Research MA Thesis Comparative Literary Studies and Thesis Lab

Course goals

• Students design an individual research project, write a proposal, plan and structure the project. They conduct the research independently and report about findings in the form of a research thesis;
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a specialism in the field;
• Demonstrate insight into a scholarly debate(s) and/or problem and take a position vis-a-vis the debate/problem;
• Conduct a survey of the literature and source material on chosen topic; independently study and analyse literature and sources; formulate a realistic and relevant research question and respond to it convincingly.
• Students present and discuss their work in progress in the Thesis Lab, at which students offer and receive peer feedback;
• They present the results of their research at a graduate student symposium held annually in the last week of June.

Content

An RMA thesis is a work of scholarship based on independent, original research, which contributes to a debate within your discipline. It should be structured around a central research question (set out in the introductory sections) to which it provides an answer (set out in the conclusion). 

The central research question should be clearly formulated at the beginning and the relevance of the research to scholarly debates within the discipline should be clearly set out. The body of the thesis should show how you went about trying to answer this question, why you proceeded the way you did, and what your findings were. In your conclusion you should reflect critically on your findings in light of your original question and explain the broader implications for future work in the field.

The thesis should be between 20 and 30,000 words long (including notes and bibliography) and be written in clear and idiomatic English.

Students are expected to attend the Thesis Lab in preparation for writing their thesis. This takes the form of a series of interactive sessions which focus on the mechanics of academic writing: from planning, formulating and framing an argument, to positioning oneself within an existing discourse or debate. Peer-review on work in progress forms a major part of the labs. The labs conclude with a final conference; participation in the final conference is also mandatory.


 

Additional information

Only for students of RMA Comparative Literary Studies.

Career orientation
The RMA thesis is crucial in preparing students for a PhD programme, but also for alternative career paths, by offering training in the following transferable skills: conducting independent research, academic and critical thinking and writing, data collection, project management, peer review and advanced language skills.