Class time: Tuesday 12:50 – 1:50 pm online
Class Room: Williams 310 B
Office: DM 301B
Email: rasha.ahmed@trincoll.edu
Office Phone: 860-297-2446
Office Hours: by appointment
Registration
This is a formal Senior Thesis Seminar that carries with it 0.5 credits/semester as acknowledgment of the work thesis students complete over the nine-month period. There are two parts to register for thesis writing:
Econ 402 which is the Thesis Seminar – You need a PIN to register online
Econ 498 which is the Thesis– Fill out a special registration form to be signed by your thesis advisor.
Each student will receive two separate grades: one for the thesis seminar that I will assign and one for the Thesis that the faculty advisor will assign.
Important Deadlines
| Thesis Abstracts due to Melissa | Thursday, 10/21/21 by 4:00 pm |
| Fall Preliminary Presentation | Thursday, 10/28/21, 4:20-6:30 pm |
| Spring Poster Presentation | Thursday, 2/10/22, 4:15-6:00 pm |
| Final Thesis submission | Thursday, 4/14/22 by 4:00 pm |
| Final Thesis Presentation | Thursday, 4/21/22, 4:20-6:30 pm |
Reception Thursday, 4/21/22, 6:30 pm
Meeting Schedule
The purpose of the seminar meetings is to provide guidance to thesis writers throughout the research process. The seminar will break down the research process into smaller steps like defining a research question or doing a literature review. It will also help you prepare for each of your presentations. The presentations can be a wonderful opportunity to discuss your work and receive helpful feedback. At the beginning of May you will participate in the final thesis presentations which represent the capstone activity in the year-long thesis program and which acknowledge the work you have done. It is your chance to present a major piece of work and share your findings with everyone. The dates and details of the meetings are as follows (draft to be updated)
| Date | Topic | Assignment for the following week | |
| Sept 8 | The thesis process | Introducing the research process, thesis outline, and identify a topic | In the introduction section of your thesis, write a two page overview of your topic. Include references to two peer reviewed journal articles Read: Chapter 1 from the Craft of Research: Thinking in Print |
| Sept 15
| Your Research area | Identifying field of study/ key words
| -Identify 10 peer reviewed journal articles related to your topic -Read them -List them under the Works Cited section – Set up a meeting with Rob Walsh |
| Sept 22 | The literature | Identifying important research in your area. What has been done before? | -Start an annotated bibliography. In a separate file/sheet and for each source write a paragraph summary and describe its contribution |
| Sept 29
| The literature | Common themes across the literature | – Create an excel sheet analyzing the literature and comparing sources along relevant dimensions. |
| Oct 6
| The literature | Consensus disagreement and gaps
| – Start writing a literature review section -Add three paragraphs each starting with one of the following statements: “There is consensus in the literature that…”, “There is disagreement on…..”, “There is a gap………” |
| Oct 13
| The literature | The Research question an example | Presentation skills reading/ communicating with audience Prepare a 10 slide PowerPoint presentation |
| Oct 20 | Presenting your work | What to present | -Watch you tube video by Hal Varian |
| Oct 27 | The audience | How to handle feedback and questions | -Add a Methodology section -Describe your data |
| Nov 3 | Preliminary Presentations | No meeting | – Fill out peer review – Write a two-page paper responding to the comments/feedback from the presentations. |
| Nov 10 | limitations | Identify areas of limitations | -Discuss your work with a non economist. Who will you interview? What questions? How were the responses helpful? |
| Nov 17 | Interdisciplinary work | The importance of other areas outside economics | -Identify players and objectives |
| Dec 1 | Theoretical model | Building a simple theoretical model | -What pre existing model(s) can be useful |
| Dec 8 | Theoretical model | Revising the model No meeting | -revise what you have written so far |
| Dec 15 | Reasses my path | Setting plans for the spring semester |
Please note that all seminar meetings are mandatory for successful completion of the course.