The A.M. thesis may have its inception in a number of different ways, most commonly being written as a requirement for an appropriate seminar-level course. In some cases it may then be necessary to expand and/or make changes in the paper so as to meet the RSEA Committee's thesis requirements. This may be done though enrollment in an RSEA 310 thesis development course; graduate course credit, but no credit towards the basic RSEA course requirements will be given for RSEA 310.

An alternative for some students, especially in cases when there may be no relevant graduate seminar course currently being offered, is to write the paper under the direction of an appropriate faculty member through enrollment in a 300 or 3000 level course of graduate reading and research. RSEA 300 has been designed specifically for this purpose, though it may also be possible in some cases to take a similar departmental course for the same purpose (e.g., Government 3000, Anthropology 300, etc.). In such cases, RSEA students may receive credit towards the basic RSEA course requirement for one such course, provided that the research has been developed de novo and does not grow out of some previous paper or course for which credit has been received.

Students may also choose to develop a previously written paper independently, without enrolling in any course in order to do so, but in this case should nonetheless remain in consultation with their thesis advisor during the process of developing the paper. And finally, if all other requirements for the A.M. degree have been met (residence, language, and RSEA-approved courses), it is possible to complete the thesis development while no longer resident in the program.

In summary, the A.M. thesis may be:

o Written for a graduate seminar course (RSEA course credit);
o Developed from a seminar or other paper or prior research, through RSEA 310 or independently (no RSEA course credit); or
o Written under faculty guidance as a fresh piece of research, for an RSEA 300 or similar course (RSEA course credit).

Under all circumstances, students are recommended to give consideration to their thesis topic as early as possible, and preferably before the end of the first year of study, in a seminar setting if possible. It is especially important for those planning to apply to doctoral programs to show a record of completed seminar-level research before the fall term application deadline.

Students should discuss their choice of topic with their RSEA academic advisor as well as (where different) the faculty member(s) under whose direction the paper will be written, in order to receive the appropriate advice and guidance, and also notify the Program Administrator of their prospective topic.

All applicants for the June degree will be required to submit formal notification of their thesis titles and the names of their thesis advisors to the RSEA office by April 1st, along with their applications for the A.M. degree.

All A.M. theses will have at least two readers designated by the RSEA Committee. Typically the first reader is the instructor of the course for which the thesis was written, who also functions as the thesis advisor. The Committee selects the second reader, normally another faculty member with academic interests close to those of the thesis topic; students may also make suggestions to the Committee on the designation of their second reader. Students are required to submit two copies of the completed thesis to the RSEA Committee, one for each reader.

To qualify for the June degree, all seminar papers being submitted to the Committee in fulfillment of the degree requirements should be handed in to the office by May 1st of that year, regardless of the deadline of the course for which it is written, in order to allow the two readers of each paper sufficient time to evaluate its quality and to enable the candidate to make amendments where they may be required or recommended, before the final degree recommendations are made. For the November degree, the deadline is the date on which the academic year begins in mid-September, and for the March degree, the date on which Reading Period begins in early January.

Adherence to the guidelines outlined above should assist students in the preparation of their thesis papers and minimize the possibility of rejection of a paper submitted for the degree when it is too late to make changes, and the consequent denial of the degree. The awarding of the degree remains dependent on the final acceptance of the thesis by the two readers delegated by the Committee.

All students are expected to observe the Committee's specified deadline for completion of the thesis. If a degree candidate expects to hand in his or her paper after the due date, express permission to do so must be obtained well in advance from the Committee office, as well as from the primary thesis advisor. The RSEA Committee cannot guarantee that late theses will be approved in time for the degree to be awarded at the date applied for, especially in the event that a late thesis requires corrections or amendments before it is deemed acceptable.

Formal grades for the A.M. thesis are not awarded by the University (except insofar as there may be a letter grade when the paper is written for a seminar course) — the thesis is deemed acceptable or unacceptable. However, the RSEA Committee maintains its own internal grading system, and depending on the practice of individual thesis readers, students may also expect comments from the faculty under whose direction the thesis is written. Outstanding theses may be nominated by their readers for the Joseph Fletcher Memorial Award, an annual prize given by the Committee to recognize excellence in the writing of the A.M. paper.

The RSEA office maintains a file of A.M. theses (at least those since the mid-1980s) along with a listing of all thesis titles and the disciplines in which they were written; while A.M. theses are not public documents in the same sense as undergraduate Honors theses or Ph.D. dissertations, RSEA students may, with the permission of the RSEA office, consult previous A.M. theses as a guide to the practices and standards expected, or if the topics may be of particular interest to them.