Senior Theses at Vassar

"Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis."

— Raplh Waldo Emerson

It is Spring Break at Vassar, and the campus has fallen into a peaceful quiet. The only noises come in the form of gentle (if frantic) typing in the Library, as seniors busily put the finishing touches on their senior theses. For better or worse, I am one of the dozens of seniors scurrying around the Library's archives, digging for primary source material, and adjusting (and readjusting) my footnotes.

From the outset of our time at Vassar, students are encouraged and challenged to develop their scholarly interests and research skills. The culmination of this process is the senior thesis, an incredibly challenging capstone experience that gives each student the chance to create original scholarship in a field of their choosing, working very closely with a member of the faculty (usually of your choosing). At Vassar, most seniors write either a thesis or, in the case of some departments (like the Chemistry or Neuroscience), undertake another a substantial independent research project.

Faculty members are highly engaged in the theses of their students, usually advising on topics close to their own professional research interests. Many students develop their projects from ideas sparked in the classes they’ve taken, or simply on the basis of longstanding personal passions. Many ideas will begin junior year during study abroad experiences, or through Vassar's generous summer research grants. Other students use internships as a launching pad for their thesis. For some science projects, students stay on campus the summer before their senior year to get a head start on laboratory work, or peak their interests during URSI (the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute at Vassar). But what all thesis writers share is the intellectual twists and turns of any good research project, where the questions emerge as they proceed, often taking unexpected directions. "Research takes you down the rabbit hole of unending streams of human knowledge," as one of my advisers says.

Although the thesis process can be very, very challenging, I actually prefer these independent projects to standard classes. As a perpetual night-owl (it's currently 5:30 a.m.), I love being able to schedule my work entirely on my own time. I can then devote my weekday afternoons to my work on the Vassar Student Association (Vassar's student government), which often feels like a full-time job in and of itself. I know other students with heavy extracurricular demands feel the same way.

As a double major in History and Political Science, I'm writing two senior theses this year (one for each department). For my History thesis, I'm working with Rebecca Edwards and writing about the arguments for and against massive sewage reform in London in the 1850s. I spent my summer studying British history at Cambridge University, and came across some really interesting controversies on Victorian sanitary reform while poking around the British Library. For my Political Science thesis, I'm working with Richard Born and writing about the management of the press and public opinion during Franklin Roosevelt's 1937 Court-Packing Plan. As a former Miscellany News editor, I was really interested in shaping public opinion, and Roosevelt's press secretary Stephen Early was an early master at the science of public relations.

To the untrained eye, thesis topics like mine can seem arcane at best, and boring at worst. But I promise, they're not! Because each student is allowed to choose subjects of personal interest, you're almost guaranteed to be writing about something you find juicy, salacious or intriguing.

I encourage prospective students to poke around department and program Web sites in academic areas of interest. Often, these sites will describe the senior thesis process within their major, and even list some sample topics from recent years. (No problem if you're still not sure what your major will be; you can still check out some of the amazing research being done by students in all departments).

Vassar is known for producing some of the world's finest writers, researchers and academic pioneers, and is a national leader in producing doctoral candidates. I have no doubt that our incredibly strong senior thesis program contributes to the analytical and creative abilities of graduates -- even if, for now, it means spending some of my Spring Break locked away in the Library!