Course Title: Art History Senior Seminar
Term: Fall
Course Description
* Major credit. Writing Intensive and capstone course for art history majors.
This course is designed to provide the senior Art History major with an opportunity to focus on a particular period in art history and gain experience doing in-depth research and writing on a topic of her choosing, with the professor’s approval. It also provides the student with career development and graduate school preparation. This capstone course should ideally be taken during the Fall Term of the senior year.
Course Objectives
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To expand ability to analyze art historical texts
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To critically analyze visual and textual sources
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To conduct in-depth research by consulting a range of specialized art history literature § Discriminating among sources based on types, methodologies, credibility, etc.
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To develop and fine-tune effective research skills
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To demonstrate ability to write a lengthy research paper that proves its thesis clearly and persuasively, using art historical methodologies and language
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To engage in peer review, reading critically and developing editorial skills
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To present research to the Converse academic community by means of a conference-style presentation
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Course Outcomes
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Students will learn to organize complex ideas effectively
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Students will work through a process of revision to strengthen the argument
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Students will cultivate an effective notation and citation system
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Students will negotiate the obstacles and difficulties of the research process while still meeting deadlines
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Students will present research to the Converse academic community by means of a conference-style presentation
Project 1: Paper Proposal
A proposal of 2-3 pages and a preliminary bibliography of ten scholarly sources is due in the fourth week of the semester. The proposal should lay out the tentative aims of your final paper; it should include a clear and well-articulated thesis (based on an initial survey of the literature AND your gut instincts). This thesis can—and should—change during the process of further research and writing, but it is important to demonstrate the issues and questions that will guide your process. The proposal should give some sense of how you intend to organize the arguments and evidence of your final paper; this may take the form of an outline or simply a written description.
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Project 2: Annotated Bibliography
After getting feedback on the proposal, you will compile an annotated bibliography of 20-30 sources (a rule of thumb that I’ve overheard is that you should plan for about 2 sources per page of your research paper; that figure depends wildly on your topic, of course; but it gives you a sense of the depth of research and the processes of distillation you will go through in compiling your evidence). Your bibliography must be properly formatted according to Chicago Manual of Style guidelines: www.chicagomanualofstyle.org
Annotations should be concise (~300 words), and should offer an overview of the main argument of the book chapter and/or scholarly article. Conventions for annotations and criteria for strong scholarly sources will be discussed in class.
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Project 3: Research Log
Consider this journal a place to brainstorm ideas, gather evidence, take notes on readings, arrange and organize topics. You may use this any way you’d like: making list of sources, copying quotations, keeping track of loose ends and/or questions you have about the research material, making notes on future goals. In the writing stage, you may use this journal as place for daily notes; the log can be a space for “meta” reflection on what’s working, or what isn’t working in your draft. You may share this journal with the professor, bring it to classroom meetings, or keep it to yourself. It is exclusively for the growth of your project.
Project 4: Final Paper
A research-based paper of 20-25 double-spaced pages, on a topic approved by the professor, with an extensive bibliography, properly formatted.
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