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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, we will hold four additional seminar meetings to explore themes, questions, and ideas that emerged during the two-day event. The specific focus of these meetings will be determined collectively based on your interests. In the days following the workshop, you will propose topics or questions you'd like to explore further—these might include methodological issues raised by multiple speakers, substantive debates that cut across presentations, connections to broader PPE concerns, or unresolved puzzles from the workshop discussions. We'll vote on priorities, and I will assign one targeted reading (approximately 20 pages) for each meeting to focus our discussion. These seminars are an opportunity to deepen your engagement with workshop themes and to shape the direction of the course based on what you found most compelling or puzzling.
Our class meets on Mondays, from 6pm to 7:50pm in TBD.
Below is an overview of class meetings.
Before the workshop begins, you will submit 2-3 questions for each of the five speakers based on their background readings. These questions should demonstrate genuine engagement with the readings and curiosity about the research area. Your questions might identify tensions or gaps in the readings, ask about methodological choices, connect ideas across different readings, or explore implications of the arguments presented. While you won't know the exact focus of each speaker's work-in-progress presentation, your questions should reflect careful thought about the themes, puzzles, and approaches in their background materials. Submit all questions in a single document by [DATE TBD]. This assignment will be graded on a complete/incomplete basis—you'll receive full credit for submitting thoughtful questions that clearly engage with all five speakers' readings.
During our pre-workshop seminar meetings, each student (or pair of students) will lead a 15-minute presentation on one speaker's background readings. 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. Presentation dates will be assigned during our first class meeting.
After the workshop, you will submit a portfolio containing your three best questions from the two-day event. 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, write 200-300 words that: (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. Submit your portfolio by [DATE TBD].
At the end of the term, you will submit a 1000-1300 word research proposal that identifies a new research problem, question, or direction inspired by the workshop and our seminar discussions. Your proposal 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. Submit by [DATE TBD].