Important deadlines
for your thesis
Failure to meet these deadlines may disqualify you for
honors in your discipline. It will certainly be taken into consideration when
assigning the final grade. When these dates fall on a Saturday or Sunday, the
following Monday is the deadline. It is your responsibility to meet these
deadlines; your thesis advisor has no responsibility to remind you of these
deadlines.
15 February
(17:00 hrs.) (September 30 for fall theses)
This is the deadline to submit the two other members
of your thesis defense committee to your advisor and the chair of the
department. Your committee is composed of your advisor, one other member of the
Department of Politics and European Studies, and one member from outside the
department. All committee members must agree to serve on your committee before
submitting the list to your advisor. Your advisor must approve the composition
of your committee. It is better to discuss possible committee members with your
advisor before you ask anyone to serve.
15 March (17:00
hrs.) (October 15 for fall theses)
This is the deadline to select a time for your thesis
defense. You must have email confirmation from all members of your committee. Remember
that faculty members are busy during this period, so think ahead and be
flexible. Thesis defenses usually take about an hour and typically take place
during final exam week. The easiest way to schedule an exam is for you to send
an email to your committee members asking them to provide you with several two
or three hour blocks during final exam week. Your advisor will need to reserve
the room, so send an email with suggested times.
15 April (17:00
hrs.) (November 30 for fall theses)
This is the deadline to submit the final version of
your senior thesis in hardcopy to all members of your committee and to the
Panitza Library.
Two days before
your thesis defense
It is a good idea to send an email reminder to all
members of your defense committee.
The day of your
thesis defense
You should dress appropriately. Arrive to your defense
about ten minutes early. Thesis defenses often use a multimedia presentation;
however, you may decide simply to use the whiteboard. If you use a prepared
presentation, bring a flash drive or have your presentation on your H: drive.
How your thesis
is evaluated
Defenses are public, so assume that the audience of
your thesis defense is an intelligent, non-specialist audience. This means that
you must explain specific terms and avoid unnecessary jargon.
Your thesis is evaluated on several criteria.
Structure. A successful thesis contains a clear
problem statement, literature review, methodology, findings, and conclusion.
Writing. An excellent thesis is clearly written,
contains well-constructed paragraphs, uses transitions to move smoothly between
sections of the argument, and contains few writing mistakes.
Literature review. A successful thesis shows how your
research is connected to existing research.
Methods. The discussion of the methods used to conduct
your research is clear and appropriate to your research question.
Argument. The argument is clear and logically
coherent.
