Things to think about if you are interested in potential senior thesis research
Hone in on your interests with class choice and guidance from your major advisor: In your first year, you likely took many introductory classes to explore and hone your interests. In your second year, you likely declared your major(s) and/or minor(s) and began to take more major requirements and began taking topical electives in your area of interest. In your third and fourth year, you will be taking many elective courses in your area of interest that offer you more depth and experience with higher-order cognitive tasks such as critical thinking, essay writing, reading primary literature, and skills in analysis and problem solving.
Build relationships with your professors: To complete Latin Honors research, you will need to choose a thesis advisor and two supporting committee members. Your thesis advisor will be your primary research mentor and will most directly guide your research. You should choose additional supporting committee members who can offer strengths on particular aspects of your thesis, such as being a topical expert in something related to your thesis, or an expert in a research methodology that you will use. Your thesis advisor can be any person on the Environmental Studies thesis advisors list; at least one of your three committee members must be a member of the Environmental Studies core faculty group (see list of potential committee members here). Start building relationships with your professors by visiting their office hours, emailing them to ask questions, and getting involved in research internships. Tell your professors about your interests and ask them for ideas on books and articles you can read to learn more or what classes they recommend you take.
Take relevant elective courses and one or more "methods" course: If you are thinking about doing research in your senior year through independent study or Latin Honors research, you should enroll in courses that will enhance your growth as an early stage scholar and help you successfully complete a thesis:
- Take 3000 and 4000 level courses that offer depth in the topical areas related to your thesis. Consider a course that is highly topically related, even if it doesn’t count toward your major.
- Take at least one or maybe several “methods” courses that prepare you for the methods used within the discipline and topic of your thesis. Many of these are open to non-majors with instructor permission. You should take courses in the methods you think you will use in your thesis. Some courses that may be of interest, depending on your discipline and subject area of focus and the methods required:
- ANTH 428W: Original Research in Environmental Anthropology
- ANTH 4501: Decolonizing Anthropology
- BIOL 3100: R Workshop in Biology
- ENST 364: Field Methods for Environmental Science
- IPH 431: Statistics for Humanities Scholars
- MATH 2200 or MATH 3200: Statistics
- POLSCI 363: Quantitative Political Methodology
- POLSCI 4043: Policy Analysis, Assessment and Practical Wisdom
- POLSCI 495: Research Design and Methods
- SOC 3030: Introduction to Research Methods
Consider an internship or conference attendance: Participating in an internship or summer fellowship and attending a conference are excellent ways to learn more about work in your areas of interest. They often help you clarify your interests, network with faculty, professionals, and peers, and encourage excitement about potential research. They can be great gateway experiences to pursuing research, including senior honors research. You can ask your professors or major advisor or email environmental@wustl.edu to learn more about how to find an internship or fellowship.
Connect with your major or minor advisor: Let your advisor know early on that you are interested in potential thesis research. They can help guide you to select courses and experiences, prepare, and apply to do senior thesis research.
Senior Thesis Guidelines and Timeline
In the Environmental Studies Program, any student may conduct senior thesis research regardless of GPA, and Departmental Honors and awards do not require completion of a senior thesis. Latin Honors for majors requires completion of a senior thesis in addition to meeting GPA requirements set by the university.
The following outlines the process and general timelines for completion of a senior thesis assuming a spring graduation. If you plan to graduate in December, you can modify the timeline by moving all deadlines one semester earlier.
Some of our senior thesis students have been conducting research with the same research mentor for several summers or academic years; others begin their thesis research with a new research mentor about a year before graduation. The timelines for some of these activities may vary slightly depending on the history of the collaborative relationship between the student and mentor. The timeline for turning in key forms and paperwork and general timelines for preparing a scholarly product should be roughly similar.
Make sure to sign up for any topical or methods courses that could be useful for your thesis but are only offered once every other year. If you will graduate in December, make sure to sign up for the fall offering of ENST 498 (Senior Thesis Research course).
This will be spring of your third year, if you are planning for a spring graduation.
Identify one person to be your thesis advisor. This person will serve as your primary research mentor. Meet with them to discuss your thesis topic, question, and potential methods in depth, and ask them if they will serve as your thesis advisor. Ask their advice on who else they recommend for your committee. Your thesis advisor can be any person on the Environmental Studies thesis advisors list; at least one of your three committee members must be a member of the Environmental Studies core faculty group (see list of potential committee members here).
Then, identify two supporting committee members. Using your own experience and your mentor’s advice, seek out and meet with two additional people to serve as your supporting committee members. These committee members will offer strengths on particular aspects of your thesis, such as being a topical expert in something related to your thesis, or an expert in a research methodology that you will use.
Once you have identified a committee of a primary research mentor and two committee members, turn in your Latin honors thesis intent & committee form. Register for ENST 498 and sign up for any courses that will help you prepare your thesis. Ask your thesis advisor and committee members for recommendations on what courses to take.
At the end of your third to last semester, you will receive a letter welcoming you to the senior thesis program that contains instructions to get going on your thesis research and what to work on over the summer.
For a spring graduation, this will be the summer before your fourth year; for a December graduation, this will be late fall/winter/spring of your third year.
You will read extensively, take notes, and begin building a bibliography and literature review. You will narrow your research question, prepare a short summary of your preliminary argument, plan your methods, and depending on the discipline, collect data. You will confer with your thesis advisor at regular intervals to make sure your work is on track.
For spring graduation, this will be fall of your fourth year; for December graduation, this will occur in the fall of your third year.
- Hold a committee meeting, which may be your first ever or first of the fall. Your committee may decide to hold regular committee meetings or ask that you meet regularly with your primary research advisor.
- Turn in a 2- to several- page prospectus to your committee and ENST 498 instructors. The prospectus length and form may vary by discipline, but in general the prospectus should include background information (from the scholarly literature) that motivates the project and outline the question/problem, methodology, and proposed analyses.
- As part of ENST 498, turn in a 1-page academic year plan outlining your proposed timeline and tasks for fall, winter, and spring. This will help start you with planning, goal setting, and time & task management to keep you on track for finishing and producing a rigorous scholarly product.
- As part of ENST 498, turn in 1-page winter/spring plan. This is your chance to revise your goals and timelines to make sure you are on track for progress over winter and spring. We’ll review them together and offer community feedback, support, and encouragement to leave you in a positive and confident place for moving forward as the semester ends.
Analysis, results, and writing: You will continue to work on data analysis, preparing results, and drafting sections of the thesis over winter break and early spring semester. Depending on your discipline and agreements with your committee you may be planning to generate a semi-final version of your thesis somewhere between January and the end of spring break. Plan your tasks and timelines to keep you on track for your goals.
Deadlines for semi-final and final versions: The semi-final draft of your thesis is due to your committee by the Monday after spring break. Your committee should return comments to you on your semi-final draft within three weeks of receipt. You will turn in a final, revised version of your thesis to your committee and environmental@wustl.edu by the end of the last day of reading period. If your thesis is conducted to receive senior honors, we will not certify honors until receipt of your final thesis.
Presenting your thesis research: We encourage all senior thesis students to present their research at the WUSTL Undergraduate Research Symposium or an Environmental Studies faculty breakfast at the end of their last semester.
Roles and guidelines for students, thesis advisors, and committee members in senior honors research
Committees for senior honors research consist of a thesis advisor (primary research mentor) and two supporting committee members. At least one of these three committee members must be a core Environmental Studies faculty member. Refer to the list of potential committee members and core Environmental Studies faculty here.
Because our students often conduct research that is interdisciplinary and have committees that consist of housed in different departments and familiar with different disciplinary products and timelines, it is important that our students receive collective guidance early on. This helps to make sure the thesis is on track to meet Environmental Studies guidelines and prevents hiccups when reviewers from different disciplines read the final product through different lenses at the last minute. Thus, students and committee members should plan to participate in:
- One initial committee meeting in late spring, summer, or early fall of the fourth year
- At least one follow-up committee meeting at a time point agreed-upon by the committee.
Student: Stay in regular communication with your research advisor and committee; utilize scholarly sources; complete a rigorous search and synthesis of your field and topic that motivates your project and serves as the background for your prospectus and thesis introduction; turn in items on time; if in doubt, ask mentor and committee questions for guidance sooner than later
Thesis advisor: Serve as the primary research mentor; have capacity to supervise within disciplinary field and topic; devote time to student mentoring, communication, and regular meetings; engage in regular meetings with student to guide research, work through issues, guide data collection, analysis and interpretation of results; work with student to shape scope of the final product (e.g. thesis or policy brief or publishable manuscript); attend at least one initial and one follow-up committee meeting; read and provide constructive feedback on drafts within three weeks of receipt.
Committee members: Serve as supporting research mentors; provide additional expertise in some aspect of the topic topic or methodology of research; attend at least one initial and one follow-up committee meeting; read and provide constructive feedback on drafts within three weeks of receipt.
Senior Thesis formatting guidelines
Stay tuned for a document outlining the expectations and formatting guidelines for the final senior thesis document.