WGSS 489:

Senior Seminar in Research Methods and Capstone Preparation

Fall, 2009
MW 3:00 - 4:15, North Court xxx
Dr. McWhorter

This course is required of WGSS majors. It is a fall term preparatory course for thesis completion, which is to be undertaken in the spring semester. Click here for a list of graded assignments.

Required Texts:

  Charles Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis
  Judith Butler, Undoing Gender

August 24: Introduction to the course; students will describe their preliminary ideas for their research topics; discussion of the process of advisor selection for spring semester.

August 26: Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 3-34 (chapters 1 & 2); Butler, Undoing Gender, Introduction.

August 31: Seminar Discussion Day: Butler, Undoing Gender, chapter one.

September 2: Seminar Discussion Day: Butler, Undoing Gender, chapter three.

September 7: Each student will make a ten-minute presentation on his/her research topic, including thoughts on a prospective thesis advisor.

September 9: Seminar Discussion Day: Butler, Undoing Gender, chapter five.

September 14: Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 37-65 (chapter 3). Discussion: plagiarism and how to avoid it. Class will adjourn at 3:45 today because of a University Faculty Council meeting.

September 16: Seminar Discussion Day: Butler, Undoing Gender, chapter four. Note-taking assignment due!

September 21: Class will meet in the Boatwright Library Conference Room (2nd floor) with Research Librarian Lucretia McCulley. Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 66-86 (chapter 4).

September 23: Each student will make a ten-minute presentation on his/her research topic, including a brief report on prospective thesis advisors. Butler Essay Due!

September 28: Class will meet in the Boatwright Library Conference Room with Research Librarian Lucretia McCulley. Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 89-98 and 110-119 (chapters 5 & 7).

September 30: On this day half of the students will give a twenty-minute presentation on their research. NOTE: Each student must schedule a meeting with Research Librarian Lucretia McCulley to discuss bibliography before October 6.

October 5: On this day half of the students will give a twenty-minute presentation on their research.

October 7: Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 123-176 and 267-74 (chapters 8, 9, 10, & 15). Bibliographies due!


October 12: NO CLASS - FALL BREAK!

October 14: Seminar Discussion Day on Iris Marion Young, "The Pregnant Body," from On Female Body Experience: "Throwing Like a Girl" and Other Essays.

October 19: Library Day. This day we will not meet as a class, but students should spend time reading for their theses and preparing for their next presentations. Those who plan to use case studies in their theses should also read Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 99-109 (chapter 6). Those who plan to use visual material in their theses should read Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 193-229 (chapter 12).

October 21: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class. The student making the presentation will select the reading assignment for this day and supply it to all participants in a timely fashion prior to the class meeting. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

October 26: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class. The student making the presentation will select the reading assignment for this day and supply it to all participants in a timely fashion prior to the class meeting. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

October 28: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class. The student making the presentation will select the reading assignment for this day and supply it to all participants in a timely fashion prior to the class meeting. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

November 2: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class. The student making the presentation will select the reading assignment for this day and supply it to all participants in a timely fashion prior to the class meeting. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

November 4: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class. The student making the presentation will select the reading assignment for this day and supply it to all participants in a timely fashion prior to the class meeting. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

November 6: This is not a class day, but your outline is due by noon.

November 9: Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis, 177-191 (chapter 11). Seminar Discussion Day on Nancy Tuana, "Coming to Understand: Orgasm and the Epistemology of Ignorance," Hypatia 19:1 (Winter, 2005):194-231.

November 11: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class that will include a writing sample to be distributed in advance. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.


November 16: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class that will include a writing sample to be distributed in advance. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

November 18: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class that will include a writing sample to be distributed in advance. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

November 23: Seminar Discussion Day on Celia Kitzinger, "Problematizing Pleasure: Radical Feminist Deconstruction of Sexuality and Power," from Power/Gender: Social Relations in Theory and Practice, edited by H. Lorraine Radtke and Henderikus J. Stam. London: Sage Publications, 1994, pp. 194-209.

November 25: NO CLASS: Thanksgiving.

November 30: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class that will include a writing sample to be distributed in advance. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

December 2: One student will make a formal 30-minute presentation on his/her research to the class that will include a writing sample to be distributed in advance. The class will discuss and critique the work in progress.

December 11: Full outline, bibliography, and plan of work due by 10:00 AM! Note that this package must be signed by your thesis advisor before you submit it, so you need to finish it and have it to your advisor a few days ahead of this deadline!