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Senior Exercises

Guidelines for Capstone Paper/Honors Senior Thesis

Senior Seminar

All majors are required to enroll in the Senior Seminar, “Writing Religion,” in the fall of their senior year. This seminar addresses methods for conducting research in the study of religion. The final product of the seminar is one of two options: 1) a capstone paper, or 2) a proposal and literature review for a senior thesis, the writing for which will continue during the spring. Only students who write a senior thesis will be considered for the possibility of Honors. Students must present their work during a colloquium in April. The work presented is, once again, either:

1)   a capstone paper (15-20 page integrative paper)

2)   a senior thesis (40 page/10,000 word min.)

Senior Thesis

The Honors Thesis in Religious Studies is an extensive and supervised research project. It is normally a one-semester course, for which one credit is given, involving a written thesis of approximately 10,000 words (excluding notes & bibliography). With permission of the instructor, a student may choose to do a two-semester thesis for two credits, entailing a paper of approximately 20,000 words (excluding notes & bibliography).

Senior thesis research grant: Thanks to the generosity of Trinity alumnus Tom Chappell, the Theodor Mauch Fund has been established to provide a $1,000 award for the best senior Religious Studies thesis as determined by the faculty of the Religious Studies Department. The fund also provides approximately $1,000 for assisting one or more persons in doing research on their senior theses. The recipient of this research grant will be determined by the faculty in the department upon receipt of a grant proposal.

The thesis project involves three components:

  1. A written thesis, which is an extended argument demonstrating the proposition or point of view proposed by means of documented evidence and resulting in a coherent conclusion;
  2. An oral examination on the thesis, which follows completion of the written work; and
  3. The colloquia, which involves a presentation of capstone work completed by all seniors, scheduled for the end of the semester, to which friends and family can be invited.

Prior to registering for your thesis (RELG 497 for a single-semester thesis, or RELG 498 for the first part of a 2-semester thesis), you should submit a proposal of 750-1500 words, plus annotated bibliography, to your thesis advisor. A reminder will be sent around each semester to prepare your proposal, which will be due mid-October in the fall or mid-March in the spring of each year. Please note: this proposal is to come in during the semester prior to your signing up for the thesis. It will be circulated to the faculty of the Department of Religious Studies for review, comments, and advice.

Examples of recent theses are:

  • “Conceptualization of Suffering in the Jewish Tradition”
  • “Subversion in Submission: Feminine Power in the Kāma Sūtra“
  • “Clean and Pure: What Religious Exemptions in American Healthcare Systems Show Us”
  • “From Holy to Hunted: The Early Modern Witch Trials as a Catholic Response to Female Mysticism”
  • “Rituals of Repentance: How the Abraham Religions Benefit the Elderly Dying Experience”
  • “Psychedelic Spirituality”
  • “Julian of Norwich: Her Theology of Suffering and Distinct Medieval Identity”
  • “America’s Gospel: How the American Dream Hijacked Christianity”
  • “‘A True Philosopher of Christ:’ Ambrose of Milan’s Reworking of Cicero’s De Officiis“
  • “Discovering Mary Magdalene: Arguing for a Feminist Reading of the First Female Apostle”