Module 5: Putting sources together
Scholarly conversation
Your research project is where you communicate the results of your research. This is where you enter what is known as a scholarly conversation.
Imagine yourself in a heated conversation with several people on a topic you feel strongly about: politics, religion, movies, gaming, etc. Each person in the conversation has a different perspective and has a different piece of information to share with the group. At the end of the conversation you've learned something new, and if you've kept an open mind, you may have walked away thinking differently about the topic.
Scholars--professors, researchers, students, etc.--formally converse in their writing, presentations, and other research-based works. When scholars have new information to contribute to a growing body of knowledge, they rely on what other scholars have learned and communicated before them to augment their own new knowledge.
Scholarly conversation is a continuous process of building knowledge. It started when humans began communicating their ideas, and it is continuously updated with new research, knowledge, and information that drives scholarly disciplines--and society--forward.