Dates: September 17-18th, 9am – 5pm

Doing a Master’s thesis can be an incredibly rewarding and enjoyable learning experience, but in order to get the most out of your thesis, there are some important steps that need to be taken early on in your time at SEAS.  This two-day course is appropriate for any student who is planning on doing a thesis or is considering doing a thesis to satisfy the Capstone requirement. Whether you are sure that you want to do a thesis and have already engaged an advisor, or need more information to even begin to decide if a thesis is right for you, this class is appropriate for you to take. There are no prerequisites for this course, and you are not expected to come into the class with a thesis topic or a faculty advisor; taking this course does not, in any way, commit you to doing a thesis for your Capstone.

            There are four broad goals for this course: exploring the structure of a thesis (i.e. understanding what a thesis is!), engaging with an advisor, and planning for your thesis (this course will ensure that you are ready for the thesis development seminar in the winter semester), and finally building a sense of community with your cohort!

The course will include both presentations of background materials by the professor and group-work with your peers who are at similar stages of the thesis development process.

1. By the end of this course, you will know what a thesis is, what you will learn from this experience, what will be expected of you, and what opportunities a thesis may open up for you after your time at SEAS.
2. You will also have developed a personalized roadmap for successfully engaging with an appropriate faculty advisor.

The only out-of-class assignment for the course will be to find and read a paper by your advisor/perspective advisor.