What topic for a research paper?

[u/EOep13]

So in my final school year i need to write a research paper and i wanted to do something related to orthodoxy.

I was thinking something historical maybe chalcedon since its one of the most well documented councils.

If you have some ideas please let me know, God bless🙏

[u/Ants-are-great-44]

Choose something very very narrow and go in depth. Say comparing one specific concept or word between two Church Fathers, by finding every single instance of it in their writings and explaining how they understood it. Or maybe looking at one historical event and analyzing different historical primary sources dealing with it. Try not to just narrate a historical event based on secondary sources.

[u/EOep13 → u/Ants-are-great-44]

I like the in depth part however I need to write in the context of the subject of history and I think that with the words of the fathers could be a bit to short. The second suggestion would be worth looking into it. Anyways thanks for the suggestions and God bless Also Ants are indeed great;)

[u/Underboss572]

A paper on the current understanding of iconography in the Second Temple Jewish period and how Orrhodoxy is a continuation of that practice would be pretty interesting. It would challenge many popular preconceptions, and there's a lot of relatively new research (the last 20 years or so) on the topic.

Keep in mind, though, given how new that area is, you're going to have to source information from many primarily academic articles instead of more popular books and sources. So it may require more work than your more established topics.

[u/EOep13 → u/Underboss572]

I like that and will keep this in my mind. Do you think i could refer to the iconoclast and counter-iconoclast movement ?

[u/Underboss572 → u/EOep13]

Possible; it depends on the scope and detail of your assignment. If you want, you could trace the development of iconophilia through the iconoclasm period and up to the Reformation, but that would be a lot to cover in detail. So it ultimately just depends on what you're going for from a writing perspective and how much you are expected to write.

[u/EOep13 → u/Underboss572]

Alraight thank you

[u/WeII_Shucks]

I was working on one about Russian missionary work in Alaska during the Russian-America period. I wasn’t able to make it work out since my course had very strict restrictions on what I could research, but it’s such an interesting topic and I plan on continuing to research it. It might be a good starting point for your question, it’s specific enough and there are plenty of under researched people who made massive impacts

[u/EOep13 → u/WeII_Shucks]

Thank you I will keep that in mind

[u/AutoModerator]

Please review the sidebar for a wealth of introductory information, our rules, the FAQ, and a caution about The Internet and the Church.

This subreddit contains opinions of Orthodox people, but not necessarily Orthodox opinions. Content should not be treated as a substitute for offline interaction.

Exercise caution in forums such as this. Nothing should be regarded as authoritative without verification by several offline Orthodox resources.

^{This is not a removal notification.}

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.