Any English major who relishes the challenge of working on a sustained piece of research and writing for a full academic year should consider writing a thesis. The department does not have a minimum GPA requirement for thesis writers, but we encourage students to tackle forms of research and writing with which they have had experience and success. A student who wants to write a “creative” thesis, for instance, should have completed at least two creative writing courses.
The best reason to write a thesis is that it allows you to spend a long time at the height of your undergraduate experience pursuing a project of your own devising. Ideally, your project will give you the space to explore compelling questions and texts you have encountered in courses within the department or in related fields. In the process, you will hone skills in research, critical thinking, writing, and revising that will serve you well in the future. Many students write theses, though, with more specific and tangible goals in mind: to be eligible for Latin Honors at graduation, to test their commitment to similar kinds of work after graduation, or to develop an extended and polished piece of writing that can serve as a writing sample for graduate school applications.
You can find a list of all the deadlines related to English majors here.
The department meets shortly after the final proposals are submitted to determine acceptance and assign thesis advisors. Once that moment has passed NO MORE THESIS PROPOSALS WILL BE CONSIDERED, so make sure you meet the deadline.
The first thing you should do is talk to you advisor. That conversation should take place well before you submit the first draft of your proposal to your advisor in early April. You don’t need to have a well-developed idea when you arrive for that first conversation. Your advisor will help you think through your options. To prepare for this meeting, though, you may want to do some free writing about the kinds of things that you’re interested in—either in literature or in life. For extra assistance, contact the writing center, which offers great tips and workshops on developing a research proposal.
If you are proposing a critical thesis, the next thing you should do is talk to a librarian. Missy Roser is the reference librarian responsible for English research projects; Sara Smith has specialties in film, media studies, and the performing arts; but any reference librarian will be happy to help you get started. They can show you how to use library reference tools to find what other scholars have written about your topic. If you are abroad or if you prefer to start on your own, check out the reference tools here, on the library page for the English department. Whatever you do, don’t skip this step. It will save you from wasting valuable time.
The final thing you should do is talk with others about your ideas. Maybe your idea for a topic comes from a class you took with a professor other than your advisor. Or maybe you’ve heard of a professor in another department who knows a lot about the kind of critical or creative project you are considering. Perhaps you know of a classmate or former student or an acquaintance at another school who has worked on something similar. Any of these people can help you narrow your focus and refine your ideas. Don’t be afraid of seeming boring, naïve or obsessive. The best breakthroughs in thinking through research proposals often happen in open conversation. Finally, if there is professor you would prefer as your thesis advisor, we recommend talking to that person at this stage.
Most thesis proposals are 2-3 pages long.
For a critical thesis, you should describe your topic and the questions that will guide your project. Explain what draws you to it, summarize the thesis claim or argument that you think you want to make, and describe the kind of research you expect your project will entail. You also should include a preliminary bibliography of creative and critical works you want to consider.
For a creative thesis, you should describe your proposed project (its subject, style, and approach), explain how you arrived at this idea, and speculate on how you will go about completing it. You should note any major sources of information or inspiration that have shaped your proposal, whether these are critical accounts of similar writing, creative models for your work, or cultural foundations for your project. Creative proposals also should include a 3-5 page sample of previous creative work.
The department meets to discuss thesis proposals shortly after the submission deadline. You’ll hear if your proposal has been accepted before the end of the spring semester.
The department assigns you a thesis advisor. If you have someone in mind, you should say so, and we will try to honor your preference. We cannot guarantee all such requests, though, since we must distribute students equitably across all available faculty members.
The success of your proposal will not hinge on the availability of your preferred advisor. Everyone whose proposal clears the bar will be assigned an advisor.
Read! Read! Read! Keep track of what you read (ZOTERO is great for that) and keep detailed notes about the ideas and questions that emerge from your reading. You should make contact with your thesis advisor before the end of the spring semester and share your summer reading plan with them.
Write! Write! Write! It is never too soon to get your thinking on paper. Keep a journal. Free-write. Take notes upon notes upon notes. Get those ideas out of your lonely brain-pan and onto the page.
Keep in mind that once you start reading and writing your thesis project is likely to change. This almost always happens if your idea is any good and recalibrating can take quite a bit of time. So don’t wait until the end of the summer to get started.
The Library and the Writing Center run summer research workshops for students at various stages in the thesis process. They are open to everyone and you don’t have to register very far in advance. If you are going to be on campus, you definitely should plan to participate in some of these. Click on the links above to find out more about them.
The College and the department offer a number of fellowships and stipends to support summer residency at Amherst or summer travel related to the thesis. These include Gregory S. Call Fellowships, The Knox Prize and the MacArthur-Leithauser Fellowship. Check the Office of the Provost's page on summer funding, as well as the English department's list of fellowships and prizes. Make sure you pay attention to the application deadlines, as some will come due before the end of our thesis proposal review process.
Yes. All proposals are to be uploaded (directions will be forthcoming) and this can be done from anywhere. If you do not have reliable internet, you are also welcome to fax or mail your proposal by the deadlines listed above.
Maybe. The dean’s office makes available fellowships for summer study. These fellowships are competitive, but we encourage you to apply. You are also eligible to apply for the Knox and MacArthur-Leithauser prizes.
Yes. If you are interested in travel, consider applying for the MacArthur-Leithouser prize, or the rising senior project award, the Knox Prize.
Even though you cannot simply start the thesis process at any time, you are welcome to stop at any time. Enrollment in 498 can be changed to a regular course for which you will receive a grade. We assume that your summer pursuits will be grounded in a sense of intellectual or creative engagement, which is different from simply wanting to graduate with honors. After a summer of preliminary work you might discover you want to do other things with your senior year, be it a special topics course, an Alpha Delta Phi project, maybe still a thesis, or do something completely different!
I want to write a creative writing thesis, but I haven't taken any creative writing courses. Can I still do that? No: we require at least one creative writing class, so that we know you've had both an introduction to craft and the workshop experience. Students writing critical theses have had abundant chances to hone their critical writing skills; it seems right to us that students writing creative writing theses should also have had some practice before taking on extensive independent work. So if you're thinking about this possibility, be very resourceful! Try to get into creative writing courses both here and in the Five Colleges.
No: you can drop a thesis at that point but you cannot add one. If you're unsure, we suggest that you submit a proposal in the Spring of your junior year, and take the summer to decide that you do not want to continue. You can simply update us in the summer or fall.