HC 407H Senior Seminar--Bishop, Fall 2000

Class hours:

Class one: Monday 8:00 to 9:50 am, 303 Chapman

Class two: Monday 4:00 to 5:50 pm, 303 Chapman

Office hours: Monday 1:30 to 3:30 pm, Tuesday 11:30 am to 3:30 pm
Telephone: 346-0733 Click here for e-mail link to our listserv, click here for Bishop e-mail

PLEASE NOTE: The last week for defending your Honors College thesis is the week of MAY 7, 2001, as per Thesis Manual, page 11. See Janice very soon to schedule your oral defense.

Class One Requirements | Grading | General schedule | Link to sign-up sheet | Format reviewers
Class Two Requirements | Grading | General schedule | Link to sign-up sheet | Format reviewers

We will all share a discussion list, bishsem, to which you can post messages of general import for writing senior theses as well as particular class information. You can subscribe yourself IF you haven't already received a "welcome message." To subscribe, send a message to majordomo@lists.uoregon.edu with the following message:

subscribe bishsem
end

and don't forget the "end". Any message sent to bishsem goes to every subscriber. If you have an issue you wish to discuss privately, please use the individual's e-mail address (or walk down the hall). Other issues of "netiquette":

• list messages are public property, insofar as the list's medium is owned by the University of Oregon. At the same time, usufruct (the use of what an individual has written) belongs to the writer. Your subscription to the list implies that your words are meant for others on the list, but others cannot use your words OUTSIDE of the list. In other words, one listmember should not distribute another's message outside of the list membership without permission from the original writer(s).
• please use the list for class-related purposes only;
• ad hominem attacks will not be tolerated, while honest disagreement is part of the intellectual life;
• building on another's message is more salutary than finding fault;
• remember that irony does not translate well on electronic media. (Top of page)

Purpose: The purposes of the senior seminar are

1. to acquaint students with the thesis process,
2. to establish a topic for the thesis,
3. to certify a good working relationship between student and advisor,
4. to articulate the thesis topic for non-specialists,
5. to sharpen the focus of the thesis (perhaps narrowing the topic),
6. to locate and fill in gaps, and
7. to use the dynamism of the Honors College community to accomplish the above.

Goal: the goal of the senior seminar is to produce, at the end of the term, a stellar prospectus and bibliography. Your thesis advisor must approve the prospectus by signing it; you will give me one copy, and you'll give one copy to the main office to process for your file. Find general format instructions for prospectus on PAGE 8 of HONORS COLLEGE THESIS MANUAL. (Top of page)

Requirements:

• Due Monday, October 2: (1) completed yellow thesis information form (you may complete this earlier, if desired, and give it to Jody in the main office); (2) a provisional summary of prospectus (a few paragraphs, typed double-spaced). Be sure to include advisor's name and telephone number.
• As presenter:

  Sign up for presentation date

  Arrange for your thesis advisor to attend your presentation (communication with your thesis advisor is paramount for success throughout the thesis process)

  Distribute copies of prospectus ONE WEEK BEFORE PRESENTATION (hard-copy required, please; a back-up Web page is good, but not required)

• As audience (the following is the responsibility of EACH STUDENT for EACH CLASS):

  Read and critique each week's prospectuses BEFORE CLASS.

  Write detailed critiques (you may write these directly on the prospectus copy itself). Each critiqued prospectus, signed by the critic, will be given to the presenter after I've eyeballed them for satisfying the requirement.

  Serve as a format reviewer. Click here for the list of format reviewer pairs for the 8:00 am class; click here for the list of format reviewer pairs for the 4:00 pm class. Provided with an article from the main journal in the presenter's field or with a style manual, you will go over the format of your partner's prospectus with a fine-toothed comb (details count), noting all discrepancies. The reviewer will give me the corrected prospectus, which I will also check for accuracy. (Top of page)

• Each presentation will have a lead-off questioner; everyone must serve once as lead-off questioner.

Grading: The senior seminar is a P/NP course, and a passing grade is based on attendance, on-time performance, and completed assignments (including evaluating prospectuses and serving as format reviewer). No student can pass this course without successful completion of satisfactory prospectus and submission of appropriate forms to the Honors College office. Additionally, a student who acquires 10 demerits will not pass the course.

Each unexcused absence = 4 demerits	Each unprepared critique = 1 demerit
Each late arrival to class = 1 demerit	Unprepared or inadequate format review = 1 demerit

Weekly schedule (link to sign-up sheets for class one and class two)

Week 1 (September 25): Introduction: assignment outline, sign-up for prospectus presentation

Week 2 (October 2): Due: Provisional summary of prospectus (a few paragraphs) with advisor's name and phone number; presentation schedule finalized

Weeks 3 through 9 (October 9 through November 20): Presentation of prospectuses | Schedule for Class 1 | Schedule for Class 2

Week 10 (Nov. 27): Conclusion

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