Introduction Advising Keeping Informed Major Requirements Sample Majors Major Worksheet Options & Restrictions English Concentrations Senior Essay Program Registration Procedures Course Distribution Lists 07-08 by Category 07-08 by Course Barnard Courses Summer Courses Past Distribution Lists Writing Prizes The Williams Traveling Fellowship Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism (CJLC) SENIOR ESSAY PROGRAM Eligibility All Columbia College and General Studies senior English majors with at least a 3.6 GPA in their English courses. Description The senior essay program offers qualified seniors the opportunity to write a critical essay of between 8,000 – 15,000 words under the supervision of a full-time faculty member in the English Department. The essay should constitute some substantial and original critical or scholarly argument of the sort normally required in literature courses. Procedure Students interested in applying to this program should devote some time between the summer of junior and senior year thinking about what topic they might want to explore and how they would go about it. Early in the fall semester, applicants submit a one- to two-page proposal for the essay to the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE) in 602 Philosophy. (Note: the proposal should include a provisional title that identifies the focus of the essay.) The deadline for Fall 2008: Monday, September 29 by 5 pm. (To get some sense of what CUE considers an acceptable project, students should consult the sample proposals of past applicants posted at this site.) The proposal should be accompanied by a transcript and a list of three suggested faculty sponsors. Applicants are asked to submit four copies of their proposal and transcript. On the basis of the proposal and academic record, CUE accepts students into the program, at the same time assigning them to individual faculty sponsors. Although efforts are made to accommodate student choices of sponsor, there is no guarantee that this will happen in every case. The final authority to assign faculty sponsors rests with CUE. Once students have been accepted and faculty assignments made, they are expected to meet with their sponsors throughout the fall to sharpen the focus of their topics, establish a bibliography and otherwise organize themselves for the actual preparation of the essay. During the November registration period for the spring term, students register for the three-point independent study course, English W3999y. During the spring term, students are expected to see their sponsors at least once every two weeks as they work on their essays. At least twenty pages of draft should be submitted to the sponsor by Monday, March 8, 2009. The manuscript must be completed by Monday, April 6, 2009 upon which day by 2 pm the students should submit 4 copies to 602 Philosophy Hall for the undergraduate committee, and deliver one other copy to the sponsor (whether the essay should be delivered directly to the sponsor or deposited in the sponsor's mailbox is a matter to be arranged between the student and sponsor; this fifth copy should not be dropped off with the other 4 on the assumption someone in the office will make sure the sponsor receives it). Faculty sponsors submit an evaluation of the essay and a grade one week later, along with a recommendation (or not) for departmental honors. CUE then meets to consider the evaluations, the grades, faculty recommendations for honors and the students’ fall grades to determine which students should be nominated for departmental honors. By College rule, the department can grant honors to no more than ten percent of its majors. The list of nominated students is then presented to the department for its approval.