Core Course and Capstone Paper Requirement
Core Course
As a part of the requirements for the Certificate in the Study of Arts and Sciences Through Primary Texts you must take the core course DAS 300: The Great Conversation/Primary Texts Core course.This is a team-taught course featuring some of the best professors at K-State teaching their favorite topics. Professors from Latin Classics, Theatre, Political Science, Physics, History and Philosophy come in for two weeks each, and the class is supervised and graded by the program director, Laurie Johnson. The class is taught seminar-style so students have a chance to converse with the professors and each other! Books and materials are paid for by the program. For the latest syllabus, email Dr Johnson at lauriej@ksu.edu.
Capstone PaperBefore receiving the certificate, students must write a capstone paper. It should be submitted no later than one month before the end the last semester in which you take classes in the 18 hour program of study. The paper should allow you to sum up your experience in the program, demonstrating insights from the primary texts and course discussions you have encountered. The paper should be at least ten pages long, double spaced, with reasonable margins and a consistent method of citation, if citation is being used. There are two ways in which this paper can be completed:
1. You may write your own original paper for this purpose. Attached is a list of questions from which you can choose to formulate an essay. If you wish to write a paper stemming from a different question you may do so, after your plan is approved by the director. Your paper must address one or more texts you have read in at least two primary texts courses and demonstrate some reflection about the experience of taking those courses. Students should submit the paper to the director of the program (Dr. Johnson). The director must be provided with a final copy of the approved paper to keep as a part of the student's file.
2. You may submit a paper written for any class you have taken in the program. If you do so, you will need to revise the paper so that it incorporates insights from some of your other primary texts courses. Your paper must address one or more texts you have read in at least one other primary texts course and demonstrate some reflection about the experience of taking that course. If the professor originally assigning the paper agrees, you may submit the Primary Texts version to him or her for approval. Otherwise, you may submit it to the director for approval. If a participating professor is evaluating the paper, he should notify the director of his or her evaluation (e-mail Dr. Johnson at lauriej@ksu.edu). In either case, the director must be provided with a final copy of the paper to keep as a part of the student's file.
Here are some pointers:
–The paper may be, but does not need to be a "research paper" with extensive citation. If the paper takes the "essay" form, it should at least refer to authors and titles of primary texts using parentheses (e.g., Plato, Republic).
–The paper should be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
–Your work's suitability for the capstone paper will be judged on whether it adequately pulls together texts and topics from primary texts courses you deem to be especially significant to your theme. You need not incorporate every primary text you have read in your course of study.
–If you need additional guidance, please consult with the program director, Dr. Laurie Johnson, lauriej@ksu.edu
