 |
 |
       |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
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.
|
|
      |
|