrifice for. These issues may relate to the readings we’ve done so far, but they don’t have to. Really think about a cause or problem–local, national, global–that you feel strongly about and want to know more about.

Some examples of issues (these are just examples—you get to pick what you want to research): climate change, pollution, minimum wage, undocumented immigrants, socialism, religious freedom, the separation of religion and the state, student loans, gender, LGTBQ+, single parenthood, racism, the rights of incarcerated people, public education, free tuition, admission into the Ivy League, race or gender bias in sports, film, television, literature…

As you can see, the list can grow a lot (I sat down and just free wrote the above ideas for a few minutes).

Once you’ve decided on a list (again, look for the specific details for this week’s assignment on the Agenda), think about a specific issue or problem you’d like to research. If climate change is of interest, you could think specifically about the melting of glaciers and what causes it. And by research, I don’t mean going to Google and looking at what comes up. Don’t get me wrong; Google and Wikipedia are fine avenues to start research, but they cannot (for this class) be the final sources. You’re going to eventually head to the virtual library of City Tech and begin looking for sources to answer your big Question about X.

This week is going to be a week of thinking, writing, thinking again, and asking questions that might not have an easy answer.

Go to the Agenda page for this week, and start thinking! Need someone to bounce ideas off of? Come to an office hour to chat!