Political Science Senior Research
POLITICAL SCIENCE
Senior Research
Senior research is not required in political science. But if you are going to pursue senior research, the process starts now. Before you register for fall semester 2010 (so March 2010), you need to have a pretty good idea of what you want to do, with whom you wish to work, AND you should talk to your potential advisor prior to registration.
Good reasons to do senior research include a burning curiosity about a political phenomenon; an interest in going to graduate school in political science; a love of research, writing, and a topic.
Bad reasons to do senior research include you think you should; you think others will value it; your parents did it when they were in college; your best friend is doing it.
If you choose to do senior research, you must find an advisor for the project who has the option to accept or reject working with you. So to maximize your chances of acceptance, do a substantial amount of preliminary work. Contact your potential advisor early and be prepared. Don’t just announce you think you want to spend time studying China or Russia or the American Congress. Do enough research to have a tentative research question as a topic: What impacts did the Three Gorges Dam have on interethnic relations in Yiling District? Why did United Russia become the dominant party in the State Duma? What impact did Congressional conference committees have on the Higher Education Act of 2008? Each of these topics still needs work but show you have done preliminary research and have formed a question to pursue. Bring in a preliminary bibliography to show your earnestness and desire to work hard. Contacting an advisor in the fall semester of senior year is really too late and you are more likely to be turned down at that point, so please talk to advisors (and give them something in writing!) in the spring of your junior year.
Senior research is a two course sequence (fall-spring) for which you receive eight credits toward graduation, but only one course toward the nine needed for the major. Since senior research is four credits a semester over two semesters, you should plan on spending at least as much time on your research as you do on a class, probably more! You’ll need to manage your time well, meet deadlines agreed upon between you and your advisor, and work hard.
If you want more information about any of these opportunities, please talk to any member of the political science department.
2004
Rebecca H. Runyan: Getting Out the Denison Vote: An Assessment of Political Participation and Program Implementation on Campus
Pratitee (Pia) Ghose: Seeds of Totalitarianism: Plato Revisited
Jenna E. Lukasik: Separation Anxiety: The Legal Approaches and the Evolution of Establishment Case Law
Christen C. Rhodes: The Impact of European Union Enlargement on its Common Foreign And Security Policy, and Implications for the United States
Danielle F. Vagnone: The International Sources of Domestic Structure Change: A Chilean Case Study
2005
Mary E. Morris: Behind Every Good Democracy: A Constitutional Analysis of Women's Suffrage and Democratic Peace Theory
Erin E. Robinson: Intersecting Influences: Two-Level Diplomacy and the End of the Vietnam War
Jillanne M. Schulte: Friends and Foes: The Variable Nature of US Foreign Policy Responses to Terrorist Attacks
Cara Bachner: Is Democracy in Danger? Neoliberalism, Individual Well-Being, Democratic Disillusionment, and Mass Movements in Latin America
2006
Sara E. Cahill: Ethnic Conflict and Demorratization: A Comparative Analysis of the Catalans, Basques, and ETA
2007
Samuel K. Benham: "Git off My lawn!" Eminent Domain and Moral Harm
Claire DeNisco: American Citizenship and the Right to Marry
Jacob R. Neiheisel: Christian Right Horticulture: Grassroots Activism in a Republican Primary Campaign
2008
Christine Durkin: The Criteria for a Successful UN Peacekeeping Operation
Polly F. Webster: American Education under the 'Veil of Individualism': Student Identity Formation through the American Dream