Ontology and Method
Papers should outline and evaluate the main points of the required readings. By “evaluate” I mean: (a) choose the parts of the readings that you think are especially useful and explain why they are useful or insightful; (b) critique the literature and explain what you think is wrong with it; or (c) discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of the primary themes in the literature. No outside research is expected in the preparation of these papers. The assigned readings are the subject matter of your papers, so references other than the assigned readings should be used very sparingly or not at all. The papers will be evaluated for how well you can demonstrate your command of the assigned readings. Think of these as literature review. "I cannot emphasize strongly enough that these papers should not be short essay on the ideas or concepts in a topical area". It should be short essay summarizing, discussing and evaluating the readings assigned for a topical area.