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Ayden Bremner Disciplinary Research Worksheet LS300-03 October 12, 2009 My emphasis area is in the Humanities. They are a rich cache of exciting expressions that, while experiencing cutbacks at colleges during these times, are also indisputably valuable to culture. So, while the Humanities may be underfunded, they will still always exist and hold relevance. They point the way to higher insights of thought and feeling—those things that make us human. (I chose this emphasis over the Creative Arts because I have enough creative arts in my life as hobbies and in my profession. I felt it more pertinent to study an area I require more exposure to, and which will most likely aid me in my teaching career in the future.) 1. Definition/Description of the Emphasis Area Plus Citation(s) Professor Rex Beddis defines the humanities in terms of developing understanding, knowledge, skills and values in the context of learning about “human beliefs, experiences and behavior, and the expression of these. In his definition, humanities education is concerned with the following: It is about the past, as things were; the present—as things are; the future—what things are likely to be and what they might/ought to be. It is about individual experience, about groups and nations and the whole human experience. It is concerned with the immediate and local, and with the distant and global. It is concerned with the relationships between people, between people and environment, and relationships between people and their spiritual worlds.” (Beddis qtd. by Stephen Ward) 2. Discipline #1 Definition Plus Citation(s) “Transpersonal psychology integrates spiritual wisdom and practices with the insights and methods of psychology. The discipline offers both a fuller and richer understanding of human psychology and a more psychologically sophisticated approach to spiritual development. As an expression of Naropa's contemplative educational approach, the MA in Transpersonal Psychology guides students into a transformational relationship with themselves and their world. Integrating theoretical, experiential and service aspects of transpersonal psychology, the MA explores optimal mental health, transformation and selftranscendence, mindfulness and meditative practices, ritual, the integration of the personal and transpersonal, and the applications of spirituality in the world and our daily lives” (Naropa University) 0 3. Discipline #2 Definition Plus Citation What Geography is and where it came from as described by R.J. Johnston is simply, “earth description”. It has a long pedigree. It differs between subject histories such as local mythologies and disciplinary histories such as those in Universities. Geography’s popularity arose in 19th century Europe due to curiosity as well as to assuage the interest of expansion-minded investors. They asked of the new Geographical maps (patterns of the dresses of Mother Earth) “What are the material needs of these emerging markets of the world?” (Johnston, “Fragmentation..” p 139) Part Two: Disciplinary Research Discipline #1 in Your Emphasis Area Research: Name of Discipline: Psychology 4. Summary of a Central Theory in Discipline #1 (Be sure to identify the theorist) plus Citation(s) A central learning theory in Psychology is that of constructivism. Researcher J. Bruner in 1960 theorized a four-step structure which is 1) that the learner should be predisposed to learning. 2) curriculum should be organized in a spiral manner to build upon what has already been learned 3) instructor and learner should engage in Socratic dialogue (question/answer) 4) there should be nature and pacing of reward/punishment. “A major theme in the theoretical framework of Bruner is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge. The learner selects and transforms information, constructs hypotheses, and makes decisions, relying on a cognitive structure to do so. Cognitive structure (i.e., schema, mental models) provides meaning and organization to experiences and allows the individual to "go beyond the information given". 5. Disciplinary Definition/Explanation of a Central Concept that is of interest to you in Discipline #1 plus Citation(s) In the discipline of Psychology, the term minority stress is the chronic social stress that minorities experience as a result of social stigmatization. It is not stress that results from other factors, rather, it is caused by repeated exposure to anti-minority images, policies, and language in one’s culture and community. Recent studies will be published by the American Psychological Association which correlate more stress among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people as the result of recent amendments passed in their communities banning same-sex marriage. (APA website) 1 - 6. Description of a Common Academic Research Method or Technique in Discipline #1 Plus Citation(s): In Psychology the case study is described by the United States National Library of Medicine as “an uncontrolled (prospective or retrospective) observational study involving an intervention and outcome in a single patient. It is also known as a single case report or anecdote.) Discipline #2 Research: Name of Discipline : Geography 7. Summary of a Central Theory in Discipline #2 (Be sure to identify the theorist) Plus Citation(s): Walter Christaller developed the Central Place Theory in Geography to explain the size and spacing of cities that specialize in selling goods and services. The theory consists of two basic concepts: 1) threshold-- the minimum market needed to bring a firm or city selling goods and services into existence and to keep it in business 2) range -- the average maximum distance people will travel to purchase goods and services The range changed dramatically with the introduction of catalogs such as Sears in the 1800’s and now with the Internet. (Vogeler, Univ. Wisconsin ) 8. Disciplinary Definition/Explanation of a Central Concept in Discipline #2 plus Citation Just as a global geography exists, so does regional geography. The concept of Regional Geography states that all of Geography is basically a regional, local study. Unique combinations are to be found. “The surface is comprised of interrelations of characteristics in specific areas. The things geographers deal with on the face of the earth are not uniformly distributed over it”. (Peet, Modern.. 82) 9. Description of a Common Research Method or Technique in Discipline #2 Plus Citation(s) NOTE: Be sure to describe adequately what each method entails. Remember, methods are established ways of gathering information or data. A survey is one example of a method. Another way to think of it is this: how do people in your discipline find answers to questions or problems? 10. Description of a Disciplinary Lens: Describe how practitioners of either Discipline #1 or Discipline #2 (the one you most closely associate yourself with) “see the world” ie, how do they approach problems in their field. What kind of problems do they investigate and how do their view them? Be sure to give examples of problems. Cite your sources. 2 - Works Cited Beddis. Qtd. in Arroyo, Ciriaco Moron. The Humanities in the Age of Technology Bruner, J. http://tip.psychology.org/bruner.html Johnson, R.J.. “Fragmentation around a Defended Core: The Territoriality of Geography”. The Geopraphical Journal. Vol. 164, No. 164. 2 July 1998 pp 139-147. Naropa University. www.naropa.edu/academics/graduate/psychology/tcp/matp/index.cfm National Library of Medicine. www.nlm.nih.gov/nichsr/hta101/ta101014.html Peet, Richard. Modern Geographical Thought. Wiley Blackwell. London: 1998. Rotosky, Sharon Scales, Ellen D. B. Riggle, Angela D. Miller. “Marriage Amendments and Psychological Distress in Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) Adults”. 2009: Journal of Counseling Psychology, Vol. 56, No. 1. http://www.apa.org/releases/glbt-stress-1108.html Vogeler, Ingolf. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Geography webpage. 30 March 1996 http://www.uwec.edu/geography/ivogeler/w111/urban.htm Ward, Stephen. Education Studies: A Student’s Guide. London, Routledge: 2004. 3