Instructional goals
This course aims to provide students with the knowledge and command of skills which are essential to write effectively and read critically an academic text and a piece of research. Students are expected to acquire the ability to elaborate a structured research proposal in line with a research question of interest to them.
Prerequisites
No formal prerequisites
Intended learning outcomes
Upon completion of this course, students will have acquired the ability to: carry out an accurate literature review on a specific topic of interest; identify and formulate a sound research question; make sense of a theory or a theoretical framework to derive research hypotheses in response to the research question; collect, assess and make use of primary and secondary sources of data; properly structure an academic paper; effectively read academic texts.
Course Contents
This intensive course provides students with a grounding in essential skills related to the writing and reading of academic texts. It will enable them to expand their skills and build their self-confidence as academic readers, researchers, and writers. The course covers the fundamentals: how to write and read scholarly texts; how to read and write with a focus on logical validity and coherence as an academic writer; how to plan and organize a well-structured argument or explanation; how to find and cite sources; how to use Internet and social media for bibliographic research.
Reference Books
Slides, recommended readings and in-class exercises for each week will be posted on the Luiss Learn page of the course.
Teaching Methods
Lectures, discussions, workshop.
Assessment Method
This is a pass/fail course. There are no formal assignments or grades.
Exempted and non-compliant students: please contact the instructor and teaching assistants as early as possible after the beginning of the semester.
Thesis assignment criteria
Not applicable
Week 1
Introduction, research design, from topic to research question, structure and format of a paper, how to read effectively, how to cite and quote properly
Week 2
Bibliographic research: resources and strategies, Internet and social media per academic research, references management systems (Zotero)
Week 3
Theories and methods of social sciences for academic writing and reading
Week 4
Workshop
Week 5
Not applicable
Week 6
Not applicable
Week 7
Not applicable
Week 8
Not applicable
Week 9
Not applicable
Week 10
Not applicable
Week 11
Not applicable
Week 12
Not applicable