On the Nature of Inquiry

Welcome to "On the Nature of Academic and Intellectual Inquiry" (English 5314, 95922; STS 5424, 96468) a fall 2006 graduate course in the Department of English at Virginia Tech.

Course Description (abridged)
...Taking the distinction between academics and intellectuals as a starting point, we will look carefully at our judgments regarding the nature and purpose of academic research and inquiry. We will question the connection between academic research and inquiry and public debates on issues of your choosing (in, for example, the sciences, social sciences and humanities). Additionally, we will examine our intuitions regarding: the ways in which discipline-based inquiry is formulated, scripted and answered; the practical nature and performance of reading; the functions of citation and appeals to disciplinary, canonical and intellectual elites; the influence of implicit and explicit norms on the conduct of inquiry; and the possibilities of reflection and inquiry over time.