Davis Faculty Fellow Spotlight

faith smith

"In the process of crafting sequenced assignments for, and discussing them with, the members of the Davis Program, I realize that in my regular assignments I expect students to know where I am going with an idea, but I don't communicate with them how to get there—or rather, how they and I are trying over 14 weeks to meet each other through a dialogue."

—Professor Faith Smith (Afro- and African-American Studies, English)

Writing Assignments Developed by the Davis Grant

When using these or modifications of these assignments, please give us credit by including the phrase "developed through the Davis Grant, Brandeis University."

Biology

  • Assignment on citation: part one (pdf), part two (pdf)
  • Reading a research paper: part one (pdf), part two (pdf)
  • Assignment on the overview of a research paper (pdf)
  • Assignment on the introduction of a research paper (pdf)
  • Assignment on the material and methods of a research paper (pdf)
  • Tips on how to catch and correct common mistakes (pdf)
  • Tips on how to write about science for a general audience (pdf)
  • The parts of a research essay (pdf)
  • Tips on finding references (pdf)
  • Tips on revising and editing (pdf)

English 

  • Close-reading assignment on poetry, with pre-draft (doc)
  • Research assignment (doc)

Near Eastern and Judaic Studies

  • Pre-draft assignment: topic proposal outline (doc)
  • Pre-draft assignment: annotated bibliography (doc)
  • Assignment to develop summarizing and critiquing skills (doc)
  • Comparative paper assignment, 7 - 10 pages (doc)
  • Comparative essay assignment, 750 - 1000 words (doc)

Politics

  • Case study (doc)
  • Short paper using narrative evidence (doc)
  • Sequenced term paper (doc)

Sociology 

  • Institutional Study (doc)
  • Institutional Study with Further Analysis (doc)