I. CONTENT
Classics is a broad and multi-faceted discipline which attempts to reveal the nature of the Graeco-Roman world through the study of language, literature, history, art, archaeology, religion, mythology, and philosophy. It is also accessible to the perspectives and techniques of comparative literature, the social sciences, and women's studies. Legitimate and significant areas of study are possible within each of these general areas. How is the student to go about selecting a topic suitable for Independent Study? The Handbook for Independent Study states: "A well-selected thesis or project should be governed by such considerations as the significance of the subject for personal intellectual development, the progress of professional understanding, and the needs of society."
The topic should be related to the student's intellectual development and total academic experience, including concerns or issues developed through earlier training. We encourage students to develop topics from their previous course work and reading. One might pursue an intriguing issue that arose in class discussion, for example, or expand upon an earlier paper.
The topic should lead toward a deeper understanding of the field; it should be significant, up-to-date, and open to further inquiry. Outdated topics should be avoided. For example, a study of the Iliad and the Odyssey restricted to the largely discarded theories of the "Analysts" and "Unitarians," though pertinent to the history of Homeric scholarship, could not be expected to yield much that is new or enlightening about the composition of the Homeric poems. Students should, likewise, avoid topics on which little previous research has been done, or on which a single source is regarded as so exhaustive and magisterial as to preclude further research and discussion.
In choosing a topic, students should take into account a number of practical considerations.
1) Personal background and ability
Be sure the topic is within the range of your abilities as determined by your previous course work and reading. For instance, a student who lacks previous training in Greek archaeology or Roman history would be ill-advised to choose topics in these areas. This holds especially true in the area of linguistics and in forms of literary criticism that call for a discriminating sensitivity to the nuances of language; students who choose to work in these areas should be sure they have had adequate preparation in Greek and/or Latin.
Be sure that the topic is not so broad that the necessary research cannot be completed within the limited amount of time. Very broad topics such as "Roman Education," "The Sophists," or "The Olympic Games" are for this reason unsatisfactory. Students should also avoid a topic that would demand a detailed familiarity with the entire corpus of a prolific writer such as Cicero or Plato. The selection of a suitable topic often involves the investigation of a general area of study from a particular perspective, for instance, "Women in Roman Politics," "The Linear B Tablets and Greek Religion," or "Achilles and the Heroic Value System." One should also be certain that there exists a sufficient bibliography to support extensive research.
Students should expect to make heavy use of the library resources.
Of the current holdings in The College of Wooster libraries, thousands
are in the classical field and can support general research on
most subjects. The reference section contains all the standard
items, and the most important of these are listed at the end of
this guide (cf. "Appendix I"). The library subscribes
to every important classical periodical published in English.
Necessary materials that are not among the holdings of The College
of Wooster libraries can often be acquired within CONSORT,
through OhioLINK,
or through Interlibrary Loan; students are reminded of the regulations
that govern the use of Interlibrary Loan as stated in the Handbook
for Independent Study. Students should also become familiar
with electronic resources, such as the Database for Classical
Bibliography (on CD-ROM), Perseus
(on the Web), the Année
Philologique on the Internet, and the TLG and PHI CD-ROMs.
A successful paper has a clear thesis. The purpose of a research
paper is not merely to explore the topic but also to raise a significant
question about it and then answer it as fully as possible. You
should formulate this question clearly before beginning your research
and keep it mind while writing the paper. You should, if possible,
construct a logical and convincing argument to support your answer.
All the material you discuss in the paper should bear an identifiable
relationship to your question, and you should summarize your answer,
or thesis, at the end of the paper.