Courses Linked to the PIT Journal

Although The People, Ideas, and Things (PIT) Journal is deliberately multi-disciplinary, it is also purposefully integrated into UNC's Writing Program with support from the department of English and Comparative Literature and the Office for Undergraduate Research.

A number of different courses are connected to the PIT Journal including specially designated sections of English 102 along with advanced writing and literature classes. In each of these cases, classes that are linked with the PIT Journal have a particular focus on supporting undergraduate research and exploring a variety of opportunities for undergraduates to make their research public, especially through affiliation with of our annual scholarly conferences and academic publishing in our peer-reviewed journal.

The primary mission of the PIT Journal is to open up the opportunities for undergraduates to participate in the active and vibrant intellectual community of research scholars here at UNC and we accomplish this goal in part through the courses that are coordinated with the journal by teaching students how to write in the research genres customary to academic disciplines.

In the spring of 2012, the following English 102 sections will be linked to the PIT Journal.

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Students enrolled in these sections will conduct original research in their major using research methods appropriate for their chosen field of study. Students will share their research publicly by writing a conference proposal, preparing a conference presentation, and writing up the results of their research as an article manuscript or multi-media project. Instruction in these sections will focus on introducing students to these genres and guiding them through the academic publishing process by submitting to the PIT "Works in Progress" Undergraduate Research Conference and the PIT Journal.

In partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Research, specially designated PIT courses are supported with a Graduate Research Consultant (GRC). A GRC is a graduate student who serves as a resource for undergraduates who are conducting original research. The GRC program is run by the Office of Undergraduate Research and reflect's the univeristy's commitment to supporting and valuing the contributions undergraduates can and do make to our intellectual community. Additional information about GRC support for PIT sections will be posted as soon as it is available.

Advantages of taking a specially designated PIT course supported by a GRC include:

• practical hands-on introduction to conducing original research,
• guidance using research methods effectively and in ways appropriate to your chosen academic discipline,
• practice writing in research genres customary to your chosen academic discipline,
• an opportunity to apply to present your research at an academic conference (proposals are peer-reviewed and competitively selected; all students will be invited to attend the PIT Undergraduate Research Conference but not all students in PIT classes will be invited to present their research)
• an opportunity to submit your research for publication in a scholarly peer-reviewed academic journal (article manuscipts and multi-media projects are peer-reviewed and competitively selected; not all students in PIT classes will  be invited to publish their reseach)

Because specially designated PIT courses are supported by GRCs through the Office of Undergraguate Research, students who successfully complete these courses fulfill one of the three requirements of the Carolina Research Scholars Program (CRSP).

Additionally, students who are competitively selected to present their research at the PIT Undergraduate Research Conference can fulfill a second CRSP requirement.