The Senior Exercise
The senior exercise is designed to provide majors with the opportunity to (1) undertake original scholarship on topics of their own choosing, (2) present the results of this scholarship to students and faculty in a professional setting, and (3) produce high-quality papers through a process of discussion and rewriting.
- Senior Exercise Handbook
- Comps from Previous Years
- Procedures
- Evaluation
- Guidelines for the Paper
- Guidelines for the Presentation and Discussion
- Senior Exercise Deadlines
Senior Exercise Handbook
The Sociology Senior Exercise Handbook provides a detailed rundown of the requirements and formatting for this year's senior exercise. Download a complete copy of the 2010 Sociology Senior Exercise Handbook here.Comps from Previous Years
| 2014-2015 | 2013-2014
| 2012-2013
| 2011- 2012 Becker, Anna |
| 2010-2011 Baker, ColeBollinger, Brandon Cowlin, Mathew Groberg, Daniel Hough, Marcus Kidder, Prita Lenci, Taylor Leung, Zerlina Lynn, Alison McConnell, Kevin Merideth, Daziah Saavedra, Marco Shimamura, Tricia Solis, Juan | 2009-2010 Ceja, EvaCouchman, Stefanie Dieffenbach, Brendan Dowell, Alexander Frank, Peter Grumman, Alexandra Kellman, Katherine Lahr, Megan McCoy, Dominique O'Rourke, Adrienne Rosenberg, Laura Steines, Claire Von Hirschberg, Michelle Williams, Eme
| Adams, Kelly Diskint, Julia Edwards, Yancy Gallagher, Kathryn Gunby, Kate Keshner, Zachary Latek, Adam Liebmann, Edward McFarlane, Elaine Prager, Daniel Shayon-Nowlan, Keith Smith, Stacy Stone, Ashley Wong, William | 2007- 2008 Burns, Emily |
| 2006-2007 | 2005-2006 | 2004-2005
| 2003-2004 |
Procedures
We encourage you to select your topic and begin thinking and reading over the summer, because you will need to get into this process early in the fall semester. Within the first few weeks of the fall semester, you will submit three copies of a written proposal for your paper. The proposal, approximately 3-5 pages in length, must include (1) a tentative title indicative of your topic; (2) a statement of the issue you plan to explore; (3) a justification for studying this issue, in terms of its relevance to the literature in a given subfield or to fundamental issues in the discipline or in society; (4) a description of how you intend to explore the issue, identifying relevant theories and strategies for empirical research; and (5) a tentative bibliography of at least ten sources, including both books and journal articles, based on a systematic literature review. In preparing your proposal, you are expected to discuss your intent with several members of the sociology faculty. Students reading for honors should talk with their advisors early on about the relationship between the honors thesis and the senior exercise paper. Faculty participating in the senior exercise will respond in writing to your proposal.
You will then prepare a paper on the chosen topic, submitting the final copy on a date specified in late January. You may consult with all of the sociology faculty participating in the senior exercise as you prepare your paper, although 1-2 faculty members will probably serve as your principal advisors. Faculty will read your paper and return written comments to you at the time of your scheduled presentation. You will also receive critical comments from your peers.
Evaluation
Your work in the senior exercise will be evaluated on 2 primary criteria: (1) the quality of the final paper, and (2) the clarity and effectiveness of your oral presentation.
The results of the final evaluation will be provided to you in writing on or about March 25, indicating whether you have passed and whether you have earned distinction. To receive distinction, a student must show excellence in all aspects of the senior exercise. The paper is expected to display originality in its thesis, theoretical and methodological sophistication in the development of the argument, and significant conclusions. Revisions for the final paper will reflect a responsiveness to the suggestions made by students and faculty. Your paper presentation will be well prepared, clearly articulated, and designed to stimulate group discussion. Comments on other papers will be consistently thoughtful and reflect careful reading.
Students who fail to pass the senior exercise will be instructed as to what additional work is required. This work may include further rewriting or an oral defense of the paper, or a written or oral examination, at the discretion of the faculty.
Guidelines for the Paper
You may select any topic as the subject of your paper. Your topic must be amenable to sociological analysis and sufficiently focused to consider adequately in a paper of approximately 20-25 pages. Be sure that a sociological literature exists to guide your initial analysis; often, the literature can point to fruitful topics for further research. Your topic should be significant from the standpoint of the discipline.
In general, you should pursue a question that you can elaborate in light of a theoretical approach and the existing literature in the field. In most cases, you will then examine the question using relevant empirical data. A sound paper is also self-critical, identifying the limitations of the data or theoretical approach and suggesting fruitful questions for future research. Clarity of writing and organization, as well as careful attention to spelling and punctuation, are required in any presentation of your work.
Your paper should be approximately 20-25 (double-spaced) pages in length, excluding references. You must start with an abstract and follow the guidelines of the American Sociological Association Style Guide, which is available in the department lounge.
Guidelines for the Presentation and Discussion
Your presentation should be approximately ten minutes long. Another ten to fifteen minutes will be devoted to the discussion of your paper. Because everyone will have read the papers in advance of our meetings, it is unnecessary to read the paper in your presentation. Instead, your presentation should include the following:
Background. Briefly provide a sense of why you selected this topic. What is the significance to you personally? What is the importance of the topic within the discipline, or to the world?
Issues. You may want to elaborate on conclusions resulting from your work or present additional findings that you chose not to include in the paper. In any event, develop a few themes that you find particularly important or interesting, exploring issues and raising questions to stimulate discussion.
The discussion to follow should develop themes identified in the presentation and follow up on issues raised. Ultimately, our discussions should explore the broader significance of the paper for issues of sociological theory and research, social policy, and the character of the discipline.Senior Exercise Deadlines
[NOTE: Specific dates will vary slightly with each calendar year.]
April (Junior Year) - Discuss plans with faculty
Early September - Submit proposal
October-January - Prepare paper, discussing process with faculty
Late January - Submit paper
Mid February - Paper presentations
Late March - Written notification of results