April, 21, 2004. Doctor Seminar Final Class

The final class will focus on a discussion of the nature of your profession and discipline, along the lines of the discussion we had with Professors Eastman, Augenbroe, Elliott and others. (As you recall, by "profession" we mean the body of individuals who are taking a common set of actions to solve an agreed-upon set of social problems; professions are usually provided a set of privileges because they accept an ethical requirement, such as engineers or architects who can stamp drawing because they by agree to be responsible for the health and welfare of the public. By"discipline" we mean the scholarly or research community that underpins or is linked to the profession. In some cases, such as medicine, innovation is led by the discipline, in others by the profession)

Please be prepared to talk for a few minutes about 1) some of the key problems and questions in your discipline and profession (this might be your whole discipline or profession, but it is probably better to discuss your sub-area); 2) the key journals and conferences in your discipline and profession; 3) any issues of the relationship of profession and discipline that you think might affect your work. If you don't know these you might want to talk to your advisor or your more senior student colleagues.

For your final paper: summarize questions 1-3 above in 1-2 pages and submit to me electronically by noon April 28.