AJL19800 Bachelor's Thesis Seminar I

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2021
Extent and Intensity
0/0/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Supplier department: Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Prerequisites (in Czech)
AJ11010 Practical English Exam && ( AJ19000 Introduction to Translation || NOW( AJ19000 Introduction to Translation ) ) && AJ01002 Practical English II && !NOW( AJ19850 Bachelor's Thesis )
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course prepares students for writing their final theses. It involves biweekly meetings in small seminar groups. The syllabus below provides a rough guide to topics covered, but details, sequencing and specific assignments are worked out individually within each group. Contact the course professor for further information.
Learning outcomes
Students will refine and further develop their BA thesis proposals, will develop outlines and draft introductions for the eventual thesis, will draft and annotate a bibliography of sources, will master the rules of source citation and formatting and will understand and know how to avoid plagiarism, and will develop a plan and a timetable laying out specific stages for completing the thesis.
Syllabus
  • This is a model syllabus; the details of any given seminar group's activities and assignments will be determined by the group's instructor:
  • SESSIONS 1-2:
  • Knowing MU's / KAA's thesis rules and requirements
  • Organizing the thesis project
  • Mechanics (citation styles, MLA, bibliographies, etc.)
  • Plagiarism: what it is and how to avoid it
  • SESSIONS 2-3:
  • Planning a research strategy
  • Finding sources; effective web-searching; using databases
  • SESSIONS 3-6: Narrowing and refining the thesis topic
  • Developing an outline and chapter structure
  • Writing an effective introduction
  • Effective organization and style
  • INDIVIDUAL "EXIT CONFERENCE" WITH THE INSTRUCTOR
Literature
    required literature
  • Barker, Internet Research Illustrated, 7th ed.
  • Gerald and Cathy Graff, They Say / I Say
  • GIBALDI, Joseph. MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 6th ed. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003, xviii, 361. ISBN 0873529863. info
    recommended literature
  • Lipson, How to Write a BA Thesis
  • Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Sixth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2010, xviii, 272. ISBN 9781433805622. info
  • TURABIAN, Kate L. A manual for writers of term papers, theses and dissertations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962, vii, 109. info
Teaching methods
Small-group seminars.
Assessment methods
Based on completion of assignments specific to the seminar group.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught each semester.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2021, Spring 2022, Autumn 2022, Spring 2023, Autumn 2023, Spring 2024, Autumn 2024, Spring 2025.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2021, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2021/AJL19800