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Political Science 191A-B:
Senior Honors Seminar
Fall 2009 – Winter 2010
Wednesday 12-2:50, SSB 104

Professor Marisa Abrajano
Email: mabrajano@ucsd.edu
Office: SSB 393, phone: 534-7201
Office Hours: Wednesday, 11-12

Professor Keith T. Poole
Email: kpoole@ucsd.edu
Office: SSB 368, phone: 534-1452
Office hours: Monday, 12-1PM

1. Wednesday, October 7: One-page summary of proposed thesis topic.
   
2. Wednesday, October 28: Three to five-page statement of research design.
   
3. Wednesday, November 18: Preliminary bibliography and literature review.
   
4. Friday, December 4 (last day of instruction in the Fall 2009 quarter): a draft of the first chapter must be submitted to your advisor.
   
5. Friday, March 12 (last day of instruction in the Winter 2010 quarter): The penultimate draft of the entire thesis must be submitted to your advisor.
   
6. Monday, March 29 (first day of instruction of the Spring 2010 quarter): Three bound copies of the final draft must be submitted to Mary Quisenberry in the Political Science Department office by 3:00 PM
   
   

1. Course grade for the fall quarter: a letter grade will be assigned by your thesis advisor on the basis of the work you complete this quarter
   
2. Course grade for the winter quarter: a letter grade for the winter quarter will be assigned by your thesis advisor on the basis of the work you complete in the quarter.
   
3. Thesis grade: The thesis grade will be the average of recommendations of two (possibly three) anonymous readers who are department faculty (not your thesis advisor). If the first two readers differ in their recommendations by more than two-tenths of a grade point (e.g., 3.5 and 3.8), a third reader will be asked to grade the thesis as well.
   
4. Departmental honors. The award of departmental honors is by a vote of the entire Political Science faculty. In assigning honors the faculty is guided by the average of your departmental GPA (through the winter quarter) and your thesis grade. There are three levels of honors: highest honors, high honors, and honors. A student may complete the thesis but not receive departmental honors. The purpose of the seminar is to help students carry out their research; class time will be devoted primarily to presentations about choosing research topics, discussions about research design. Assignments must be submitted, on the dates listed here, to faculty advisors, seminar coordinators, or to your colleagues in this seminar. Students should seek feedback from their advisors on each completed assignment.
   
   

1. - Wayne C. Booth, Gregory Colomb, and Joseph Williams, The Craft of Research, 3rd edition (University of Chicago Press, 2008), available in the UCSD bookstore.
   
2. - Philip H. Pollock, The Essentials of Political Analysis, Second Edition
   
3. -additional readings, as listed below will be distributed in class
   
   

Class Schedule and Assignments for the Fall Quarter

1. September 30: Elements of Research
   
   
2. October 7: Framing Questions and Faculty Research Presentation
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapters 1, 3 in Booth, Craft of Research.
     
   • Read Memo One, “Structure …” and Memo Three “Manual of Minutiae” by Professor Philip Roeder on thesis writing: ThesisA: Memo One and Memo Three
     Assignment #1 Due: One-page summary of proposed thesis topic, with enough copies for each person in the seminar.
     
     
   
   
3. October 14: Library Session - PLEASE NOTE SPECIAL MEETING LOCATION! Several members of the library’s social science reference staff will offer a tutorial on the library’s resources. Class will meet the librarian at noon (usual time!), at the Geisel Library, Classroom 1/Room 274, which is the first room on your left as you are walking from the Circulation Desk towards Government Documents.
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapters 5, 6 in Booth
     
   
   
4. October 21: Faculty Research Presentation and Discussion of Your Research Topics
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapter 4 in Booth, Craft of Research
     
   • Read Memo Two “Research Design” by Professor Philip Roeder, online at ThesisA: Memo Two
     
   • Read the John Platt piece that we will hand out in class.
     
     
5. October 28: Faculty Research Presentation and Discussion of Your Research Topics
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapters 1-4 in Pollock, The Essentials of Political Analysis
     Assignment #2 Due: Three to five page statement of research design; must be signed by your advisor. Bring enough copies to distribute to the seminar Student pairs assigned for next two weeks of presentations
     
     
   
   
6. November 4: Designing Research and Discussion of Your Research Designs
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapter 7 in Booth, Craft of Research
     
     
7. November 11: No Class – Veteran's Day!
   
   
8. November 18: Faculty Presentation and Discussion of Your Research Designs
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Chapter 12 in Booth
     
   • Students, in pairs, present their own research/critique their partner’s
     
     
9. November 25: Discussion of Your Research Designs, continued
   Assigned Readings
   
   • Read Booth Chapters 13 and 14
     Assignment #3 Due: Preliminary bibliography and literature review
     
     
10. December 2: Student Presentations, continued
    Assignment #4 Due: First draft of first chapter submitted to thesis advisor by Friday, December 4.

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