MSc thesis writing seminar

Course goals

• In-depth knowledge of the format of anthropological texts.
• Thorough understanding of the epistemological significance and empirical evidence of the anthropological approach.
• Reflection on the relation between theory and data - Development of oral presentation skills and the chairing of seminar discussions.
• Development of academic writing skills through the writing of preliminary versions of the M.Sc. thesis.

Content

This seminar teaches students how to improve the structure, narrative, clarity, and style of writing, while addressing problems such as writer's block and bibliographic overload. It allows students to build up the confidence that they have significant research data which need to be reported in a scientific style to allow them to communicate with the academic community. The seminar provides students with a biweekly forum to discuss and demonstrate their progress in writing their M.Sc. theses. Students will distribute drafts in advance to allow two discussants to make extensive comments, and make students benefit from the input of peers and instructors to write a high-quality thesis.

Schedule:
An effort is made to schedule seminars on Thurdays. For a biweekly class schedule, please consult the course manual.

Commitment:
Utrecht University has an official course commitment policy. This policy consists of:

• 80% attendance in seminars (only a maximum of 20% absence is accepted, irrespective of the reasons).
• Handing in papers and assignments on time; and
• Obligatory participation in seminars.

There exists no collective possibility to resubmit rewritten papers. Only students who have complied with all commitment policy requirements will be given one additional chance to submit a rewritten paper within three weeks after the course ended. Resubmission is not a right of students but a privilege given by the course coordinator on a case-to-case basis, and therefore require his permission.