POS 4970, IDS 4970 Honors Thesis

Tunick > Courses


Thesis guidelines are online.

Students are expected to work independently and arrange to meet with me at regular intervals for guidance and feedback. In addition, we will arrange to meet as a group from time to time, and I strongly encourage you to share drafts of your work with each other.

Course Description: This is a three-credit graded course, taken twice. It is required of all students concentrating in Political Science or Law and Society at the Honors College. Students will formulate a research topic, develop an outline, complete the responsible conduct of research trainings or other trainings as appropriate for the student’s discipline, conduct research and write notes on that research, write and revise drafts, and ultimately submit a substantial final paper that complies with College requirements for the honors thesis. The final version will be at least 30 but in many cases up to 60 pages at 300 words/page, for a total of 9,000-18,000 words; there is no upper page limit, though students must be concise. Because each part of the thesis is revised, total writing will typically range between 18,000-36,000 words for the two semesters combined, not including notes taken on research. Students will present at the Honors Research Symposium.

Course Objectives: Objectives are for students to demonstrate proficiency in a content area, formulate their own arguments, and demonstrate proficiency in communicating ideas effectively and responding to feedback effectively. The honors thesis is assessed as part of the Honors College assessment program laid out in the Academic Learning Compact.

WAC Designation: This writing intensive course serves as one of two "Gordon Rule" classes at the 2000-4000 level that must be taken. You must achieve a grade of "C" (not C-minus) or better to receive credit. Furthermore, this class meets the University-wide Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) criteria, which expect you to improve your writing over the course of the term. Writing-to-learn activities have proven effective in developing critical thinking skills, learning discipline-specific content, and understanding and building competence in the modes of inquiry and writing for various disciplines and professions. The written thesis in political science promotes critical thinking and analytical writing; requires students to analyze academic discourse; and encourages students to recognize and examine the intellectual and/or cultural assumptions that underlie course readings and their own writing. If this class is selected to participate in the university-wide WAC assessment program, you will be required to access the online assessment server, complete the consent form and survey, and submit electronically a first and final draft of a near-end-of-term paper.

Course Evaluation Method: You will receive a letter grade in this course. Comprehensive feedback will be given on drafts of individual chapters. The course grade will be based on the final revision; an incomplete will be issued at the end of the first semester and will change to the grade received on the basis of the final revision. The written work counts for 100% of the grade, and the grade will be based on quality and persuasiveness of the academic argument, including the extent to which an understanding of the topic is demonstrated, organization, thoroughness and validity of the research, clarity, and grammatical correctness of the writing. Students will provide evidence to support their argument, using proper citation. Feedback to writing will be in the form of comprehensive comments and discussion of each of the student’s draft chapters, focusing on content as well as particular writing elements. Students will make substantial revisions of all chapters of the thesis. These may involve global revisions and major re-workings. All students are encouraged to use the University Center for Excellence in Writing (UCEW) error tracking system, which is available through the UCEW scheduling system. http://www.fau.edu/UCEW

Thesis Grading (A)—makes an original contribution to its field/argued convincingly/written lucidly with few to no errors/40-60 pages in length (A-)—lacking in one of the above areas (B+)—generally well done, but lacking excessively in one of the above areas (B)—good in some respects but fundamentally flawed in one or more of the above areas (B-)—passable but fundamentally flawed in more than one of the above areas (C+ or below)—fundamentally flawed in more than one of the above areas/as a rule a thesis at this level will not pass

Schedule: Students will arrange to meet regularly with the faculty in one-on-one meetings, typically once every two weeks. In the first semester, meetings will focus on developing a thesis statement, list of sources, outline, and notes on research, and writing an introduction and first chapters. In the second semester, the student will continue writing drafts of the rest of the thesis, and rewrite previous drafts. See the dates of deadlines, below, for more details.

Disability Policy Statement: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA), students who require reasonable accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with Student Accessibility Services (SAS)—in Boca Raton, SU 133 (561-297-3880); in Davie, LA 203 (954-236-1222); or in Jupiter, SR 110 (561-799-8585) —and follow all SAS procedures.

FAU Code of Academic Integrity Policy Statement: Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Academic dishonesty is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with the university mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any other. Academic dishonesty is also destructive of the university community, which is grounded in a system of mutual trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Harsh penalties are associated with academic dishonesty. For more information, see University Regulation 4.001. Students also agree to adhere to the honor code, at http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/academics_honor_code.htm

Deadlines

Monday of Week 2 of 1st semester of thesis : Thesis proposal form due, including name of 2nd reader.

Monday of Week 3 of 1st semester: Detailed thesis statement (1-2 paragraphs), preliminary bibliography and outline due.

Monday of Week 8 of 1st semester : Revised statement of thesis, revised bibliography and revised outline due.

Friday of Week 10 of 1st semester : Draft of Introduction due.

Between week 10 of 1st semester and 1 month prior to deadline for signed thesis: I should see drafts of all the sections of your thesis as they are written (with the possible exception of your conclusion). I will put detailed comments on these drafts which you can use in making revisions. It is important that these drafts be as polished and complete as you can make them, because this is the period in which I will give criticism that you have a chance to address before turning in the final draft that will be graded. When you turn in the final draft of the completed thesis, I will read it carefully and grade it–you will not have another opportunity then to respond to my criticisms with the hope of getting a better grade. Be sure to use the "Track Changes" function in Word when submitting revisions of work.

One month prior to deadline for signed thesis : Final draft of thesis is due. This is the version that will be graded.

Mid-April: Research Day. You will present your thesis research on Research Day along with other Honors College seniors.

10 days prior to deadline for signed thesis : Final version will be returned to you with grade. You still may make last minute changes and corrections, and properly format according to College guidelines.

3 days before Graduation date: Signed thesis is due

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Citing works:
Use the following model for books or articles. This is a variation of Chicago Manual of Style which you should consult for other types of citations such as multiple authored works, newspapers or websites. Use footnotes (not endnotes), and a bibliography, and observe the conventions appropriate for each (as the examples below illustrate). Nothing should appear in the bibliography that you don't cite in a footnote.

Bibliography:
Smith, J.C. Legal Obligation. London: Athlone Press, 1976.

Tunick, Mark. “Is Kant a Retributivist?” History of Political Thought 17(1):60-78 (1996).

Footnotes:
J.C. Smith, Legal Obligation (London: Athlone Press, 1976), 27-29.

Mark Tunick, “Is Kant a Retributivist?” History of Political Thought 17(1):60-78 (1996), 62-3. [This is volume 17, issue 1; if an issue number is not available, just cite as 17:60-78]

Jean Dixon, “Entrapment,” Harvard Law Review 321:1175-1253 (2011), 1201-2.

Richard Wasserstrom, "Privacy: Some Arguments and Assumptions," in Frederick Schoeman, ed., Philosophical Dimensions of Privacy, 317-32, at 330-32. [This is how you'd cite from an edited book the first time; after that, just write: in Schoeman, ed, 330-2; note that Schoeman's edited book should be a separate item in your Bibliography, as will Wasserstrom's chapter in this book]

You needn't cite court cases in the bibliography, but must cite them in footnotes as follows:
First time:
De Gregorio v. CBS, Inc., 473 N.Y.S. 2d 922 (1984), 924.
After that:
473 N.Y.S. 2d 922, 924.

The first time you cite a work in a footnote you should have complete info, and after that just use an abbreviated version (e.g. Tunick, “Is Kant a Retributivist?” 62-3; or if you only cite one work from Tunick, simply Tunick, 62-3). Note that in a footnote you’ll be referring to a specific passage or passages and I expect to see reference to the specific pages so a reader can find the precise passage you mean.
Do NOT use ‘supra’ or ‘infra’, as law reviews do, or Ibid. It is just as easy to cite Smith as to cite Ibid.

Additional notes:
Policy on Accommodations: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students who require reasonable accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) -- SR 110 (561-799-8010) – and follow all OSD procedures.

Academic Integrity Policy:Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Academic dishonesty is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with the university mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any other. Academic dishonesty is also destructive of the university community, which is grounded in a system of mutual trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Harsh penalties are associated with academic dishonesty. For more information, see University Regulation 4.001 and http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html

Classroom Etiquette Policy: In order to enhance and maintain a productive atmosphere for education, personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones and pagers, are to be disabled in class sessions.