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Readings and schedule for students associated with the workshop.
Prior to the workshop, our focus will be on reading and collaboratively understanding background readings (provided by the workshop participants). Students will be partly responsible for leading discussion on these readings (see the assessments section, below).
After the workshop concludes, the remaining class sessions will focus on developing your research proposals and refining your engagement with the workshop material. You will work independently on your Annotated Question Portfolio, identifying and analyzing the most important questions that emerged from the workshop presentations. During this period, you will also prepare your research proposal—both the written component and the oral presentation. Individual research proposal meetings will be scheduled to provide feedback and guidance on your developing ideas. The final three weeks of class (April 27, May 4, and May 11) will be devoted to research proposal presentations, where you will pitch a key premise from your proposal and receive critical feedback from the class.
Our class meets on Mondays, from 6pm to 7:50pm in TBD.
Below is an overview of class meetings.
Due: 24 hours before class (via Submission link, below).
Format: 300–500 words.
Description: For 5 of the 6 instruction weeks, you must submit a short analytic response to one of the required readings for that week. These responses must not merely summarize the text; instead, they should either reconstruct a specific argument in logical form or raise a focused philosophical objection to a specific premise. These submissions will serve as starting points for seminar discussions.
For more details, see the Taxonomy of Responses.
Date: Variable. Sign up for a paper presentation here: Presentation Sign-up Sheet (Maximum 2 students per paper)
Format: 15-minute presentation on one speaker's background readings.
Description: Your presentation should: (1) summarize the main arguments and key concepts from the readings, (2) identify important questions or tensions the readings raise, and (3) prepare the class to engage productively with that speaker's work. You may use slides, handouts, or other materials as you see fit. This is not a formal lecture—think of it as helping your peers get oriented to material they've also read. Your presentation will be evaluated using a simple rubric focusing on clarity, accuracy, and whether you've identified substantive questions for discussion.
Date: May 1
Format: Three questions, ~200-300 words each. Submit on Moodle.
Description: These may be questions you actually asked during the workshop, questions you wished you had asked, or questions that emerged from the discussions you observed. For each question: (1) explain why this question is philosophically, politically, or economically important, (2) situate the question in relation to the specific presentation(s) or discussion(s) that prompted it, and (3) discuss how the workshop discussion did or didn't address it—or sketch how you think it might be answered. Your annotations should demonstrate that you listened carefully to the presentations, understood the speakers' arguments, and can think critically about the issues raised. The three questions may address different presentations or may probe different aspects of a single presentation.
Date: April 27, May 4, or May 11. Sign up for a presentation slot here: Presentation Sign-up Sheet
Format: Strict 15-minute slot (10-minute pitch + 5-minute Q&A).
Description: This is not a summary of your entire research proposal. You should aim to deliver a 10-minute pitch focusing on one single idea or specific premise from your research proposal. You will be cut off strictly at the 10-minute mark. The goal of this format is to crowd-source objections and stress-test the most vulnerable or complex part of your proposal against class feedback.
Date: May 13
Format: 1000-1300 words. Submit on Moodle.
Description: Your proposal should identify a new research problem, question, or direction inspired by the workshop and our seminar discussions. It should: (1) clearly articulate the research question or problem and explain why it matters for philosophy, politics, and/or economics, (2) situate your question in relation to at least two of the workshop presentations or themes we discussed, and (3) meaningfully outline how you would approach investigating this question—what methods, frameworks, or resources would you use? This is not a literature review or a full research design, but rather a focused pitch that demonstrates you can identify a worthwhile question and think critically about how to pursue it. Your proposal may connect to your own thesis interests or explore entirely new territory opened up by the workshop. This assignment asks you to synthesize what you've learned and demonstrate that you can generate original research ideas in conversation with the work of established scholars.
This course follows all relevant HKU policies, e.g., on plagiarism, academic freedom, and research integrity. Weekly responses inform class discussion and may be used to improve course materials and teaching methods.
Submit a paper or other longer assignment: Moodle @ HKU
If you want to contact me about something else, please email me at sharadin@hku.hk or book an appointment during my office hours .