Political Science 6220 3.0 – Fall 2009

Contemporary Security Studies: Conflict, Intervention, and Peacebuilding

Wednesdays 2:30-5:30
335 Calumet College
Prof. Elizabeth Dauphinee
Office Location: S634 Ross Building
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 10:30-11:30 or by appointment
Email: dauphine@yorku.ca
Tel: 416 736 2100 x 22552

POLS 6220 3.0
Ethnonationalist Conflicts and World Politics
Research Projects and Presentations Guidelines

Research presentations in the second half of the course will mainly involve ‘workshopping’ each student’s project with the overall goal of producing a high-quality, publication-oriented essay.  Students should identify the journal or publication to which they plan to submit their essay and familiarize themselves with the relevant ‘notes for contributors' section before they begin writing.  Ensure that your topic is likely of interest to the editorial board of the publication you have chosen, and that you follow their guidelines with respect to format and length.  For those of you who wish to orient your project toward an NGO or the policy community, identify either a publication or a specific group that would benefit from your project and proceed accordingly.  Remember that theory is relevant regardless of whom you are writing for, as one of the primary challenges that academics and researchers face is effecting changes in the way a particular problem is thought about.  You can approach your project with a primary focus on theory, or you can approach it with a primary focus on practice (i.e., problem-solving), depending on the audience you have identified.  However, theory should still play a role in the development of your essay.  What might differ is ‘how’ you incorporate theory and for what purpose.  In either case, you need to be explicit about the path you have chosen and why.

Once you have identified your goal and crafted a research plan, you will be ready for the preliminary presentation of your project on October 28.  In this class, everyone will get an opportunity to discuss their projects, their audiences (i.e., identify the journal, NGO, or policy group you plan to write for), and their research plan.  Subsequent seminars will focus in more depth on individual projects, at the rate of 3 to 4 per seminar, depending on enrollment.  Students should plan to discuss their projects for approximately 15-20 minutes.  Feedback should take an additional 20-30 minutes.  In order for this to work, each student must send his or her draft via email to everyone in the group by Friday evening on the week prior to the presentation.  It is understood that drafts will be received in various stages of completion, and that they are works in progress.  They should not be circulated outside the class group.  Each student should be prepared to comment on the drafts that they receive, and to pose critical questions about development, theory, execution, and so on.  You need to provide substantive, written feedback to the recipient in class.  Please bring two (2) copies of this feedback to class – one for the recipient, and one for the instructor.  Your feedback on others’ drafts will comprise part of your participation mark in the second half of the course.  Please remember to provide feedback that considers other students’ chosen audiences and topics.  This half of the course is an opportunity to receive input from fellow students, and to reflect on the writing process as both political and academic practice. 

The final seminar, on December 2, will involve everyone presenting the final research project prior to submission.  You should expect to speak for 10-12 minutes, and to treat the seminar as though it were a conference.  This means that you will be detailing the highlights of your project: the original argument, methods used, conclusions drawn, and overall contribution made to the field.  This exercise will also give you a sense of how academic and professional conferences are organized.