Reasoning and Evidence

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2015:

85 hours

Enrolment in 101AA Ph.D.- Arts or MR-ARTSTHS Master of Arts.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

Doctoral students are enjoined to provide reasons for their claims, raise possible objections to them, and reply to those objections. However, few students reflect at the meta-level on their arguments, or on such fundamental questions as “What is a good reason?” and “How can I tell how strongly my evidence supports my conclusion?” Reasoning & Evidence will examine the nature of evidence, argument maps, Bayesian maps, and required levels of evidence. Examples will come from many disciplines.

Dr Lengbeyer is be a visiting scholar with a background in applied math (Harvard), law (Yale), and philosophy (Stanford), and he is particularly qualified to discuss reasoning and evidence in many disciplines.

Students who completes this subject should have:

• enhanced knowledge of the topic or area of scholarship taught in the module,
• an ability to reflect upon their own research work in relation to the content of the module, and
• enhanced engagement with leading-edge research in Arts today.

• one 500-word essay proposal, due during the teaching period (20%)
• one 2,000-word essay, due at the end of the assessment period (80%)

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

The subjects will contribute, through teaching and discussion with academic staff and peers, to developing the skills and capacities identified in the University-defined Graduate Attributes for the PhD, in particular:

• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge,
• an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesise research-based and scholarly literature,
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field.