Buell 200; Unified sessions in Fayerweather 209
Wednesday 11a – 1p
Courseworks: Main / Section
UP T/C Guidelines, on Courseworks
Anthony Vanky
Buell 304
Office Hours: https://vanky.co/officehours
Welcome to thesis/capstone! This academic capstone should be a chance to distill all the lessons learned during your time at GSAPP, all of your interests, and future ambitions into one assignment that, hopefully, will be rewarding, excite you every day, and serve as a launch pad for what’s next in your career! This workshop will be a way of moving you toward completing this milestone and guiding you through the process of academic writing and research. We will do this together in a workshop to find accountability, form a support community, and share lessons learned.
Thesis versus Capstone
While we will discuss the difference, the MSUP program has two options for this milestone: the thesis and capstone. Both require you to independently scope a project, establish its bounds, and execute and document the work. The thesis is research, in nature–asking you to perform data collection, analysis, and write-up with the benefit that your interests guide the work. The capstone is similar in that it is an individual endeavor but requires an established relationship with a “client” whose needs your project responds to. In both cases, your advisor (me!) will simultaneously serve as a mentor and evaluator; he is your judge and advocate.
Learning Objectives
The minimum expectation at the end of this workshop is a comprehensive proposal that should serve as the foundation of your thesis. By creating this document, you will familiarize yourself with the process of academic research and writing, emphasizing formulating a research question, synthesizing literature, theory, and precedent, evaluating and generating empirical methods, and understanding ethical and policy issues related to social science research.
Workshop Format
Participation
This workshop will only be successful with your openness and participation. We will discuss the art of research and the process of writing a thesis as you are doing it. You should also treat our time together as a positive, discursive environment, with mutual respect and dedication to your and others’ success. Please bring your insights, ideas, and reflections to class and share them so others can learn from your experiences. You will be offered readings—some required for discussion, others supplemental for your reference. You will also be reading your peers’ work. You must come prepared to discuss, especially since we will not meet weekly.
Group Cohorts
We will split the class into two halves to give everyone a bit more attention to their work and to facilitate the workshop more discursively. While one group may be of focus each week, the other groups are invited to attend and participate. Please note that there are sessions where we will all meet as an advisory group and as a class. You will be familiar with each other’s work through the weekly comments and revisions.
Written Assignments (aka, working toward your project!)
This course aims to complete a document that could be considered a comprehensive proposal or the foundation of your ultimate thesis. To arrive at this point, you are asked to submit several written deliverables, as noted in the schedule below. With some possible revisions, these documents will be part of your ultimate submission.
You are asked to share your document with your peer group. You should skim your peers’ work before our Wednesday session. However, don’t fret… This is a safe environment; everyone will be “running their race.”
You should plan on something being due every week:
For the weeks when your group is in session, your writing assignment is due by noon Monday before class to facilitate sharing, comments, and feedback. During the workshop, you will have a chance to comment on your colleagues’ work, so please skin the other submissions.For weeks not in session, you should review and provide written comments on your peers’ work by Wednesday’s session.
CITI IRB Training
All students should complete CITI training by the noted date in the schedule regardless of the methods used.
