Recommendations for IS 600

International Studies
Shannan Mattiace
Last updated September 2008

Note: These guidelines are modeled on the Department of Political Science’s guidelines for the Senior Project proposal.

1. Initial Meeting. In the first couple weeks of the semester, be sure to set up a meeting with the professor who has agreed (or who you would like to have agree!) to be your principal reader. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the topic of the project with the advisor and to relate the relevant coursework (including junior seminar) that will enable him or her to pursue the topic.
2. Mid-term progress. By early to mid-October students should have made significant progress in the following areas: 
   • A one-paragraph statement of central question
   • A brief description/summary of the argument, debate, or conversation within which the comp figures.
   • A description/justification of the analytic methods (i.e. case study, historical, quantitative, etc.) that will move the comp from simple description to description and analysis.
   • A list of the major subject headings most appropriate to the research project.
   • An annotated bibliography of at least ten scholarly sources, representing a suitable mix of such things as books, government documents, journal articles, newspaper/magazine articles, websites, and interviews.
3. Final proposal. The finished (final) proposal is due on Friday November 7, 2008. After submission of the completed proposal, students will schedule a proposal presentation conference with four faculty members. This completed proposal should include the following:
• A clear statement of the senior project question;
• An informed, supported description of the scholarly conversation addressed by the senior project, together with a discussion of the analytic techniques to be employed;
• A detailed working outline;
• An annotated bibliography of 25 scholarly sources, with additional non-annotated sources also listed.

 

08/25/08 ls