Senior Thesis Proposal

Majors in the Department of Religion are encouraged to write a thesis in their final year of study. This opportunity is available to all students majoring in Religion, regardless of grade-point average. For many students writing a thesis serves as the capstone experience of their undergraduate career.

A senior thesis is an opportunity to pursue an advanced topic in greater depth, or a chance to explore an area of interest that has not been addressed in coursework, with a professor as an advisor. Students interested in writing a thesis are encouraged to speak with the Director of Undergraduate Studies and with those professors in Religion about process and topic at the beginning of the spring junior year term. In most years, the Department holds an informal senior thesis information session.   

All students who wish to write a thesis must submit their application to the Director of Undergraduate Studies no later than the end of the junior year term. That said, students are strongly encouraged to develop a proposal for their senior thesis by March of the junior year. Doing so allows students to apply for summer funding opportunities including the IRCPL thesis travel grant have March deadlines. 

The application includes both a prospectus for the paper and a letter of support by a Religion faculty member who will direct the thesis. The five to seven page prospectus should detail a research program and the central question, or questions, to be pursued in the paper, the student's preparation for pursuing the thesis, and a proposed timeline. The primary advisor of the thesis must be a member of the Department of Religion faculty at Columbia or Barnard. 

Students approved to write a thesis may register for Guided Reading and Research with their thesis advisor for the fall senior term. A three-point guided reading and research will count toward one of the nine courses required for the major. 

Every student who receives a grade of Distinction on the senior thesis and maintains a departmental grade-point average of 3.66 or above will be considered for departmental honors. Writing a senior thesis qualifies students for consideration for departmental honors but does not assure it. College and General Studies departments stipulate that only 10 percent of majors can receive departmental honors.

The senior thesis proposal must be submitted in the spring of the junior year along with the following:

  • The Senior Thesis Application
  • A tentative title for the senior project
  • A 5-7 page statement
  • A bibliography
  • The signature of a Religion faculty member who will act as the thesis advisor

A helpful way to begin the proposal is with a question to investigate. Instead of beginning:

My thesis is about the exegetical techniques of Martin Luther.

Try beginning:

How did Martin Luther’s biblical commentaries reflect a significant departure from medieval exegetical methodology?

The question format allows the leeway needed to do more research. It also sets students up to discuss how they propose to go about researching and answering this question. The key ingredients to the proposal should be:

  • defining the key questions to be investigated
  • describing the nature of the source materials to be examined
  • stating the choice of methods, theoretical approach, and hermeneutical tools to be used to pursue the investigation

In general, the proposal introduces readers to the project’s topic. It should also communicate why the topic is important and give some hint to its broader significance within the field of religious studies.

Writing the proposal should be the culmination of a process that involves preliminary research on the topic, some discussion with faculty members, and some individual reflection about what interests the writer. Choosing a topic can be difficult if the student’s interests are wide-ranging; even after choosing a topic, narrowing the focus to one that is feasible for a senior project can be even more challenging. Some of the following questions might help student as they embark on the proposal.

  • Are you beginning with a question that is unresolved? What puzzles you? What do you want to find out?
  • Do you care about the question? Are you clear about what you are asking? What observations have led you to the question? What hunches do you have about possible answers?
  • Is the topic interesting? Can it be made interesting to others?
  • Can the topic be researched? How can it be researched? What kinds of information are necessary to answer the question posed?
  • Does the topic present problems that can be explored or solved with analysis? Does it provide you with an opportunity to do some creative and original thinking?
  • How does your specific topic, and the questions it generates, relate to broader issues in the study of religion?