Political Science 191
A-B: Senior Honors Seminar
Fall 2004 – Winter 2005
Wednesday 12-12:50, SSB 104
Professor Karen
Ferree Professor
Amy Bridges
Email: keferreee@ucsd.edu Email: abridges@ucsd.edu
Ofc SSB 391 phone 822-2309 Ofc: SSB 394 phone: 534-7706
Office Hours: Monday,
11-1:00 Office
hours: after class until
Description: The Honors Seminar provides seniors with an opportunity to design and carry out a research project on a topic of their choice, to work closely with individual members of the Political Science faculty, to write an honors thesis, and to graduate with honors in Political Science. Professors Ferree and Bridges will coordinate class meetings; all other members of the Political Science faculty who are not on leave participate as advisors to students in the program. The Honors Seminar will meet in the Fall and Winter Quarters.
To remain in good standing in the seminar, all enrolled students must meet the following deadlines:
1. Wednesday, October 6: One-page summary of proposed thesis topic.
2. Wednesday, November 3: Three to five-age statement of research design
3. Wednesday, November 10: Preliminary bibliography and literature review
4. December 3 (last day of instruction in the fall 2004 quarter): a draft of the first chapter must be submitted to your advisor.
5. March (last day of instruction in the winter 2005 quarter): The penultimate draft of the entire thesis must be submitted to your advisor.
6. March (first day
of instruction of the Spring 2005 quarter): Three
copies of the final draft must be submitted to Mary Quisenberry in the
Political Science Department office by
Determination of grades: You will receive four grades for the work you complete in the honors seminar:
1. Course grade for the fall quarter: a letter grade will be assigned by your thesis advisor on the basis of the work you complete this quarter
2. Course grade for the winter quarter: a letter grade for the winter quarter will be assigned by your thesis advisor on the basis of the work you complete in the quarter.
3. Thesis grade: The thesis grade will be the average of recommendations of two (possibly three) anonymous readers who are department faculty (not your thesis advisor). If the first two readers differ in their recommendations by more than two-tenths of a grade point (e.g., 3.5 and 3.8), a third reader will be asked to grade the thesis as well.
4. Departmental honors. The award of departmental honors is by a vote of all them Political Science faculty. In assigning honors the faculty is guided by the average of your departmental GPA (through the winter quarter) and your thesis grade. There are three levels of honors: highest honors, high honors, and honors. A student may complete the thesis but not receive departmental honors. The purpose of the seminar is to help students carry out their research; class time will be devoted primarily to presentations about choosing research topics, discussions about research design. Assignments must be submitted, on the dates listed here, to faculty advisors, seminar coordinators, or to your colleagues in this seminar, by email. Students should seek feedback from their advisors on each completed assignment.
Required
- Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and
Joseph Williams, The Craft of Research,
2nd edition (
- additional readings, as listed below
Class Schedule and Assignments for the fall quarter
September 29 Elements of Research
read Professor Philip Roeder’s three memos on thesis writing, located online at http://weber.ucsd.edu/~proeder/ThesisA.htm Read Memo One, “Structure … Memo Two “Research Design”, and Memo Three “Manual of Minutiae”.
read these memos every week, or whenever you need a refresher.
* Bring a brief, informal, statement of your topic to class
October 6 Library Tour, PLEASE NOTE SPECIAL MEETING LOCATION!
Elizabeth Cowell, Government Information Librarian, will offer a short tutorial on the library’s resources. Class will meet Cowell at noon (usual time!), at the Geisel Library, Library Electronic Classroom (LEC), which is the first room on your left as you are walking from the Circulation Desk towards Government Documents.
Assignment #1 Due: One-page summary of proposed thesis topic, with enough copies for each person in the seminar.
Read Chapters 1, 3 in Booth, Craft of Research.
October 13 Round Table: Asking Research Questions in American Politics
Faculty Presenters: Gary Jacobson and Thad Kousser
Read Chapter 4 in Booth, Craft of Research
October 20 Round Table: Asking Research Questions in Comparative Politics
Faculty Presenters: Clark Gibson and Jeeyang Baum
Read Chapter 7 in Booth, Craft of Research
October 27 Round Table: Asking Research Questions in International Relations
Faculty Presenters:
Read Chapters 8,9 in Booth
November 3 Roundtable: Asking Research Questions in Political Theory
Faculty Presenter: Alan Houston
Assignment #2 Due: Three to five page statement of research design; must be signed by your advisor. Bring enough copies to distribute to the seminar
Review Chapters 5, 6 in Booth
student pairs assigned for next two weeks of presentations
November 10 Presentation and Discussion of Research Designs
Students, in pairs, present their own research/critique their partner’s
Read Chapter 12 in Booth
November 17 Presentation and Discussion of Research Designs, Continued
Writing the First Chapter. Read Booth Chapter s 12, 13,14
Assignment #3 Due: Preliminary bibliography and literature review
November 24 No Class – Happy Thanksgiving!
December 1 Data Presentations
Assignment #4 Due: First draft of first chapter submitted to thesis advisor