The focus of the Senior Seminar is the development of a Senior Project proposal.  This proposal must follow a specific format and guidelines for this format will be provided in class. Proposals will be turned into the Senior Seminar instructor in early November.  Please note that although your instructors and fellow students will offer support and suggestions, you must work closely with your senior project supervisor (who may or may not be the same person as your Anthropology advisor).  The final authority on approving your project rests with your senior project supervisor:  therefore, when you pass in your final draft at the end of the semester, your final version must include a cover sheet that has been signed and dated by your project supervisor.  This constitutes your permission to move ahead with the project.  Proposals will then be turned into the Senior Project Committee to be appointed by the Chair of the Department, Dr. Paul Mullins. The Committee will review proposals and students will be informed of the Committee’s decision by late November. If we require revisions or re-submissions, those changes will be due in December, at the same time as proposals that were accepted in their original form.  Everyone who passes in their final version of the proposal on time, with a cover sheet (posted to the OnCourse site for this course) will receive full credit for this assignment.  The points on which your grade will be based will reflect your participation in the exercises that will precede the final submission of your proposal and will also reflect your attendance in the Senior Seminar.

Remember:  Your colleagues in the class and Drs. Wilson and Mullins will give you suggestions, but the final decision about how your project will move forward in the spring is up to you and your Senior Project supervisor. When you finish your Senior Project in the Spring, the completed project will be submitted as part of your Senior Project Portfolio (see Senior Seminar Manual for details). This Portfolio will also be reviewed by the Senior Project Committee. If your Senior Project requires another schedule, please discuss this with the instructor (as well as your faculty supervisor) prior to the semester.

Your grade in this class is based on attendance, the submission of eight assignments and verification of two meetings with your project supervisor.  All work must be turned in by the beginning of class on the due date in order to receive the full credit for the assignment. All written work must be completed in both electronic form and as a hard copy.  Please turn in the electronic versions via email or Oncourse.  You absolutely should keep a back-up copy of all work completed in the class.  Late assignments will only be accepted under extraordinary circumstances and with relevant documentation. Guidelines for all assignments will be posted on Oncourse.

1.       Preliminary Research Statement: You will submit a preliminary research statement for your project in Week 2 (August 29^th).  This statement does not imply that your project is “set in stone.”  All submissions at the deadline will receive the full credit for the assignment.  Late submissions will be penalized one point each day they are late. (5 points)

2.      Preliminary Literature Search:  A literature search with at least 10 resources will be due Week 4 (September 12^th).  The literature search should accumulate a bibliography of resources from a variety of scholarly and popular formats appropriate to your project, but you are not required to provide annotations or write a paper on these resources.  All submissions that include the minimum number of resources will receive full credit.  Late submissions will be penalized one point for each day they are late. (5 points)

3.      Submission of your 3-page literature review: A 3-page literature review that includes many, if not all, of the 10 resources from your preliminary literature search will be due Week 5 (September 19th).  Resources found after the preliminary literature search that are potentially more relevant to your anticipated project should be included in this literature review. (10 points)

4.      Proposal Analysis:  The analysis of a research proposal from a previous senior project must minimally be two pages in length.  It will be due in Week 6 (September 26^th). Your analysis will review the content of a student’s proposal posted to Oncourse. (10 points)

5.      Expanded Research Statement and Preliminary Research Design. An expanded proposal will be due in Week 7 (October 3^rd).  Any student that does not turn in a proposal by the deadline will receive a one-point deduction for every day it is late.  These proposals will be circulated to other students at random for peer reviews that will be due the following week- Week 8.  Late submissions will be penalized one point each day they are late. (5 points)

6.     Peer Review: You will undertake a peer review of another student’s project proposal.  It will be due in Week 8 (October 10^th). This document should be a written analysis that systematically reviews the proposal and identifies ways in which the proposal could be clarified or strengthened. (10 points)

 7.      Draft Proposal.  This proposal must be developed in consultation with your senior project supervisor.  The draft proposal is due in Week 11 (October 31^st). (10 points)

8.     Final Project Proposal: The major graded assignment for the semester is your final Senior Project proposal.  It is due in Week 13 (November 14^th). All students who complete and submit an approved proposal (i.e., with your Supervisor’s signature) by the deadline will receive the full points for this assignment. Late submissions will be penalized a full letter grade for each day they are submitted late.  (25 points)

9.     Attendance:  The Seminar will only meet for about half the semester, so attendance is key to completing the project proposal and the assignments leading up to it. Students will be allowed one unexcused absence. After the single unexcused absence, students will lose two attendance points each class meeting missed. (10 points)

10.Project Supervisor Meetings:  You will be required to provide verification that you have met with your Senior Project Supervisor two times over the course of the semester.  It is your responsibility to organize these meetings and make sure that your Supervisor e-mails us verification of your meetings. (10 points)

Please contact both instructors via email for all course-related communications and save a copy of all emails regarding the project and class.  Any questions about your project proposal should become part of your Senior Project proposal, so do not delete these emails now or during the production of your project.  Any questions on absences or other course grading must be sent to us in email, and we will resolve all these in emails prior to the conclusion of the semester.  All written work must be completed in both electronic form and as a hard copy.  Please turn in the electronic versions on a disc or send them to both instructors via email.  You absolutely should keep a back-up copy of all work completed in the class. If you cannot complete an assignment on time for any reason, you should contact the instructors as soon as possible. We can always be contacted before or after class, you can schedule an appointment, and we check our email virtually everyday.  Please do NOT wait until well after a deadline to talk to us. Do NOT postpone talking to us if you are having any difficulty completing an assignment or you're having difficulty with the class. Portable electronic devices, such as cell phones, must be turned off before entering the classroom.  You can use a laptop for note-taking but should silence it in class; do not plan to surf the web in class.  You must let us know in advance if you carry around such devices for familial reasons (e.g., pregnancy monitoring, disabled family, or contact with kids--not to stay in touch with a significant other who just likes to hear your voice, buddies planning the rest of their day, and so on).  Anyone whose electronic device disturbs class will be given a verbal warning on first offense and will be asked to meet with the instructors if they continue to disturb the group. The classroom is a safe speech situation in which it is your responsibility to treat other classmates fairly and with mutual respect, even if they have the audacity to disagree with you, champion an opinion that is inconsistent with your worldview, or simply bore you.  Anyone who talks when someone else is talking, is hostile, or otherwise violates classroom etiquette (e.g., does other homework, reads the newspaper) will be considered to be in violation of this policy.  Students who fail to adhere to these guidelines will be asked to leave class and will be required to meet with me before returning to class. Late assignments will be penalized for each day they're late if you do not negotiate an extension with us beforehand or at the earliest possible opportunity. This syllabus includes deadlines for all assignments and penalties for turning in any assignment late: it is your responsibility to know when assignments are due. There will not be any extra credit material.  Please keep electronic backups of all coursework.  If you do not complete and defend a Senior Project proposal by semester's end you will receive no credit for the assignment and will not pass the course.  You can monitor your grades over the semester on Oncourse. A 92+ (95) A- 89-91 (90) B+ 86-88 (87) B 82-85 (84) B- 79-81 (80) C+ 76-78 (77) C 70-75 (73) D 60-69 (65) F 0-60

All work in the course is conducted in accordance with the University’s academic misconduct policy.  Cheating includes dishonesty of any kind. Plagiarism is the offering of someone else’s work as your own: this includes taking un-cited material from books, web pages, or other students, turning in the same or substantially similar work as other students, or failing to properly cite other research.  If you are suspected of any form of academic misconduct you will be called in for a meeting at which you will be informed of the accusation and given adequate opportunity to respond.  A report will be submitted to the Dean of Students, who will decide on further disciplinary action.  Please consult the University Bulletin’s academic misconduct policy or me if you have any questions.

 The Office of Adaptive Educational Services (AES) ensures that students with disabilities receive appropriate accommodations from the University and their professors.  Students must register with the AES office in order to receive such services.

This course follows the IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning. The course will require students to develop/hone skills to design and conduct applied anthropology or anthropological research (critical thinking, research design); develop a Senior Project proposal (that can be subsequently completed during the following semester); and hone core communication skills (oral, written, presentation).

Week 1 Monday, August 22^nd        

•  Introduction to the Class: What is the Senior Project?

• Please sign and pass in the Senior Project contract.

Week 2 Monday, August 29^th                                

• Research Paradigms, Strategies and Designs in Anthropology

• Preliminary research statement due (5 pts.)

Week 3 Monday, September 5^th

LABOR DAY-NO CLASSES

Week 4 Monday, September 12^th 

• Research Strategies and the Senior Project Research Experience

• Preliminary literature search due (5 pts.) 

Week 5 Monday, September 19^th
 

• Framing Your Research: The Literature Review

• 3-page Literature Review due (10 pts.)

• Project Supervisor Meeting Verification #1 due

Week 6 Monday, September 26^th

• NO CLASS

• Proposal analysis due (10 points)

Week 7 Monday, October 3^rd         

• IRB and the Protection of Human Subjects

• Expanded Research Statement and Preliminary Research Design due (5 pts.)

Week 8 Monday, October 10^th      
 

• The Research Process & the Research Proposal

• Peer Review due (10 pts.)

Week 9  Monday, October 17^th                               

• FALL BREAK- NO CLASSES

• Project Supervisor Meeting Verification # 2 due

Week 10 Monday, October 24^th
 

• NO CLASS- Work on writing the draft of your proposal.

Week 11  Monday, October 31^st

• Peer Review of Proposals

• Draft Proposal due (10 pts.)

Week 12  Monday, November 7^th                            

• NO CLASS- Work on revising your proposal.

Week 13   Monday, November 14^th                              

• NO CLASS

Finals Proposals due (25 pts.). Remember to include the cover sheet signed by your senior project supervisor. You must also submit your peer review partner’s form.

Week 14 Monday, November 21^st
NO CLASS                    

Week 15   Monday, November 28^th                           
NO CLASS

Week 16 Monday, December 5^th

NO CLASS                

Remember to register for Anthropology A412, Senior Project in the spring.  You will register for the section of A412 that is attached to your advisor, and you will need his or her permission to enroll. 

All proposals will be reviewed by the Capstone Committee.  If they are required by the committee, any revisions are due on Monday December 5th

 Last updated August 18, 2011