Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar ( IDS 175) TRUTH Final Project

"I AM THAT I AM"

Your Final Project for the course (counting for 125 pts, or 12.5%, of the course grade) will consist of a debate about our seminar focus: Truth.

Students will be organized into groups of 2 or 3 to debate with another group in their section a topic related our class discussions : To what extent can mathematics, science, language/literature, or philosophy (including religion and ethics) offer claims to truth?

The debates will take place during our final session, Monday, December 14, and each of you will be required to submit an individual written outline of your portion of the presentation, with any relevant documentation. The groups must also prepare an effective visual aid (PowerPoint, handouts, poster board, etc.) to delineate, support, or otherwise illustrate your position.

Early on in the second half of the semester, students will be assigned groups and select topics. Student input will be incorporated into topic assignments and formulation. Some class time during the second-module sessions will be allotted for project preparation, but students will also need to meet on their own. Some, though not extensive, research will be required. The final hour of the penultimate class session on Monday, December 7, will be devoted to Final Project preparation (following completion of section assessments). The 5 debates will occur on Monday, December 14, and each will have a total time limit of 30 minutes per debate. Each group will have 8-12 minutes, depending on group size, to present its position (so planning, organization, and concision will be essential), with the remaining 10 minutes allotted to follow up and audience discussion.

Project assessment will incorporate the quality of the written outlines, the effectiveness of the visual aids, and the content of the debate itself, during which we will be looking for such features as preparedness, professionalism, collegiality, perspicacity, and command of the topic. As a Final Project, your debates should manifest significant engagement with the issues that our seminar has raised.

Students will be provided with a rubric they will use to assess their colleagues' debates. Those assessments will factor into our Final Project grades.

Further details and guidelines regarding outlines, visual aids, and debate format will be presented and discussed in class.

Please note: as a result of the additional time and work devoted to Final Projects, the second-module sections will have a slightly modified schedule and assessment breakdown from the first-module sections. See our syllabi for details.