My senior thesis experience began where all things begin: In a parking lot in southern Mississippi, where a (possibly illegal) taxicab had just dropped me off, along with my duffel bag and laptop, with nary a goodbye.
I was an anthropology major who had signed on to write a thesis about Christian charities on the Gulf Coast, and after months of planning and drafting proposal after proposal, there I was -- faced with the daunting beginning of my fieldwork. Fast-forward six months, and I would be in the process of drafting a four-chapter monster that, if I am lucky, up to five people will read.
But it's worth it, because the undergraduate thesis -- offered as an option in many, if not all, Arts & Sciences departments -- is one of the few opportunities for students to create some original and in-depth writing within an area of their interest.
Most thesis-writers think long and hard about their topics of research. After all, such a major paper -- most are between 70 and 100 pages -- is a year-long commitment at the very least, requiring real passion for the issue or question at hand.
"I was inspired to pursue my topic by a single person: Dr. Lisa DeLeonardis of the History of Art Department," senior Jennifer Snodgrass says of her thesis on ancient Andean aesthetics in Peru. "After taking her course freshman year, I was intrigued by a niche of art history I had never thought about before."
But occasionally, a thesis topic arises unexpectedly. Senior Nabiha Syed, an international studies and anthropology major, followed her interest in Islamic family law to a summer internship in Malaysia, where she collected information about the complicated laws governing polygamy.
Most thesis-writers share an affinity for the process of discovery. But the drudgery of composing the text can be another matter.
"Least exciting is writing the darn thing," Snodgrass says. "I love to write about this subject, but when writing a thesis you begin to scrutinize every single word as you start to realize how important it is to be totally accurate and expressive about your subject at the same time."
