CONF 797, SECTION 001 PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT Spring 2015 Founders Hall 317 Tuesdays, 7:20pm to 10:00pm Michael D. English, Graduate Lecturer
[email protected] Office hours by appointment COURSE AIM The purpose of this 1 credit course is to help you develop your thesis proposal and to get you started on a concrete path toward the completion of your Master’s thesis at SCAR. By the end of the semester you are expected to have a completed draft of your thesis proposal, selected a thesis chair, and hopefully, a thesis committee. COURSE MEETINGS This course meets inperson on 01/20 and 01/27. Based on the needs of participants we will decide on other inperson meeting times.You are responsible for one additional meeting that you will need to arrange on your own and this is a consultation with SCAR’s liaison librarian Mary Oberlies (
[email protected]). I will discuss this assignment with you in more detail during the first session. ASSIGNMENTS You have one required assignment for this course and that is to produce a thesis proposal of approximately 5000 words (18 double spaced pages). This is due to me on 05/02 via email in Word document format. We will conduct various exercises throughout the course on certain elements to help us with the production of the proposal. MASON HONOR CODE To promote a stronger sense of mutual responsibility, respect, trust, and fairness among all members of the George Mason University community and with the desire for greater academic and personal achievement, we, the student members of the University Community, have set forth this: Student members of the George Mason University community pledge not to cheat, plagiarize, steal, and/or lie in matters related to academic work. A note on the Honor Code. When you enrolled in this course you agreed to abide by the university's Honor Code. The Honor Code does not preclude collaborative work, such as informal discussions and studying in communities. Nor does it preclude assigned group work. The Honor Code does require that work you, as an individual, turn in ultimately be the product of your own individual synthesis or integration of ideas, and that the work a group turns in ultimately be the product of the group's collective ideas. If you are uncertain of the line between collaboration and cheating, see an instructor. As always, cite your sources. If you do not, it is plagiarism. Plagiarism means lifting someone else's ideas or words and presenting them as your own without proper attribution of the source. This is all sources, including the Internet. Use an approved citation method, such as MLA, APA, etc. Commitment to Diversity Statement. SCAR is an intentionally inclusive community that celebrates diversity and strives to have faculty, staff and students who reflect the diversity of our plural society. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, class, linguistic background, religion, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or physical ability. Disability Services. If you are a student with a disability and you need academic accommodations, please see me and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 703.993.2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.
CONF 797, SECTION 001 PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT Spring 2015 Founders Hall 317 Tuesdays, 7:20pm to 10:00pm RECOMMENDED TEXTS You do not need to purchase any texts for this course. Below are books you might find useful to your project. I may also refer you to parts of these and other texts during the course. Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 2008. The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Creswell, John W. 2009. Research design: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Los Angeles: Sage. Galvan, Jose L. 2012. Writing literature reviews: a guide for students of the social and behavioral sciences. Los Angeles, CA: Pyrczak. Höglund, Kristine, and Magnus Öberg. 2011. Understanding peace research: methods and challenges. London: Routledge. Luker, Kristin. 2008. Salsa dancing into the social sciences research in an age of infoglut. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Turabian, Kate L., Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. 2013. A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations: Chicago Style for students and researchers. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. PROPOSED COURSE SCHEDULE 01/20 Meet in class. Discuss research process, proposal structure, and Master’s thesis. 01/27 Meet in class. Discuss individual research topics and questions. 02/03 Develop research topic and question. 02/10 Develop research topic in question 02/17 Meet in class. Discuss research topic, research question, and methodology. 02/24 Develop research proposal and meet with potential thesis chair. 03/03 Meet in class. Develop research proposal and meet with potential thesis chair. 03/10 Develop research proposal and meet with potential thesis chair. 03/17 Individual meetings with Mary Oberlies / Work on literature review. 03/24 Individual meetings with Mary Oberlies / Work on literature review. 03/31 Individual meetings with Mary Oberlies / Work on literature review. 04/07 Individual meetings with ME 04/14 Individual meetings with ME 04/21 Individual meetings with ME 05/02 Submit draft research proposal via email to ME USEFUL LINKS University Dissertation and Thesis Services Be sure to look at this page. UDTS posts important information on thesis submission dates, templates, and formatting. They also offer workshops through University Libraries and occasionally SCAR. http://thesis.gmu.edu/ SCAR’s Master’s Thesis On this page you will find helpful information from SCAR about the thesis process, as well as relevant forms that you will need to submit to register for your thesis. http://scar.gmu.edu/msprogram/12146
