The Longer Paper (The "Tripos" System):

Every seminar member will write one longer paper of fifteen to twenty pages. The paper topics will be discussed ahead of time, and each member's individual topic must be preapproved. The longer papers will be handled in true seminar style. We will follow Cambridge University's "tripos" system. This system, developed in the earliest days of the university system in the Middle Ages, is named after the three-legged stool on which students would sit when being questioned by their examiners. We will dispense with the stool but proceed with the system in theory.

On predetermined seminar meetings we will address the longer paper of one member of the seminar. That member will be responsible for distributing his or her paper to every member of the seminar (including the instructor) at least two days prior to the discussion of the paper–this can be done either on paper or via e-mail (Microsoft Word documents only, please (save in either .doc or .rtf format); a link will be placed on the home page from which you can easily send papers to the entire seminar). Monday papers must be out by noon Friday; Wednesday papers by noon Monday; Friday papers by noon Wednesday. Seminar members will scrutinize the paper, and, at the beginning of the seminar meeting, a "wrangler" will be appointed by the instructor. It is for that student--the wrangler--to begin discussion by critiquing the paper and questioning its author (for perhaps 10 minutes). The wrangler's "job" is to spur discussion by all seminar members, to raise interesting points, to debate spurious claims, to both praise and criticize inadequacies. Both the wrangler and the wranglee, if you will, will be graded on their performance. Once the discussion is complete, the author will have three weeks to revise the paper and resubmit it along with the original to the instructor.

Seminar Paper Schedule

Dealing With Sources and Format

If you use online images, you can use the color printer in the library (.15 per page). You can also copy color images from books at the Printing Center in the basement of Woodburn (.32 per page); however, the color copier in the Printing Center is unreliable. You can also color copy at Sand Creek Printing (128 East Illinois in Spearfish) for .75 per page.

Images from the Internet or other books should be clearly documented and included with your paper as appendices and should be referred to within your paper as "appendix one," etc. Specific texts seminar members are not familiar with should also be included as appendices. It is vitally important that seminar members be able to see the images and read the texts you will be discussing. You will need to figure out the best way to insure that.

Since this is an upper level class, there are certain reasonable expectations about your ability to write essays and papers in a scholarly manner. Any work that is turned in should be well-researched, properly-documented using current and correct format, spell-checked, proofread, grammatically correct, and compositionally-sound. Noteworthy and irritating lapses in writing will affect grades. Issues that arise should be dealt with in one of three ways: through consultation of the MLA Handbook, or Thinking and Writing About Philosophy (on reserve in the library); through consultation with the instructor; or through consultation with the on-campus writing tutors. All work is to be typed, double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, and properly formatted and documented. Papers must be handed in on time. Papers handed in late will receive a one grade deduction for each class/meeting it is late. If deadlines weren’t important, they wouldn’t begin with "dead."

Plagiarism is the theft of someone else's ideas and work. Plagiarism is the most serious crime in academia and will not be tolerated. The word "plagiarism" is derived from the Latin plagarius, which means, literally, "to kidnap"; when you plagiarize you are kidnapping someone else’s baby, stealing their offspring, i.e., their ideas. Whether a student copies verbatim or simply rephrases the ideas of another without properly acknowledging the source, the theft is the same. In the preparation of work submitted to meet seminar requirements, whether a draft or a final version of a paper, project, or computer program, students must take great care to distinguish their own ideas and language from information derived from sources. Sources include published primary and secondary materials, the Internet, and information and opinions gained directly from other people. Whenever ideas or facts are derived from a student's reading and research, the sources must be properly cited. The instructor will use the University subscription to turnitin.com when necessary.

It is the student's responsibility to learn the proper forms of citation according to standards delineated by Black Hills State University. Students who have questions about the standards of scholarly writing should speak with their instructors before beginning research on assigned papers and projects. Violations include, at the discretion of the instructor, failure for the individual paper to failure for the seminar; such violations may be entered in the student’s permanent academic record, and upon multiple offenses the Dean may recommend expulsion from the University.

You must, in every instance, give credit for ideas that are not your own. If you are unclear about the meaning of plagiarism, see the instructor. Technical matters (of documentation and format) can be resolved by consultation of The MLA Handbook for Writers (5^th edition) available both in the BHSU bookstore and in the library.

A Note About Research and Sources

Secondary sources are not necessary for your shorter papers; however, they are not only necessary but are required for the longer paper. Do not use Internet websites as secondary sources. This does not include the use of online journal databases (such as ProQuest, SearchBank, or JSTOR), online bibliographic information and databases, nor does it include the use of primary sources and texts one may find on the Internet. You will undoubtedly need to make use of interlibrary loan. You can easily request materials on interlibrary loan from the SDLN catalogue page by clicking the "Submit ILL Request" blue button on the catalogue entry page. Of course, your seminar texts can serve as sources as well, and they probably make good starting places. Beginning this semester, you will have to use you BH e-mail address in order to login to the library databases and use interlibrary loan.

It will be imperative, as you read, to consult a dictionary (a good dictionary) for explanation of technical jargon. However, do not use general use dictionaries as sources in papers; consult a specialized science or philosophy dictionary.

These items provide excellent articles and, more importantly, excellent and current bibliographies. You should still avoid using them directly as sources for papers, but they are good starting places and excellent resources for definitions of terms or complex theories.

-Encyclopedia of Philosophy: this 8 volume encyclopedia remains one of the standard references in philosophy: Reference Collection B41 .E5

-Dictionary of the History of Science: Reference Collection Q125 .D45

-McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms: Reference Collection Q123 .M34 1994

-Oxford Companion to Philosophy: Reference Collection B51 .094 1995

-Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy: Reference Collection B41 .B53 1994