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  5. Portuguese Seminar - 2nd semester

Portuguese Seminar - 2nd semester

Objectives

This seminar aims to develop the necessary skills to develop a high quality research itinerary in
Human Sciences. The concepts of truth, and epistemology, will be discussed in order to understand
the present scientific conjuncture. Each student will be asked to choose a theme for a final paper
(monograph, scientific essay) to be elaborated in accordance with the usual steps necessary to
achieve any theoretical work. Also, the efforts to consolidate the best methodological practices, will
be supplemented with the new tools available: academic software - for data gathering,
organization, writing and scientific presentation. The student will achieve:
a) To know how to prepare a monograph oriented on a scientific area of Portuguese and
Comparative Studies;
b) Develop autonomous research capacities in the field of the Human Sciences (and others).

General characterization

Code

711091137

Credits

12

Responsible teacher

Helena Barbas

Hours

Weekly - 4

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

None

Bibliography

Bachelard, Gaston. «O Novo Espírito Científico». Ed. 70, Lisboa. 1996.
Descartes, René. «O Discurso do Método». Ed. 70, Lisboa. 1990.
Heidegger, Martin. «Sobre a Essência da Verdade». Porto Editora, Porto. 1995.
Kuhn, Thomas S. «The Structure of Scientific Revolutions». U. of Chicago Press, London. 1970 (2ª.).
Paradis, James G. e Muriel Zimmerman. «The MIT Guide to Science and Engineering
Communication». MIT Press, Mass. 2002 (2ª.).
Recursos digitais:
Critical Thinking on the Web - http://austhink.com/critical/
Mendeley - https://www.mendeley.com
Homepage: http://www.helenabarbas.net/aulas/

Teaching method

Lecturing with multimedia support (60%); class discussions and analysis of oral and written texts, presentation and discussion of student papers (40%).

Evaluation method

Evaluation method: a critical review/commentary of one of the books from the bibliography (20%); a short essay / Monograph oriented by the teacher on a topic to be proposed (18,000 characters / 12 pages - 60%); oral presentation of the monograph together with interventions in class (20%). End of semester exam: the test (50%) and the scheduled exercises (50%) will contribute equally to the final grade.

Subject matter

The Truth(s) of Science(s)
1. Epistemology and paradigm shifts. The Beautiful and Truth. Scientific spirit and artistic creativity.
The desktop revolution. The specificity of Human Sciences.
2. Texts, languages, speeches. Operative concepts: characteristics of the scientific rhetoric.
Instances of discourse and subjectivity.
3. Literary research. Textology and Literature auxiliary sciences. New tools for research, bibliography
gathering, and electronic citation.
4. Theses, monographs, essays, posters. Strategies for the elaboration and presentation of scientific
papers. Criteria for national and / or international submission.
5. From written presentations to oral performance. Visual aid tools.