First-year writing seminars are a rite of passage for all Princeton students, introducing you to the research and writing skills you need to craft an independent research paper. But what comes next? For many undergraduates, sophomore year is a year-long pause before you actually get to apply those independent research skills in your JP. The Princeton Writing Program’s sophomore research seminars offer an alternative.
I took one of these courses during my sophomore year, and I can assure you that they are not “Writing Sem 2.0.” Instead, they give you the opportunity to craft your own research project around a topic that truly interests you, bridging the gap between your first-year writing seminar and your JP.
I took WRI220/221: The Writing’s on the Wall, which helped me construct an independent, humanistic research project using Princeton’s campus as an archive. My class attracted students from lots of different backgrounds and majors, and our topics and approaches varied widely. One classmate, for example, investigated the accessibility of prayer spaces on campus, while another researched the effects of construction noise around campus on student wellbeing.
As a (then) prospective African American Studies major, I chose to explore how Blackness has been taught in Princeton courses over time, diving deeply into Princeton’s archived syllabi dating back to the early nineteenth century. You don’t need any research experience to take these classes, as they are structured to support you through the whole research process, from identifying a research topic to realizing it into an actual piece of scholarship. I received guidance as I identified a topic that interested me, developed an original research question, and considered potential approaches to answer that question. I also consulted with Princeton’s research librarians and received training in new research skills, like digital mapping and data visualization, which I have been able to carry into my JP and senior thesis. I also sought out advice and mentorship from scholars in African American Studies, which helped guide my project and led me to make connections within my future department. In the end, I identified long-standing trends of Black exclusion, dehumanization, and exploitation in Princeton courses, which I used to help contextualize contemporary discussions of curricular reform. I converted my research into a JP-length paper, which I have been able to present at conferences. While my thesis focuses on a very different topic than my sophomore project, I have drawn extensively on the training in archival research, digital humanities, and data synthesis that I received in my sophomore seminar. WRI 220/221 gave me an introduction to the work that researchers are conducting in my field and helped prepare me for independent research at Princeton and beyond.
While my final project ended up being a traditional research paper, the sophomore seminars also offer a great deal of flexibility in the kinds of final projects you can pursue, so they are also great if you’re interested in public-facing projects, digital humanities, policy memos, or any other kind of research output.
The grading is grounded primarily in short, weekly assignments with less weight on your final project, which gives you the flexibility to take risks and explore new approaches that really interest you.
The courses are also offered in a variety of disciplines outside of the humanities, including the arts, social sciences, and even traditional scientific research.
The sophomore research seminars are a fantastic way to explore research in your second year, guiding you through the research process from conception to completion, and equipping you with the tools to construct similar projects on your own in the future. If you are at all interested in research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, I highly encourage you to apply!
– Alison Fortenberry, Social Sciences Correspondent
