final countdown to graduation in the fall, a select group of seniors decided to take on the challenge of preparing a senior thesis.
For some, it is a course requirement in order for them to graduate, others choose to research and write one for departmental honors.
Senior Bethany Vercruysse said this gives graduate schools or future employers the opportunity to see how a student is able to work on something academic-minded other than assigned classwork.
“Having seniors write a thesis allows them to show they have the discipline to combine all they have studied the past four years,” said Professor of Political Economy Gary Wolfram.
Science students are also required to have senior research, but this research does not always equal a thesis.
Professor of Chemistry Chris Van Orman said not all science students seek departmental honors. However, most do work towards them.
Another common required senior thesis is the part of the honors program. A member of the program is expected to research and write a thesis before graduation. Assistant Professor of English Dutton Kearney said after writing their thesis, honors program students must present and defend their thesis in front every member of the program and the advisors to the program.
December graduate Olivia Downey said she wanted to complete her thesis for the program requirement, but was unable to, since she only had one semester left.
“It was a tough decision, and I’m upset I could not finish with honors, of course,” Downey said. “But it was my own fault for not being aware of my credits situation until my senior year. I decided not to do the thesis in order to concentrate on applying for jobs, specifically the Disney college program, which is where I am now, because it’s always been my dream to work for Disney.”
Downey was not the only student who made the decision not finish their thesis. Senior Brigitta Burguess said her English thesis grew into something she believed was no longer her own and not her original idea of romantic poetry.
“A thesis is a phenomenal way to sort of cap-off one’s degree and express something about which one is really passionate,” Burguess said. “In lieu of creating a conclusion to my English studies here, I was blessed to discover that I didn’t want to, and in fact could not, finish my journey at all; the thesis experience was a very beneficial one for me because during the process of deciding not to write a thesis, I decided to attend graduate school in that exact field.”
Burguess said she is grateful for the help and guidance she received from the English department. Burguess said her thesis became a case of discovery, which lay in how much she did not know.
Senior Brianna Landon said she discovered her senior thesis topic in the fall of 2011, in Associate Professor of History Richard Gamble’s class. This gave her the opportunity to earn departmental honors in history and she is one of two history students working on a senior thesis.
“I took a book by Ray Abrams where he criticized preachers of his day for supporting World War I,” Landon said. “It was disturbing to me that many scholars relied on this work uncritically without understanding the book entirely and has become a convenience for scholars, which leads to a misunderstanding of scholarship of the First World War.”
For a history thesis the paper will be about 30 to 45 pages. It is not uncommon for a paper to reach 60 pages though. To have the opportunity to write a history thesis one must reach a certain GPA requirement.
“It is a privilege to write a history thesis because of the recruitment of having the approval of everyone in the history department,” Landon said. “It shows a discipline of self-government and a curiosity for knowledge which Hillsdale encourages through the liberal arts.”