Senior Project

A senior project is required for the major. It is typically a paper of about 15 pages in length. It can be thought of as similar to the sort of paper you would write for a 4xxx or 5xxx course for which you write a term paper. One credit of Phil 4995 must be taken to represent the work on the senior project.

Generating a topic

If you have a paper that you wrote for an already completed 4xxx or 5xxx course, you may wish to revise and improve that paper and use it for your senior paper. You may wish to consult the instructor for whom you wrote the paper about how to improve it, or you may ask some other faculty member to supervise your revision of it. (See below on the role of the faculty supervisor of your paper.)
If you are about to take a course in which a certain topic that interests you is to be discussed, you may wish to write your senior paper on that topic. If you get the instructor's agreement about what extra work will be involved, you may be able to write the paper both as a senior paper and as a paper for your course requirements. Some instructors will adjust the course requirements for senior-paper writers. For example, Prof. Waters will sometimes allow students to replace the final exam of a course by a draft of a senior paper, which he will read during finals week and return quickly, so that the final draft can be turned in by the beginning of the next semester.
If you have taken a course in which a certain topic interested you which you did not have time during the course to explore, you may wish to choose that topic and perhaps work on it with the guidance of the course instructor.

You need to ask and get the agreement of the faculty member to be your supervisor well in advance of—say 15 weeks before—producing your paper. Since the faculty member has to supply some guidance during the writing of the paper and has finally to read and evaluate the finished product, you will need to find a supervisor whose interests and competence include the topic you wish to write on. You may find that you need some time to make adjustments in what you wish to work on so that it falls within your potential supervisor's competence. If you are especially interested in a topic that does not fall within your potential supervisor's expertise, your potential supervisor may need some time to do some reading in the area you wish to write on in order to decide if he or she is willing to assess a paper on that topic.

In short, it is a good idea to give your hoped-for supervisor some time to consider your proposed topic and to decide if he or she wants to supervise a paper on that topic.

You will need to fill out a Student/Faculty Contract form in order to register for PHIL4995 and begin work on the paper. You can pick up the form from the Department Office, 831 Heller Hall, or you can get it from the Director of Undergraduate Studies, 721 Heller Hall. You must have this form signed by your faculty supervisor and then take it to 831 Heller Hall for departmental approval. At that time you will be given a registration number that will allow you to register for Phil 4995. A copy of the completed Student/Faculty Contract should also be delivered to 49 Johnston Hall. You should aim to complete and submit the form at least 15 weeks before you plan to turn in the completed project.

When you have finished the paper, you must have your supervisor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies sign the Senior Project Approval Form, which must also show the grade that your supervisor assigns to the paper.

Your paper must earn a grade of at least C for you to have discharged your obligation to write a senior paper.

Contact

Prof. Valerie Tiberius
Director of Undergraduate Studies
721 Heller Hall
612-625-0038
tiberius@umn.edu

Contact Prof. Tiberius to arrange a major or minor.