Philosophy Paper - Kelly Jacobs only.

Research Project

APHI 214 World Religions

The last thing you should do – primarily during the final week of the course – is to focus on a research project. Simply put, the idea here is to get you to take some single detail of what you have learned in this course, and to delve deeper into that topic . This document will walk you through the requirements for the paper and give you the grading rubric that I will use to address your work. This project is worth 100 points, that’s 1/3 the points required to get the highest grade. That means it should require a great deal of the effort that you put into the course and, by design, should reflect about a week’s worth of dedicated work from the session.

What is Required?

1. Length - The paper should be in the 5–10 page-range. No bonus points for it being longer, but you’ll probably need at least 5 pages to do a good job. But try to say more in less space! (I don’t care if its double spaced or single spaced. Whatever works for you)

2. Sources/References – You should include BOTH scripture references for the relevant world religions AND reliable outside academic sources. (A good option for this would be the optional readings from the chapters, or else use the UAlbany library resources for research). There is no minimum or maximum, but use enough to show that you’re doing the work!

3. Content – Your paper must make an argument. Refer to the “How to Write a Philosophy Paper” document on blackboard for more information about this.

4. Topic – You MUST get the topic for your research project approved. Good topics are very concise and very specific. Good topics would be things like “In this paper, I will argue that the Buddhist emphasis on religious relics is not comparable to the use of relics in Catholicism”; or “In this paper I will argue that misogynistic claims in the Quran do not need to be taken literally by contemporary followers of Islam.”

Grading Rubric:

Below is the rubric I will use to grade your Research projects. The rubric has 110 points available. Each student may earn up to 100 of those points on this project.

The project is focused on an approved topic	10 points
Relevant scriptures are used to successfully justify and/or explain claims made in the paper	20 points
External resources are reliable, used responsibly, and reflect careful research	20 points
Significant conclusions are drawn and real-world impacts described	20 points
The format of the presentation is well constructed to aid in understanding (i.e., good grammar, proper argumentative structure, flows well, etc…)	20 points
The main argument is a good argument and is clearly stated at the beginning of the paper	20 points
Total Possible Points	110