SENIOR YEAR PROGRAM
2005-2006

Try to think of your senior year program as a connected whole. The central elements are:

the College Seminar, taught in the fall;

a sustained year-long investigation in the form of either an Honors Thesis or a Senior Project.

In close consultation with your advisers, try to make the remaining courses in your program connect to the seminar and your thesis/project. Each senior program must have the signature of his or her adviser by Monday, September 19, the University deadline for first-semester course registration.

If you plan to complete an Honors Thesis to satisfy the senior year requirements, note the following tentative Honors College deadlines for 2005-2006:

Monday, September 19:  By this date you must enroll in CSS 409.

Monday, February 7: By this date you must enroll in CSS 410.
                                      Work in Progress forms due in Honors College.

Thursday, April 13: Submission and registration of completed thesis to Honors College.

You will receive further notice and confirmation of these dates from Honors College as the deadlines approach. You are personally responsible for meeting these deadlines.

If you plan to undertake a Senior Project instead of an Honors thesis, this project must have a coherent theme and plan, approved by Peter Rutland, Co-Chair.  Such a project is constructed of elements of course work and independent study. It should include a substantial amount of critical writing which brings out the scope and coherence of the project; this normally takes the form of an individual writing tutorial during the second semester. The project is due on Tuesday, May 9. Under normal circumstances, Senior Projects earn one credit. For projects of unusual scope and length two credits may be assigned, with approval from your tutor and the CSS Chair no later than January 25.
 

Thesis Proposal:

This should contain (1) the tentative title of the proposed thesis; (2) the name of the student's thesis supervisor and his or her initialed agreement to undertake this responsibility; and (3) a brief statement of the central problem of the thesis and the general approach the student plans to employ. The proposal need be no longer than one or two pages.

This should list courses to be taken and the general nature of the writing to be done. It should present a short (one or two page) statement on the focus of the project and the relationship between the written work and the courses.

3 days before your scheduled workshop -- Thesis workshop papers due. The thesis workshop paper, five to seven pages in length, should provide: (1) a detailed statement of the problem to be examined, together with (2) an explanation of its significance and (3) an account of the proposed methods of inquiry. It should describe (4) the research materials to be used and give (5) a capsule bibliography.

First Week of November on  -- Thesis workshops. Each student makes a brief presentation of his or her thesis proposal, expanding on the workshop paper which will be distributed in advance to all interested participants. The senior tutor, the student's thesis adviser, and CSS seniors attend the workshop, and all other interested faculty, CSS tutors, and students are encouraged to participate. The purposes of the workshops are to provide information about the proposed study to members of the community, to stimulate an interdisciplinary criticism and defense of the proposal, and to provide the senior with a wide range of advice at an early stage in the inquiry. These workshops have proved extremely useful to the College as a whole, as well as to seniors.

Project workshops will be scheduled in second semester.

Monday, Dec. 12-- Preliminary draft of part of thesis due. Preliminary progress report on senior project due. At this time a rough draft of a substantial piece of the thesis (for instance, one full chapter) should be ready for initial evaluation by your thesis supervisor. You should also submit a provisional table of contents of the entire thesis. (Note: It is most important to meet this deadline so that supervisors can respond to drafts handed in before students leave for Winter break.)

Students undertaking senior projects should submit a brief statement outlining the work completed during the first semester and plans for the second semester. Any changes made in the original program must be approved by the senior tutor.

Wednesday, January 25 -- Second installment of thesis draft due. A second substantial chunk of thesis draft (for instance, another full chapter) must be submitted to your supervisor at this time. It should be accompanied by outlines of the remainder of the body of the thesis, and a brief statement of the research (if any) that remains to be done.

At this time an evaluation is made of whether the thesis is progressing satisfactorily. If the progress made to this point does not point to success, the student is expected (1) to drop the thesis tutorial in the second semester and replace it with an appropriate course, and (2) to work up the unfinished thesis into an acceptable senior essay, with no additional credit.

Thursday, April 13 -- Honors Thesis due at Honors College.

Tuesday, May 9 -- Senior project essays due. The major written exercise that is part of each senior project is due, as is the senior essay from any student who undertook an Honors Thesis but previously abandoned it.

[return to top]