Advice on Finding a Thesis Adviser - Department of Government ...

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are many great theses to write (in history, economics, public policy, etc.), but those theses won't be viewed as favorably in the Govt. Dept. If your adviser is from outside the Department, you will have to work harder to make sure that you are able to produce a piece of political science scholarship. With that very important caveat in mind, places you can go to continue your adviser search include: • Weatherhead Center for International Affairs: http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/fields_of_interest • Harvard University Asia Center: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~asiactr/people.htm • Harvard Center for International Development: http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidpeople/ • Kennedy School of Government: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/centersprograms/by-topic 4. Timeline: What is the timeline for writing a Government thesis? Tip from Prof. Nelson: Start thinking early! Have a question before the summer. Try to start writing early too. Write as you go, rather than waiting until the very end to do it all. Note that the new calendar may give you a false sense that you have lots of time in January to write the thesis. But remember that your adviser will likely not be available during those weeks and that the “break” is actually quite short. Having a rough draft of the whole before winter break would be ideal. Ask anyone in the department about the thesis writing process, and they will echo the same sentiment: start thinking about your thesis early. You will always have less time than you think, and research will always take longer than you think. Starting early gives you enough time to work through these inevitable delays. Prof. Domínguez suggests that the bulk of your research be done before the beginning of your senior year, and should absolutely be done by Halloween. You should have written 20-25 pages for your adviser to review by Thanksgiving, and a complete first draft should be finished by the beginning of the spring semester in January. February should be spent on revisions. Remember: the thesis is due at the beginning of March! Starting with the Class of 2010, Harvard College will be implementing a new academic calendar. While the new college calendar won’t affect all aspects of the thesiswriting timeline, it will push up some of the due dates. The need to start early is even more pressing. 8
Below is a month-by-month calendar of what you should be doing your Junior year to prepare for writing a Government thesis. Bring your specific questions to the Undergraduate Program Office and to your concentration advisers! Month Tasks Jr. Fall Semester - Plan junior year courses to include at least one, hopefully two, Junior Research Seminars. - Think about taking Gov 50 or an equivalent statistics course this academic year, if you haven’t done so already. December - Begin thinking about your thesis question - Start looking for thesis adviser January/February - Continue searching for thesis adviser; developing thesis question - Attend sessions on summer research funding - Submit grant proposals for summer research funding - Attend a mandatory Introduction to Thesis Writing in Government session; includes intro. to the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research March - Continue searching for thesis adviser; developing thesis question - Attend series of Government Dept. Thesis Preparation Seminars (dates TBA via email) April - Continue searching for thesis adviser; developing thesis question - Attend series of Government Dept. Thesis Preparation Seminars (dates TBA via email) May - Thesis contracts due by May 14 - Develop summer research plans June – August - Engage in summer research (determine with your adviser what, if anything, you will do over the summer) - Prof. Domínguez notes that in order to have your research completed by Halloween, you need to do a significant portion of the research over the summer, and in order to do a significant portion of the research over the summer, you need to have a question in mind before you go away for the summer. - If you have found an adviser yet, contact the Undergraduate Program Office ASAP August - Continue summer research September - If not already submitted, thesis contracts should be submitted by Study Card Day - Conduct research! October – December - Conduct research! - Series of Gov 99 internal deadlines: Initial description of question / methods; Prospectus; Draft of literature review; Discussion of methods / evidence to be used - Turn in your Prospectus to adviser and Undergraduate Office by October 7 - You’ll need to have ~30 pages turned in to your adviser by December 1, and this means that you need substantial portions of your research completed by mid-Fall. - If you are going to be focused on final exams and papers from Thanksgiving to December, you really need to have 20-25 pages completed by Thanksgiving, and in order to write those 25 pages by Thanksgiving, you need much of your research to be finished by Halloween. January Break - Anticipate that you will be working a lot on your thesis over your January break January - Write! - Prof. Domínguez notes that you have only 4-5 weeks from the start of your second semester to finish your thesis, so by late January, at a rock bottom minimum, you need to have at least 2/3 of your senior thesis draft finished. This will give you enough time to complete the final 1/3 of the thesis, as well as proofread and pay attention to what the final product looks like. February - Write! March - Thesis is due on March 6, 2012 9
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