THE BRICK


Making unsupported claims and sweeping generalizations bedevils public discourse, and it's not welcome in academic work.

 

For that reason, we need a burden to remind all of you about NOT making such mistakes.  I chose a brick because it is heavy and serves as a handy metaphor. Think of a good academic project as a masonry building made of well chosen claims (bricks, lumber) and evidence (mortar and fasteners that bind the claims and make them strong). By itself a brick is nothing but potential, unrealized and not very pretty.

 

I will award an actual brick, painted with instructions, that the recipient is to keep it in class until an unsupported claim or generalization, made verbally or in writing, gets qualified to my satisfaction with a blog post.

 

If the claim is never qualified, I will reduce the course grade by a +/-.