Thesis
Students who opt
for the thesis plan will write a thesis of about 50 to 150 pages. When
beginning to think about writing a thesis, the student should ask a department
member with interest in the topic of the thesis to be the thesis advisor.
When an advisor is determined, the student should form a thesis committee.
The committee is composed of the student's advisor, one or two other philosophy
department members and one faculty member from a department other than
philosophy.
Students write
their theses in consultation with their advisors. Typically the advisor
will first discuss the topic with the student several times and then ask
the student to write a brief summary or outline of the thesis (a 'prospectus').
When the advisor and other committee members believe the prospectus is
sufficiently coherent, interesting and complete, the student will begin
writing the thesis itself.
Before the student
is examined on the thesis, he or she should receive approval of the thesis
first from the advisor and then from the other committee members. The examination--generally
called a thesis 'defense'--is an oral examination which takes typically
two or three hours. Generally, students who consult carefully with their
committee members do well on their exams, because they do not take their
exams until the committee is satisfied with their work. Examiners have
pass, fail and revision options on evaluating the thesis. They may, in
other words, pass the thesis as it is, fail it or ask for revisions on
it. As mentioned above, students who consult carefully with their committee
seldom fail their thesis exam. It is not unusual, however, for committee
members to require some revisions.
Grad School Requirement: Your Program of Study
needs to include a total of 6 credits of Thesis (Phil 797) in order to graduate
under the Thesis Option. |
