ANTH Senior Work Guidelines and FAQ for 2023-24

1. Should I do a one-semester or two-semester project?

Ask yourself if you want to spend the majority of a year, and in particular your senior year, on a single endeavor. This commitment should not be taken lightly, and you may not even know the answer when you begin the process. You may undertake a shorter more focused study, and then as you get involved with it, decide it is worthy of more extensive work.

2. What are the due dates I need to keep in mind?

You should be thinking about your senior project no later than your junior year.

Most seniors will enroll in ANTH 700 for the first semester of their senior year.  However, if you are taking methods that fall, then you should complete your methods class first, and schedule your senior project for the spring semester.

Seniors who wish to turn their one-semester project into a Fall-WT two-semester project will present their plans to their advisor and another ANTH faculty member by the last week of October. Students seeking to turn do a two-semester project in WT-Spring should present their plans to their advisor and one other ANTH faculty member during the last week of Winter Term.

For students doing ANTH 700, the final version will be due by 5 PM on the last day of classes.

For students pursuing two-semester projects (ANTH 710), and who are graduating in February, the final version of the project will be due at 5 PM on the last day of Winter Term. For students graduating in May, the final version of your two-semester project will be due at 5 PM on the last day of classes.

If your advisor and another ANTH faculty member believe that your project could merit Honors, you will defend it in a meeting with them. Defenses are, despite the name, non-adversarial occasions conducted in a conversational manner, in which you do most of the talking. 

3. Will there be a chance to share my work with other ANTH majors, faculty, and students?

We encourage all our majors to present their senior projects at one of the forums organized for this purpose by International Studies, Environmental Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and the Student Spring Symposium. We can also organize a session for Winter Term when students may present their work in an informal discussion format.

4. What determines if I receive Honors in ANTH?

Students who earn an A- or higher on a 0700 or 0710 project and average an A- or higher in all Anthropology courses receive departmental honors.

5. What happens if I am a joint or double major?

ANTH and your other department or program will help you decide under whose auspices you do your senior project. If you do your project with a ANTH advisor, you will follow ANTH guidelines. If your project is with a non-ANTH advisor, you will follow the other department’s guidelines.