Undergraduate thesis

Topic Selection (in the spring of 2^nd year of studies)

• The department announces thesis topics early March.
• Students explore the topics and identify one that interests them.
• Students conduct very preliminary research on the topic on the internet.
• Students narrow their topic by thinking about some specific research questions.
• Students write their thesis proposals of 250 or more words and an annotated bibliography (5-10 items).
• Students submit their proposals with their contact information to the potential thesis supervisor by the end of April.
• Supervisors review proposals during the first week of May. Supervisors approve or do not approve topics according to the quality of the proposal and bibliography. Students are informed about the review process not later than May 10.
• Those whose topics have been approved can complete and submit the thesis registration form. Those whose topics have not been approved are required to do one of these based on the supervisors suggestions:
• revise the proposals and bibliographies and resubmit them to the same supervisor.
• identify another area of research, write a new proposal and annotated bibliography, and submit those to a new supervisor (the topics still available after the first round of reviews will be announced).

Note: The deadline for the second round of proposals is the end of May. Students are informed about the review process by the end of the first week of June.

Writing Process (in the fall and spring of the 3^rd year of studies)

3^rd year of studies - winter semester

• Students complete their first draft of their thesis - 5-10 pages o and submit it to the supervisor by the end of the semester (before Christmas) for defenses in May and August of the upcoming calendar year.

3^rd year of studies – summer semester

• Students meet with their thesis supervisors to discuss their first draft (strengths and weaknesses, and what are the macro - theme, structure - vs. molecular - grammar, syntax - challenges at hand) and set an outline for the remaining parts of the writing process.
• Supervisors and students agree on a timeline for completing the thesis. If this timeline isn’t respected by the students, the student will forfeit his or her right to defend either in May or August.

Note: The thesis supervisor is to guide students regarding the following:

• Quality of sources/references
• Validity of arguments
• Overall thesis organization/structure & formatting
• Organization of ideas
• Overall quality of discourse

It is each student’s responsibility to make sure that the following components of the thesis meet the standards:

• References - proper use of MLA/APA
• Mechanics: use of standard grammar, spelling, punctuation etc.
• General features (formatting, chapters, length, division into sections, etc.)