Honors Thesis Information Session 4/6

Tuesday, April 6, 4:30-5:30 p.m. EDT
via Zoom

Thinking about writing a senior thesis?  This session will provide information on dates, deadlines, paperwork, and logistics for all students who are interested in pursuing an honors thesis. Panelists will also provide advice on how to decide whether a thesis is right for you, and on how to build a strong working relationship with your thesis advisor.

Whether you already know your topic, or are just beginning to explore the possibility of a thesis, this session will provide all the information you need to get the thesis process started.

Presenters

Jane Alden, Associate Professor of Music and Medieval Studies, Chair of the Honors Committee
Susan Krajewski, Registrar’s Office and Honors Coordinator
David Phillips, Class Dean

Click here to view the recording of the session.

A Note from Your Academic Peer Advisors

Dear students,

We hope that your semester and classes have been going smoothly this semester! The Academic Peer Advisors are reaching out to offer our support. Even as life seems to be improving around us, we know that classes, homework, papers and tests are still causing stress among our community. APAs are here for one-on-one meetings, to help with various academic skills like time management, organization, study strategies, and reading or note-taking, as well as connecting you with any other resources you might need, but might not know about!

We encourage you to reach out to us with questions or concerns you might have about anything. You can email us at peeradvisors@wesleyan.edu or our personal emails, which are linked to our bios on the Wesleyan website linked here.

Hope to hear from you, please don’t hesitate to ask for help!

Best,

The Academic Peer Advisors

 

Invitation to Juniors

The Khachig Tölölyan Fund 
for the Study of Diasporas and Transnationalism

The College of Letters invites juniors enrolled full time at Wesleyan or a Wesleyan program overseas who plan to write an Honors thesis or its equivalent (a performance, an exhibit) in any Department of the Humanities and the Arts (Division I), the Social Sciences (Division II), or in interdisciplinary Programs that have a Humanities department as a participant to apply for this prize.

The Khachig Tölölyan Fund supports a monetary prize for second-semester juniors to be used to buy the successful applicant some free time in the summer before senior year to start research on Honors theses on particular topics more fully described here: https://www.wesleyan.edu/col/for_majors/grants_prizes.html

Applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 9, 2021 and consists of:

  1. A proposal for or description of a senior thesis, 1,000-1,500 words in length.
  2. An informal academic transcript.
  3. Two letters of recommendation from Wesleyan faculty, one of whom must be the probable supervisor of the Honors thesis. If the supervisor has not yet been determined, two letters from instructors familiar with the student’s work in fields relevant to the project will suffice

A form for uploading your documents will be available on the COL web page (listed above) soon.

If you have any questions, please email col@wesleyan.edu.

 

Student Fellowship

“All members of the junior class are invited to apply for a semester-long Student Fellowship at the Center for the Humanities during the 2021-2022 academic year. A total of eight Student Fellowships are awarded each year by the Center’s Advisory Board (four Student Fellows for each semester).  Student Fellows share an office at the Center and take part in Center events and activities. Among these events are the Center’s Monday Night Lecture series; colloquia discussions on Tuesdays, 10:30-1:00; and occasional Center conferences. One course credit is awarded for the Student Fellow’s participation in the Center’s activities.

Applicants for a Student Fellowship must be planning to do a senior project (usually an Honors Thesis) on a topic relating to the Center theme for the semester or year.  The Fall 2021 theme is “Consent and Subjection” and the Spring 2022 theme is “Islands as Metaphor and Method”; for full theme descriptions click here. The project need not be underway at the time of the application. Student Fellows have the opportunity to work closely with Faculty Fellows, Post-Doctoral Fellows, and Visiting Research Fellows in residence at the Center. The Center also provides up to $500 in travel funding to Student Fellows for travel to archives, libraries, museums, conferences, performances and other sites necessary to the completion of their senior projects.

Applications for student fellowships are due by 5pm on Monday, April 5th.  Applicants will be informed of the Center Advisory Board’s decision by Friday, April 9th, 2021.

If you have any questions, please email Logan Ludwig at lludwig@wesleyan.edu

For further information, see: http://wesleyan.edu/humanities/fellowships/students.html

 

Davenport Study Grants Due March 15

Limited funds are available to support student research and other student scholarly projects in public affairs to begin this summer. Only current sophomores and juniors are eligible. These funds are made available through a gift to Wesleyan University from the Surdna Foundation in honor of Frederick Morgan Davenport, Wesleyan University Class of 1889, and Edith Jefferson Andrus Davenport, Wesleyan University, Class of 1897. 

In past years, Davenport Scholarships have been awarded to sophomores and juniors who have “demonstrated intellectual and moral excellence and a concern for public affairs” and “who by their personal qualities and vocational and scholarly intentions give greatest promise of leadership in the public service.” It is expected that most of the grants will be concentrated in the social science departments and the CSS, but applications will be accepted from majors in all areas of the University as long as the proposed projects are related to public affairs.  

Each student’s application must be in a single pdf file. The application must contain: (1) a title, (2) a brief description of the proposed project, its objectives and its significance, including a discussion of the relevant scholarly literature; (3) a statement discussing course work relating to the proposed project; (4) an account of the methods for carrying it out; (5) a timetable for completion [a project may continue through the academic year 2021-2022]; (6) a detailed budget (please list any travel expenses separately and be aware that Wesleyan currently can only fund travel expenses if the travel ban is lifted; (7) a copy of the student’s transcript [which you may copy from your portfolio if you wish]; CSS students must include your comprehensive Examination grade. Finally, (8) a separately submitted letter from the faculty member who will supervise the project, carefully assessing its merit and the ability of the applicant to carry it out successfully.

Applications are not to exceed five double-spaced pages (not counting the supervisor’s letter or transcript) and must be electronically submitted AS AN ATTACHMENT (see below). It is the applicant’s responsibility to inform his or her faculty supervisor to submit a letter electronically AS AN ATTACHMENT. Both the application and the faculty member’s letter must contain the student’s name (with the last name listed first) followed by “Davenport Proposal” in the subject line. 

Funds are limited, and we expect competition for the awards to be keen. Applications will be judged by a faculty committee composed of representatives of social science departments and programs. Criteria for judging applications include: the relevance of the project to public affairs; the scholarly value of the proposed research; the clarity and suitability of the project design; the feasibility of the proposed project; the applicant’s past academic record; the evaluation submitted by the faculty member; and the realism of the proposed budget. Senior thesis projects will receive priority. Students should make their proposals as specific and detailed as possible, and support them with evidence of their ability to complete the work according to a realistic schedule. They should prepare the budget with special care, including only essential expenses and showing precisely how the proposed budget supports the work being proposed. Your budget may not include the purchase of capital equipment (i.e., digital recorders, cameras, etc.). Those planning to do research abroad should consult with the Office of Study Abroad in the Center for Global Studies about their plans and budgets. Please direct any questions you may have to kkolcio@wesleyan.edu.

For guidance on writing a successful grant proposal, please consult “The Art of Writing Proposals” on the Social Sciences Research Council website. Students may also consider contacting last year’s Davenport grant recipients listed on the CSPL website to request copies of their proposals and tips on writing an effective proposal. 

Please note that research proposals involving living human subjects who could be individually identified (unless in public office), audio or video recordings of participants, sensitive data, vulnerable populations, or the observation of behavioral tasks in a laboratory will require IRB approval. 

All Davenport Scholars will receive a minimum of $500, as stipulated by the terms of the DavenportBequest. Additional amounts of up to $2500 may be awarded, the amount depending on the availability of funds and project needs. Total awards will generally be limited to $3000, but successful applicants may apply for modest supplements if, during their projects, it appears that the $3000 limit is too restrictive. An interim report, 3-5 pages in length, is to be submitted in September. This report should describe the work done with the grant money over the course of the summer and how this work will advance the student’s thesis or other honors projects during the coming year. Upon completion of the project, each Davenport Scholar must submit a brief report to the Committee on his/her activities, accomplishments, and an accounting of expenditures beyond $500.

All materials including faculty recommendations must be submitted electronically to Davenport grant (davenport@wesleyan.edu)by midnight, Monday, March 15, 2021. On the top of the first page, please include your Name, Major, WES ID, Wesleyan Box No., Email address, Name of faculty advisor who will be submitting a recommendation (if your thesis advisor will be someone else, that person should also be listed here), as well as your citizenship for tax purposes. Applicants will be notified of grant awards as soon as possible, hopefully by first week in April. Titles of successful applications will also be posted on the CSPL website, www.wesleyan.edu/allbritton.