Honors Program Course Proposal
Instructor: Robert Perret (Associate Professor, Library)
INTR 404: Special Topic 1 Credit Hour Sherlock Holmes and A Study in Scholarship
Either Fall 2017 or Spring 2018
Prefer weekdays between 9:30-4:30
Description:
Since the 1940s Sherlock Holmes enthusiasts have been publishing their own scholarly periodical, The Baker Street Journal, completely outside the framework of traditional academia. Can recreational scholarship be legitimate? What can we learn from people who have taken the substance of a scholarly discipline while disregarding traditional venues and authorities? Is this kind of intellectual work important or frivolous? Like Sherlock Holmes himself this class will observe the facts and deduce the causes to discover the truth. Ultimately each student will create an original Sherlockian article to submit to The Baker Street Journal.
Outcomes:
Critically think about and discuss academia, authority, structure and scholarly discourse (University Learning Outcome 2 – Think and Create, Library Learning Outcome 1 – Students can identify diverse perspectives for an issue and find sources that represent those perspectives)
Engage with a piece of literature for the purpose of creating novel, real-world scholarship (University Learning Outcome 1 – Learn and integrate)
Create a thesis, conduct a literature review, perform original research, compose a research paper, and submit it for publication (Library Learning Outcome 3 – Students can incorporate reliable sources of information into research projects using library-based and other information sources, Library Learning Outcome 4 – Clarify purpose and perspective, Library Learning Outcome 5 – Students will learn to respect intellectual property by using and attributing sources of information appropriately.)
Method of Evaluation:
A publishable paper appropriate for submission to The Baker Street Journal will be submitted by the end of the semester, and submitted to that journal.
Active, appropriate and informed participation in class discussions.
Demonstration that assigned readings were completed.
Assignments
Readings / Final PaperWeek 1 / “A Study in Scholarship”, (Perret, 2017)
“A Scandal in Bohemia” (Conan Doyle) / Read or Watch source material
Week 2 / “Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes” Knox
“The Five Orange Pips” (Conan Doyle) / Read or Watch source material
Brainstorm topics
Week 3 / “Winning the ‘Grand Game’” (Polacek)
“The Copper Beeches” (Conan Doyle) / Literature Review
Week 4 / “Bachies, Bardies, Trekkies, and Sherlockians” (Pearson)
“The Cardboard Box” (Conan Doyle) / Literature Review
Week 5 / “Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind (Graff, Palmquist, Schickler)
“The Greek Interpreter” (Conan Doyle) / Research
Week 6 /
“Challenging Ways Of Knowing: In English, Mathematics And Science” (Baker, Clay, Fox)
“The Naval Treaty” (Conan Doyle) / ResearchProposal/Annotated bibliography
Week 7 / “Imposters in the Temple” (Anderson)
“The Final Problem” (Conan Doyle) / Write
Week 8 / “Clap if you believe in Sherlock Holmes” (Maler)
“The Empty House” (Conan Doyle) / Write
Rough draft
End of semester / Paper submitted to instructor/Baker Street Journal
From: Baird, Lynn ()
Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2016 3:16 PM
To: Campbell, Alton () <>
Cc: Perret, Robert () <>
Subject: Support for honors seminar
Alton,
Robert Perret, a tenured librarian with rank of Associate Professor, works in the area of First-Year Experience librarianship. He has shown a great passion for instructing students in the classroom and working with them in developing their abilities in all aspects of the academic research process. I am enthusiastic about this exploration of new venues for our library faculty as they develop fresh ways to engage with students on important issues such as information literacy and critical thinking.
Thanks for considering his proposal for your program,
Lynn
Lynn N. Baird, Ph.D.
Dean, University Libraries
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive MS 2350
Moscow, ID 83844-2350