Thesis Prospectus

Prior to registering for Phil 8999, Thesis Research, students must write and have approved a thesis prospectus, which is a preliminary plan for how the thesis will run. It will contain the following parts:
  1. A title for the thesis.
  2. A brief description of the subject of the thesis and of the main conclusion or conclusions that you will argue for in the thesis.
  3. An outline, chapter by chapter, of how the thesis will be structured.
  4. A listing of the classes you have taken, and with whom, that you think will be fairly directly relevant to the issues you will be exploring in your thesis.
  5. A bibliography of the works you plan on consulting during your research for the thesis.
The prospectus should be brief; we suggest no more than 3 pages double-spaced for A-D, and no more than 2 pages for E.

The student will show all of the members of her committee a draft of the prospectus and get their feedback on it. Then she will revise the prospectus in light of their suggestions and have them sign the revised prospectus along with the registration form for Phil 8999.

The prospectus is simply a tool to help ensure that your thesis topic is viable and your work on that topic fruitful; it is not a binding contract. We fully expect that by the time a thesis is completed, its structure or conclusions might be significantly different than the student envisioned at the start of the process.

Return to the degree requirements.

Revised 2/6/2006