Wesleyan Home → Classical Studies → About the Major → Senior Essay

Policies and Practices on Departmental Senior Essays

The senior essay is a one-semester research project undertaken in the context of an individual tutorial (GRK/LAT/CCIV403 or 404, as appropriate).  It may be completed in either the fall or the spring semester of the senior year.  While there is no prescribed minimum length, something in the range of 30-40 pages is typical.  An essay is thus expected to be a substantial piece of research and writing, more extensive than an average term paper.  Although an essay is a smaller project than a senior thesis, the student should start planning for it during the summer or the semester before the actual tutorial in which it is written.  The first step is to secure the agreement of a departmental faculty member to serve as an advisor.  In consultation with the advisor, the student should then outline the topic and compile a basic bibliography.  Such preparation in the months before the tutorial will make the research and writing of the essay go much more smoothly.  In most cases, the faculty advisor alone reads the essay and assigns a grade for the tutorial.

Students should not enter upon an essay project with the expectation of being considered for honors.  Departmental Honors are normally reserved for students who write a thesis, although in extraordinary circumstances the department may elect to consider a senior essay for honors.

top

Faculty News

Andrew Szegedy-Maszak has been appointed as Wesleyan's First Distinguished Teaching Fellow.

Andrew Szegedy-Maszak is offering a free online course, "The Ancient Greeks," through Coursera Partnership.

After Wes

Brigid Dwyer '05    "I found my background in Classics to be quite valuable as a law school student and even more so once I began practicing."

Our Majors have...

...highest combined GRE scores

… highest success in law school

… skills for modern careers 

FACULTY NEWS

WES FEST HOMERATHON:  Classical Studies faculty and students read Homer's Odyssey out loud at locations all over campus.  See map with locations and specific information about the Homerathon.

Professor Kate Birney's CCIV 244 class visits Harvard 3D Visualization Center.

Professor Andy Szegedy-Maszak:

• Wesleyan's first Distinguished Teaching Fellow.
• Professor Andy Szegedy-Maszak is offering a new free online course, "The Ancient Greeks" through Coursera Partnership.  (See blog about MOOC --Massive Open On-line Courses)