Original Research Proposal, and Critical Thinking

Looking over my original proposal, to see how it's structured, and to see what can be re-used for my revised proposal. It turns out, not much. While I am focussing on the same general subject area, China's territorial claims in the South China Sea, my new proposal asks a different research question, examines a time period two decades later, and uses a different methodology. I'll be able to use some of the earlier readings, and some of the operationalization section, but otherwise it's pretty much a complete rewrite.

Looking at my notebook from the proseminar, I see that I picked out a great quote on critical thinking from one of our readings:

The heart of critical thinking is a willingness to face objections to one's own beliefs ... A willingness to adopt a skeptical attitude not only toward authority and toward views opposed to our own, but also toward common sense.

Current Issues and Enduring Questions, p. 4

Critical thinking is clearly the foundation of academic research, yet often is overlooked by Harvard departments when they organize symposia and invite Chinese officials to campus. See my essay about this.