You will complete a 10-12 page interdisciplinary research paper on a topic of interest to you that is not covered in detail in this course. A good starting point for ideas is the Annotated Bibliography that is available through the class webpage. Another good starting point is all the readings we have been doing this semester. You might want to bring your disciplinary perspective to bear on this assignment: computer science students may delve more deeply into AI and programming; philosophy students may explore the work of philosophers in more detail; psychology students may focus on some aspect of work in cognitive psychology; biology students may look at issues raised by work in neuroscience or other biological perspectives; students in other disciplines may choose to look at research with applications in those disciplines. But you should be sure that your paper is interdisciplinary. You will want to begin your research early; many sources are available online or on reserve in the library, but many of you will want to use the MOBIUS Interlibrary Loan Service, and this can take a little time. Many of the books in the Annotated Bibliography are available at the Truman Library.
To be interdisciplinary, your paper should explore its topic from the perspective of more than one "paradigm". This may mean looking at a topic from the perspective of multiple disciplines (for example, looking at particular brain activities or lesions from both a biological perspective and a psychological perspective) or looking at a topic from the perspective of multiple "paradigms" within a single discipline (for example, looking at how work in robotics is done from the traditional symbolic AI perspective and from the perspective of Embodied Cognition.) I expect that most of you will choose to bring in the perspectives of multiple disciplines. I highly recommend that, as you start to think about and clarify a topic, you come into my office and discuss your thinking with me. I can both try to direct you to relevant sources and help you to narrow or broaden your topic as appropriate.
You are expected to follow the conventions of academic prose and formatting as detailed in the MLA or APA manuals. (Other formatting conventions are okay if you talk to me first.) You are welcome to take advantage of the Consultants at the Writing Center. You will have feedback on your first draft from the professor.