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Department of Political Science

Independent Study

Independent Study in the Department of Political Science

During senior year, each student works with a faculty member to investigate a subject of the student's choosing. These Independent Study projects provide majors with the opportunity to examine a topic of special interest in great depth.

Download a copy of the 2008/09 Independent Study Handbook of the Department of Political Science

 

Examples of I.S. Projects in Political Science

Here is a list of Topics and Senior I.S. Advisor Assignments, for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Here is a list of Titles and Author of all hard copies of I.S. from 1996, 2003-2008. Students can view these copies in the Student Work Room in Kauke 103.

Below are some recent examples of Independent Study projects by Political Science majors, or International Relations majors with a Political Science home department:

 

Example of an I.S. project in Comparative Politics:

Sarah Horne (2007). The Media As A Revolutionary Actor: A Case Study of Nicaragua During the Sandinista Government.

 

Example of an I.S. project in International Relations:

Elisabeth Bremer (2008). A Gendered Analysis of Microcredit Lending: The Effects of Women’s Rights on Grassroots Development.

Alex Brower (2008). The Construction of a European Identity Through Discourse Othering "Less European" Actors: Debates on Turkish Accession to the European Union.

Margaux Day (2006). Put Your Money Where Your Patients Are: A Study of International Funding for AIDS Treatment.

Cristabel Dadzie (2004). Replicating the South African Model? Truth Commissions as Tools for Reconciliation: The Cases of Nigeria, Ghana, and Sierra Leone.

Example of an I.S. project in Political Theory:

Andrew Gross (2008). Gardens & Revolutions: Guy Debord, Wendell Berry and the Cultivation of the Creative Subject.

Eric Roscoe (2007). Assisted Suicide: An Interest, Not a Right.

 

Examples of I.S.project in U.S. National Politics:

Steven Schott (2007). Civic Capacity and Regional Sustainability: The Evolution of Metropolitan Sustainability Policy.

Erik Shoemaker (2007). Framing Processes and Collective Action Responses: Organizing Efforts against Anti-Undocumented Immigrant Ballot Initiatives in California and Arizona.

 

Example of a Double Major I.S. projects in Political Science and Philosophy:

Lara Pfaff (2008). Moral Foundations of Truth Commissions in Theory and Practice.

Cameron MacLeod (2007). Determining Indicative Factors Of International Institutional Legitmacy.

 

Example of a Double Major I.S. project in Political Science and Psychology:

Michael Panfil (2007). The Power of Persuasive Speech: The Interplay between Ethnicity, the Speaker, His or Her Message, and the Audience.