Concentration Requirements
Social Studies 10
Social Studies 98
Thematic Courses
Social Studies 99
Economics
Statistics & Quantitative Reasoning
Philosophy of the Social Sciences
Related Courses
Senior Oral Examinations
Courses that Automatically Count in Social Studies
SENIOR ORAL EXAMINATION
The senior oral examination takes place in April or early May, after the student has received two written evaluations of the senior thesis. The exam lasts approximately 1½ hours and is divided into two parts: the thesis defense proper and the general exam. Each student is required to submit a 1000-word Intellectual Autobiography to the Social Studies office shortly before the exam. The intellectual autobiography will serve as a basis for the student’s general exam and should cover the student’s coursework in Social Studies with special emphasis on tutorial work and key texts and questions covered in the focus field. A successful intellectual autobiography will identify the theme or themes that the student has studied in his or her focus field. It will describe the path the student has taken, starting with Social Studies 10, and it will normally make reference to at least one junior tutorial and at least two of the courses listed in the approved plan of study.
In the thesis defense, the student is expected to discuss, defend, and elaborate on the substantive themes developed in his or her thesis. In addition to careful consideration of the strengths and shortcomings of the thesis, the defense requires an understanding of and an oral response to the written comments and criticisms of the evaluators.
The general examination is a test of the student’s ability to demonstrate command of the social theoretical concerns of Social Studies 10 and also the larger substantive issues within the focus field. Because Social Studies is an interdisciplinary program in which students pursue different paths of study, the general examination is tailored to the focus field developed by the student. A successful exam is one in which the student can explicitly link, when relevant, the substantive and empirical foci of his/her course work to that of the classical theorists considered in sophomore tutorial. In addition, the student should be able to elaborate on the theoretical and empirical issues that have framed his or her education in Social Studies.
Students should discuss the exam, and their preparation for it, with their senior thesis supervisor and/or Social Studies academic advisor. The Director of Studies is responsible for overseeing the senior oral examinations, and questions may also be addressed to her.