International Studies Senior Project Guidelines
IS600, IS610
2008-2009
The object of the Senior Project is to pursue independent research, to write a clear, coherent, and well-articulated essay, and to defend your ideas in an oral examination. There is no minimum or maximum length required for the paper. Typically, a substantial project consists of no fewer than fifty pages, excluding bibliography. On the other hand, projects over ninety pages in length tend to ramble. Each paper is to be based on a significant number of foreign language sources and is to be accompanied by a fifteen-page summary written in a foreign language. An oral examination of approximately fifteen minutes will be conducted in that same foreign language. (The entire oral examination is about one hour in length.)
Your paper will be evaluated on the quality of research, the originality of the thesis, the nature and quality of the sources, and the clarity of expression in both languages. As International Studies is a multi-disciplinary program, it is expected that the paper and oral examination will reflect integration of the fields and methods of analysis represented by the disciplines of economics, history, and political science. Students may find themselves focusing more on one discipline than another. Nevertheless, all three areas should be taken into account. Sometimes this is done through separate chapters focusing on historical background, political events, and economic theory. Faculty members encourage students, however, to take a more comprehensive approach to the senior project. Students are encouraged to integrate all of the disciplines into their analysis, rather than segment each discipline into a separate chapter.
The evaluation will be conducted by an examining board consisting of members
of the departments of economics, history, modern languages, and political
science.1 The exact composition
of the examining board is established with the project advisor and needs
approval of Professor Mattiace, the chairperson of the International Studies
Program during the 2008-2009 academic year. The oral examination will cover
the topic of the paper, the general fields related to it, and methods of research,
including the bibliography.
Pre-Registration and Registration:
At the start of the senior year (or in the spring of the junior year, if the student is planning on writing the Senior Project in the fall semester), students should meet with faculty members to consult on the topic of their Senior Project. The first step is to speak with faculty who work and teach in areas about which students are considering writing. Faculty members are drawn from the four departments comprising the major. These preliminary conversations should occur during the first two weeks of the semester. (During these first two weeks, students should also establish contact with the faculty member who will serve as foreign language advisor for the project.) Students are responsible for asking faculty members to serve on their board. By the middle of the semester in which students are writing their proposal, the composition of the IS600 board should be formally concretized. During the course of IS600 and IS610 it is the students’ responsibility to establish and maintain frequent contact with the four (in IS600) and three (in IS610) board members.
We recommend that students choose a topic about which they have had some previous experience—in a classroom setting, through an internship, or in some other research or experiential learning opportunity. We expect that the topic of the project pertain in a meaningful way to the foreign language the student has elected and that a significant portion of the bibliographical material utilized will be in the foreign language. In order to facilitate registration, students register with Professor Mattiace for IS600. At the time of registration for IS600, you will need to bring a completed signature card to Professor Mattiace. For double majors, be sure to write clearly on the card: DOUBLE INTERNATIONAL STUDIES AND _____________.
At the time of registration for IS610, bring a completed add card to YOUR FIRST READER. Again, if you are double majoring, be sure to indicate that clearly on the card.
The Senior Project is a four credit hour course and is offered both semesters of the senior year but not during the summer.
IS600 Project Proposal:
During the semester prior to the term in which students plan to undertake their senior project they are required to submit a formal Project Proposal. This Project Proposal should be turned in to the members of the senior project board and Professor Mattiace by the following dates:
Friday,
Nov. 7 for projects to be undertaken in spring semester, 2009
Monday,
March 30 for projects to be undertaken in fall semester, 2009
The Project Proposal is the statement of intent. It should include a concise description of the focus, scope, and direction of the project. It should also include an extensive, albeit preliminary, bibliography, which contains both primary and secondary sources (monographs, journal articles, and web sites if appropriate) in both English and a foreign language.2 Please consult frequently with the first reader(s) on the content of the proposal. This proposal will be reviewed by the faculty members who will serve on your Senior Project examining board. The purpose of this meeting is to provide feedback on the central question posed, advice on how to integrate the disciplines, and help in identifying appropriate sources. Either during or immediately after the IS600 meeting, the student—in consultation with the first reader(s)--will determine the three faculty members who will serve on the IS610 board. The successful completion of this process will award you 2 credits on a credit/no credit basis, to be recorded as IS600. Failure to complete the process will receive a grade of NC.
Writing Your Senior Project:
The student and his/her project advisors will work out the best schedule for the writing of your project. Remember that writing almost always seems to take more time than originally estimated. Remember, too, that it is important to allow time to make revisions suggested by the advisor(s). Students are encouraged to submit chapters to faculty other than their principal advisor to obtain their advice and counsel. Please note that because writing is so time-consuming, students should plan to complete a good portion of their research prior to the semester in which they expect to write and defend their project. If a draft is submitted in due course and with sufficient time available, the advisor will read it and return the draft with comments and suggestions. It is students’ responsibility to submit the draft to the advisors and to do so in sufficient time for advisors to read it. It is also students’ responsibility to seek out feedback from advisors and to respond to them in making revisions. The advisors are not copy editors, so students should not ask him or her to do this work for them.
In addition to the main body of the project, students are to include a fifteen-page essay in the foreign language in which they choose to demonstrate facility. This essay may be an abstract of the project or may explore a matter closely related to the project, serving as an epilogue or additional small chapter. It need not duplicate the bibliography of the project itself, although it should contain a bibliography of all works cited in the footnotes to the foreign language essay. The project and the foreign language essay should be able to stand alone. Be sure to submit a draft of the essay to the foreign language advisor well in advance of the day the final version is due. We recommend at least a week before the posted deadline. If time permits, the advisor will point out errors for you to correct in the final version.Required Format
Two bound copies (one to Professor Mattiace and one to the foreign language advisor) and two Xeroxed copies (to board members) are to be presented (if you’d like you may present four bound copies). Students are responsible for presenting the Senior Project on or before the posted deadline. Students are responsible for scheduling the date and time of their oral examination.
Only standard size and style type (i.e., pica or elite) and black ink may be used for the paper. Only letter quality printing will be accepted. The college will help defray the cost of senior projects duplicated at the College Print Shop. Paper utilized should be good quality 8½" x 11" stock with one inch top, bottom, and side margins. All typing except page numbers is to fall inside the margins. In formatting on the word processor, be sure to hyphenate words to avoid excessive gaps on the printed page. Take care also that new headings do not appear as the last line on a page.
Pagination: Number all pages in the upper right-hand corner, starting with the first page of Chapter I as page 1. Preceding pages should be numbered in lower-case Roman numerals, with the unnumbered title page counting as "i."
The paper should include, in this order:
- Cover page, available online at http://webpub.allegheny.edu/dept/ins/seniorprojects.html
- Title page: listing title, your name, course name and number, date submitted, and a statement of compliance with the college honor code.
- Table of Contents: listing the titles of your chapters, and the page number on which each begins. The bibliography, appendices, maps, charts, graphs, or illustrations should also be listed here.
- Abstract: The abstract is roughly 200 words long. Its purpose is to succinctly summarize the thesis (argument) and contents of the senior project, including conclusions. Each student must submit an abstract of their Senior Project by the date the Senior Project is due. For examples of past abstracts, see http://webpub.allegheny.edu/dept/ins/seniorprojects-abstracts.html and for abstract submission guidelines see http://webpub.allegheny.edu/dept/ins/seniorprojects-abstractsubform.html
- Body: divided into as many chapters as necessary to present your subject in a well-organized fashion. Each chapter should start on a new page, which should also present the title of that chapter, together with the chapter number.
- Bibliography: arranged according to the instructions in Kate L. Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (current edition) or any other standard formatting style consistently utilized (e.g., MLA; APA; Chicago).
Citations: Notes may be placed at the bottom of the page on which the reference occurs (footnotes), at the end of the entire work (endnotes), or as in-text citations. If you employ endnotes, they are to commence immediately after the last page of text, or the last page of appendices, and before the bibliography. The endnotes for each chapter are to begin on a new page, which is to carry the number and title of the chapter to which the notes refer. Endnote pages are to be numbered in sequence from the last page of text. All notes are to conform to the standard formatting style you have chosen. If you have questions about proper forms of citations that are not addressed by Turabian or the reference book you are consulting, it is your responsibility to consult with a member of the department. If you are citing from a foreign language text, please include the original quote and your translation of the quote into English.
Typographical errors, if few in number and minor in character, may be corrected neatly by hand in black ink on all copies. You should re-type any pages on which there are numerous errors, omissions of text, or major alterations. Proofread carefully. You, not your typist, are responsible for spelling, punctuation, grammar, syntax, together with all note and bibliographical entries, as well as any and all omissions or inconsistencies in style, form, and substance.
It is to be clearly understood that any pages badly flawed with technical mistakes, any neglect of these instructions, or any failure to consistently employ standard formatting practices, may result in a penalty grade, a requirement that the entire paper by re-typed, or, in extreme cases, failure in the Senior Project.
IS610 The Finished Project:
The completed paper should be delivered to Professor Mattiace (bound copy), the foreign language advisor (bound copy), and the two additional members of the Senior Project board no later than 4:30 p.m. on the due date. These dates are:
For
fall semester 2008, Wednesday, Nov. 19
For
spring semester 2009, Wednesday, April 8
Extensions of time will not be granted. Students are
responsible for scheduling an oral examination with their board.
Note: Project examinations are not given during the
summer sessions.
Evaluation of the Project:
The final grade for IS610 will be determined by the members of the examining board. The grade is arrived at by a careful evaluation of both the written work and the oral examination. Oral examinations are normally held only during the regular terms of the September-May academic year. You will receive your final grade from the Office of the Registrar of the college.
Failure of the Project:
If you fail to complete the Senior Project in the allotted time, or if you do not fulfill the requirements of the Program as outlined above, you risk failure in IS610. In some cases, board members may determine that the written work is not of sufficient quality to merit a passing grade. In these cases, no oral examination will be held. In such an event, students will be notified by their project advisor prior to the time scheduled for the oral. It will then be necessary for students to speak with their advisors (and secondarily with the Program Chairperson) on how to proceed.
Examples of Past Projects:
Students may consult past senior projects, which are archived in Quigley Hall. Contact Linda Mauro (secretary of the Departments of Political Science and Economics) [extension 3360 or lmauro@allegheny.edu].
Endnotes:
1 The IS600 board will consist of faculty from the Departments of Economics, History, Political Science, and Modern and Classical Languages (i.e., four faculty members). The IS610 board will consist of three faculty members, drawn from the above departments. The student’s first reader and a faculty member from the Department of Modern and Classical Languages must be present on the IS610 board. back to text
2 As a general rule, the proposal should include the following:
- A clear statement of the central question;
- An informed, supported description of the scholarly conversation into which the project would enter or to which it would contribute, together with a discussion of the analytic techniques to be employed;
- A detailed working outline of the project (i.e., potential chapter headings).