College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences 2015-2016 Catalog

113 WRIT 5550 Feature Writing (3 credits) WRIT 5600 Science & Nature Writing (3 credits) WRIT 5700 Travel Writing (3 credits) WRIT 5800 Editing, Layout, and Design (3 credits) Thesis (6 credits) WRIT 6000 Master’s Thesis (3 credits, repeatable) Thesis Requirements and Guidelines The thesis represents the culmination of the student’s work in a master’s degree program at the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. Completing the thesis demonstrates that the student can work independently, integrate discipline-specific information, and respond to feedback. The student must register for 18 credits of graduate coursework before taking master’s thesis courses. The student must complete 6 credits of thesis coursework (at 3 credits per semester) to meet degree requirements. If a student has not successfully defended his/her thesis after completing 6 credits of thesis coursework, the student must remain enrolled in a 3-credit thesis course for each additional semester during which he/she is working on the thesis, including the semester of defense. During this time, the student must maintain active status in the degree program. Students may complete a maximum of 12 credit hours of thesis work. The thesis may take one of the following forms: Research Thesis: Student designs, conducts, and reports findings from qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods research projects. Theoretical Thesis: Student examines a well-focused question or problem through an informed context that is critical, theoretical, and/or historical. Creative Thesis: Student produces one extended work or a collection of works of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. All creative theses should include substantial explanation of the student’s evolution as a writer and placement of thesis work in an historical or literary context. Technical Thesis: Student produces a substantial manual, guidebook, scholarly or professional Web site, white paper, report, or grant proposal. Thesis details should be finalized with the thesis adviser. The thesis process should include the following three phases. Phase One: Selecting a Committee and Writing a Proposal Advising Committee For guidance throughout the research and writing process, students first select a thesis adviser. The thesis adviser must be a full-time NSU faculty member in the student’s discipline. Ideally, the thesis adviser will have expertise that is relevant to the student’s area of study. In consultation with the adviser, students then select additional faculty members to be a part of the thesis committee. Writing students must select only one thesis committee member, who must be a member of the college’s full-time faculty.