Senior Thesis Guidelines

Thesis Guidelines Document - Download

All candidates for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Applied Geography are required to complete a thesis during their senior year. This is a two-semester project under the direction of an advisor selected from the department's faculty. An advisor is chosen based on research interests and specialization shared in common with the student. The faculty advisor directs the student's research and acts in the role of mentor as well as thesis editor. A second reader is also assigned from the faculty. All thesis research is independent and original. Theses are not simply reviews, proposals, or "term papers." They include some combination of field, laboratory, library, archive, and survey work that requires data collection, analysis, and both written and oral presentation.

The manual linked above presents the standardized format for scholarly writing (i.e. reports, papers and theses) in the Department of Geographic and Environmental Sciences at the University of Louisville. Departmental faculty members have decided upon this format, which conforms to the standards defined by the Association of American Geographers (AAG). All students are advised to read the Style Sheet for the Annals of the Association of American Geographers available at: http://www.aag.org/galleries/default-file/ANNALSSTYLESHEET.pdf

Please download the document. It is essential that final submitted documents conform to the guidelines specified in this document. Faculty mentors may approve deviations from these guidelines, but only under exceptional circumstances.