<p>I think I heard that there are separate "research" courses worth some credits going into your degree, where there the research is done with professor or done independently under professor's supervision.
Is research always in a form of credit course?
Thanks.</p>
<p>Depends on your university.</p>
<p>At mine, research is not a course. It's just expected.</p>
<p>At Penn there are a series of courses labelled "independent study" with course numbers ending in 98 & 99. Those are where we humanities types get our undergrad, "for credit" research done. </p>
<p>In Classics, for example, 398 is the research part of an Honors Thesis.</p>
<p>Every school is different though - your advisor will be able to point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>WilliamC,
if you are intereted in Phd programs in subjects like History and Classics, is this how you do your "research". What else is important for humanities Phds? Because I know for sciences and economics you can do research with professors, but you can't really do it like that with humanities (or can you?) Any enlightenment you should shed for me would be appreciated.</p>
<p>wilmingtonwave,</p>
<p>At most colleges and universities, in fields like History and Classics, students do indeed do independent studies with professors. Just create a topic, preferably with a beginning bibliography, approach the appropriate professor, and ask. </p>
<p>However, I know that many of my colleagues will not do independent studies on topics covered in detail in upper-level courses. Many professors will also refuse to do independent studies with non-majors, or with students who have not already taken upper level courses in the particular discipline.</p>
<p>But you cannot know how things work at your own university until you ask!</p>
<p>Best wishes to you.</p>
<p>And if your university offers you the opportunity to do research for credit, it can be a nice boost for your GPA. ;) Just sayin'.</p>
<p>Wilmington - that's pretty much it. Generally, in the humanities, my experience (mainly Classics) has been that research tends to be an individual thing. Obviously, in things like Archaeology, the situation is more like a physical science where you have field work, labs, and so forth.</p>
<p>On a personal basis, I can suggest that the best ideas for research have come from reading other people's recently published work. Very often, I'll find a paragraph that says something like "... an area that deserves further study...". </p>
<p>If it catches my interest, I'll hit JSTOR and the other online sources first to see what's current, and if it looks promising, I'll try to get together a bibliography and then run it by one of our professors at a colloquium (we have 'em every Thursday). If it still looks good, I'll email the original author from my academic address and ask if they have pursued the topic. If not, it MIGHT turn into an actual project. </p>
<p>The real problem is not so much finding a topic but finding time and resources to follow up on all the good ideas.</p>