1. Today we will: Be introduced to Unit 3; Listen to a presentation introducing the PIT Journal by Ms Ashley Hall; Formulate research questions to jump-start our projects for this unit. Reminder: We are meeting in our individual classrooms on Wednesday and will reconvene here, in Murphey 105, on Friday!

2. Sorting out Sources (Group Discussion, 10 minutes) Introduce your group members to the sources you have found. How would you explain to another student (or a professor, or someone from off-campus) why you are passionate about your top choices? Then, when everyone has shared their results, discuss the following: What are common themes that your topics share? What types of sources are you relying on in order to research your topic(s)? Pick the topic you are most interested in and begin discussing the following questions: Clearly state the topic and its context. What are your own views on this topic? What are the aspects you want to know more about? Why is the topic important?

3. Formulating Research Questions At the end of this class, you should have developed at least 5 research questions. Come up with your research question by responding to these prompts: What do you want to figure out? What do you want others to know? Why is it important for you/others to know the answers to your questions? How will the world, our community, you, etc. be better off as a result? What’s the purchase of your work? Why will others care? Are other scholars already working on this issue? If so, how will your project be new? Different? How will it be a contribution to the ongoing conversation?

4. Homework for Wednesday 1.Use the the research questions you formulated in class today and find five to eight scholarly sources pertaining to one topic (if you really can’t settle on a topic yet, two topics at most). 2.Post the links to these scholarly sources to our website /Sakai and write a blurb of about 50-80 words for each source about why this source would be helpful to your research. VideoVideo produced by Cornell University Libraries as refresher.