As you move forward in your academic and professional careers, you will encounter many different perspectives around topics you are engaged in. One of the hallmarks of an open-minded person is the ability to recognize and appreciate the value of looking through different lenses to arrive at informed views. In this course, you have begun examining the world through the four lenses of the liberal arts.
For this project, you will go through the process of finding information on a topic of interest to you and viewing this topic through different lenses to get a more complete picture of the topic and its impact on you. This project will be based on one of the following topics and its provided resources in the library guide, which you chose in Module Three:
Voting rights
Climate change
Justice
Directions
Read these directions and the rubric criteria. Check to make sure that you understand each requirement, and reach out to your instructor if you have any questions before you begin.
Note: Your grade will be based more on the quality of your responses than on the number of examples you provide.
Introduction: The Four Lenses
Using the resources from this course, identify the characteristics of each of the four liberal arts lenses, the types of evidence they use, and the similarities and differences among them.
Identify the key characteristics of each of the four lenses: social science, natural science, history, and the humanities.
Be sure to include relevant points that help explain the characteristics.
Identify the types of evidence used when looking through each lens.
Determine similarities and differences among the lenses, based on the characteristics you have identified.
Researching Your Topic
For the topic you selected from the list above, determine what you know, what you want to know, and what you have learned about the topic from the provided resources in the library guide. You will need to use each of the four lenses in your responses.
Know (K): Draw on previous and personal experiences to provide information about what you already know about your topic in relation to each lens.
Want to know (W): Determine what you want to know about your topic in relation to the lenses.
Be sure to phrase this information in the form of questions.
What keywords would be helpful in exploring your topic?
Learned (L): Answer the questions you posed about your topic using the provided resources in the library guide. If they are not answered by the resources, explain what steps you will take to answer them.
Applying the Lenses to Your Topic
Choose two of the four lenses you applied when researching your topic, and examine the topic in greater detail.
Topic and first lens: Examine your topic through your first lens.
Be sure to identify the lens you selected.
Write about what you learned in your examination. Use details and examples relevant to that lens from the resources in the library guide and the course.
Topic and second lens: Examine your topic through your second lens.
Be sure to identify the lens you selected.
Write about what you learned in your examination. Use details and examples relevant to that lens from the resources in the library guide and the course.
Similarities and differences: Explain the similarities and differences in how the lenses relate to your topic.
Focus on the view you get when looking at your topic through both lenses.
Further exploration: Determine the next steps for further exploration of the topic you have chosen.
Determine questions to ask for further exploration of this topic. Would you continue to explore through the lenses you’ve chosen, or take another approach?
What to Submit
To complete this project, you must submit a three- to four-page Word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double spacing, and one-inch margins. Be sure to use and cite the articles provided for your topic. Consult the Shapiro Library Citing Your Sources Guide for more information on citations.
