Synopsis/Dissertation Writing Workshop

Semester and Year Offered: Monsoon 2018

Course Coordinator and Team: Sandeep R. Singh

Email of course coordinator:sandeeprsingh@gmail.com

Pre-requisites: Completion of 2 semesters of coursework

Aim: This a skill-development course for first-time researchers in CLTS. It is envisaged as an intensive workshop based course in learning the protocols of expressing and writing up one’s basic idea of research. It is divided into two component: synopsis writing and dissertation writing. While the synopsis writing exercise begins with the Research Methodology course in Semester 1, this course familiarizes scholars with the precise format of the synopsis and the most effective way to articulate in it the preliminary research idea. The dissertation-writing component is slower engagement with academic narrative writing, layering of arguments and the architecture of the dissertation. The latter can spill over in the next semester depending on the needs of a particular cohort.

Course Outcomes:

1. Produce a synopsis of the research project with a scholarly bibliography.
2. Reproduce the standard referencing format for the humanities.
3. Diagram the stages and possibilities in preparinga dissertation.

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

1. Module 1. The Research Question: This module introduces exercises for abstracting from long essays and introductions to monographs their central research question.
2. Module 2. Abstract Writing: This module sets tasks towards making an abstract of one’s own preliminary research proposal and to transfer it into a standard template of the synopsis.
3. Module 3. Writing for Speaking: This module focuses on strategies for orally presenting and defending the synopsis and the general research idea.
4. Module 4. Reference Style: This module introduces the scholar to the relevant reference styles in the field, such as Chicago and MLA.
5. Module 5. Dissertating: The process of writing the dissertation is broken down into its constituent parts in this module through peer-review and writing workshops.

Assessment Details with weights:

• The course assessment is based on a cumulative grade based on exercises in the five modules of the course.

Reading List:

1. William Germano, Getting It Published: A Guide for Scholars. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.