A Short History of the Research & Publish Lab
The CEU offers small grants for developing teaching formats. The philosophy department applied for such a teaching development grant. It suggested the Philosophy Research and Publish Lab.
The first edition of the R&P-Lab took place over the Autumn Semester 2015 and was taught along as part of a 4 credit-point course: 2 CPs attached to the Lab and 2 CPs attached to a standard course. The Lab was directed by Maria Kronfeldner, who was assisted by Matthew Baxendale. The PhD and MA students participating to the course and Lab activities were Errol Ball, Anna Kocsis, Michele Luchetti, Garrett Mindt, Katsiaryna Suryna, Katalin Turai, and Alin Varciu.
The second edition of the R&P-Lab took place over the Autumn Semester 2016, as part of another 4 credit-point course. The Lab was again directed by Maria Kronfeldner, who was assisted this time by Michele Luchetti. The PhD and MA participants were Olesya Bondarenko, Caglan Dilek, Jamie Elliott, Murat Gulsacan, Noha Hendi, Anders Yuk-Pui Lam.
The Aim and Structure of Bringing a Course and a Know-How Lab Together
Broadly speaking the project had two primary aims. The first was to develop the know-how skill of students undertaking the course; developing their skills in several areas of tacit knowledge that is essential in academia. The second aim was to embed the tacit knowledge within the structure and learning process of a more-or-less standard course. This allows for the integration of tacit knowledge (know-how) with actual study assignments and new information (know-that). The integration of know-how and know-that created a dynamic and self-reflecting learning process, rather than abstract, dry, or ‘disembodied’ training.
Three kinds of know-how we target
Different formats of philosophy texts: Why write term papers if you later have to publish book reviews, research papers, peer reviews, etc? – The lab aims to transmit know-how on how to write different formats of philosophy texts.
Research tools: Ever heard of “Web of Science” and what is a citation circle? – How to use professional databases for research increasingly becomes important for research. It is easy to find something in the internet or the library, but much harder to find the needle in the haystack. The Lab aims to transmit knowledge on how to find good philosophy resources without spending too much time on that step in research.
Publication: Who’s afraid of peer-review? To publish one’s research results is not a secret trade. The Philosophy R&P-Lab aims to use peer learning methods itself so that students learn to use them. The Lab also discusses relevant knowledge about the world of publishing (journal rankings, indices, etc.) and invites guests (e.g. editors from Journals) to discuss with students about publication strategies and experiences.
The future: Making it more modular but keep it connected to actual student projects. Already in the second edition, we planned things a bit more modular so that ultimately, the Lab can happen independent of a course, which will always exclude those students that have no interest in the specific course topic. This year, in Nov 2017, we try the first stand-alone R&P-Lab Workshop, for MA students. As part of their mandatory Work-in-Progress seminar. It will focus on the second targeted know-how area: Exploring your field with professional databases.
The Lab is directed and by Maria Kronfeldner. The site has been created by Matthew Baxendale. It has been kept up-to-date in 2016-17 by Michele Luchetti. It is currently kept up-to-date by Maria Kronfeldner.
CEU Philosophy R&P LAB 