Basic Guidelines for an Independent Study/Project or Sufficiency Work with Prof. Rivera

 

Department of Humanities and Arts, Spanish Division

Phone: (508) 831-5779

E-mail: arivera@wpi.edu

Fax: (508) 831-5932

• Select a topic of interest and relevance in Latin American Culture, History, Civilization, or Culture. (Your professor has the right to reject a proposed topic)

• Devise a relevant or meaningful general question about that topic.

• By the beginning of the second week of class, you will be required to turn in a one page proposal (typed and double space and in a font no bigger that 12 pts.) In this proposal you will state your theme or topic, and the relevant questions that you will attempt to respond. Also you will present a breakup of the main question in a subset of minor questions that will help you address the issue in stages. In addition you will present a plan or outline for the completion of the project.

• With this proposal you will be required to present an additional one page bibliography of books, articles, newspapers, journals, videos, available in the Worcester Consortium libraries.

• You will schedule weekly meetings with your advisor (for approx. 30 mins)

• In those meetings you will be required (you must) to give a presentation (of approx. 10 minutes) of the topic/material researched for that week. Then you will have a 15 to 20 mins. session of questions and answers. This mini-presentation/discussion sessions will be graded.

• You will be allowed to turn in a draft of your complete essay for revision only once. You will be required, through the term, to submit sections of the essay as you progress on your research and writing. Then you will have the opportunity to revise the essay as a whole and do the necessary corrections according to the comments made by your professor.

• Your professor will not be your editor. He will assume that you are able to write the essay in correct Spanish or English. (This, of course, depending on the type of sufficiency or IS/P).

• Your grammar and spelling will affect your grade.

• The final essay must be turned in by following the guidelines presented in the Sufficiency Guidelines material.

• The final essay must be turned in with the pages numbered, all the corrections made, front page correctly presented (According the the "Title Page Sheet"), with an abstract of 80 words, and bound (spiral binding and clear plastic cover). You must also turn in the CDR form if you are completing a sufficiency.

• The essay must be binded to be accepted and properly presented. Otherwise it will be returned to the student and the grade will be withheld until this requirement is met.

• Please, refer to Prof.Rivera's Sufficiency and IS/P Guide.

• Failure to comply with all of the above-mentioned basic regulations will result in a NR or low grade.