Literature review
Humanities
The Literature Review is often the very first stage of any research project and it provides a backbone and context for all future research in your chosen area of interest. Often used when planning a thesis type project where you’re building upon former research but the Literature Review also can provide insights about competitors, awareness of new technologies impacting the space you’re exploring, identification of experts in your field, etc.
For this week’s assignment select a topic that you’re really interested in learning about, perhaps it’s an idea you have for your thesis, or a major you’re considering switching to, or maybe it’s a field that somebody you like is studying so this can be an opportunity to impress them with your knowledge and interest!
Create a literature review that includes 5 books on the topic, 5-10 academic papers, 3 blog posts and 2 magazine articles. While you’re doing your research, create a flow process diagram that illustrates your discovery process. (You don’t have to read them all, but you should skim them to determine their relevance.) Most academic papers will have an executive summary, most books you can find a synopsis, and the blog posts and magazine articles you’ll need to at least skim. Keep in mind that each book/paper/article/post will likely lead you to others via the research that it’s based upon. The web of references is always feeding itself and expanding outward!
Here’s instruction for formatting your bibliography taken from the New School’s Graduation and PHD guidelines. The bibliographic entries are typed single spaced with double spacing between entries. The format for the bibliography is as follows for books:
Tillich, Paul. Systematic Theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.
and for journal articles:
Tuchman, Barbara. “If Asia Were Clay in the Hands of the West.” Atlantic, September 1970, pp. 68-81.
Post your research workflow diagram and a properly formatted bibliography of your research texts to Canvas by Midnight Tuesday March 26, 2019.
