M.A. Project

Project Timeline

In order to ensure that the student will complete all Master's Project requirements, receiving by the end of the final semester both a grade and verification that the Project has been completed, the Department provides the following timetable for progress toward completion. Students who miss deadlines as set forth below, will not pass the Project requirement.

In the Spring Semester one year (or two terms) before the submission of the Final Project: students should settle on a Project Director by the end of this term; students should attend the mandatory workshop on the Project Proposal. See information below for more details

In the Fall semester before submission of the Final Project: students may want to return having worked on the Proposal in the Summer, as the deadline comes early in the Fall; if it has not been done before, students must attend the mandatory workshop; a draft of the Proposal must be submitted in the first weeks of the semester to the Project Director for comment and revision; a Project Director is required to sign the Project Proposal Cover Sheet; proposals are due before 5PM to the Graduate Studies secretary at the end of the fifth week of the regular semester. See information below for more details.

In the student’s final Spring semester: students enroll in ENG 595; the Project is completed in regular consultation with the Project Director and the 595 Instructor; drafts of portions of the Project must be submitted at regular intervals to be receive suggestions for revision from the Director and 595 Instructor; the Project Director and 595 Instructor must sign the Project Title Sheet before the work is accepted as complete. See information below for more details.

THE PROJECT PROPOSAL:

Based on their interests and in conjunction with their adviser, students must choose a project topic. In the Spring semester before submitting the project proposals--two semesters before the final semester--students will attend a mandatory workshop on writing and submitting a proposal. The proposal must include a description of their project.  The project proposal must be approved by the Graduate Studies Committee. 

 

SUBMISSION OF THE MA PROPOSAL:

  • Students will submit five copies of the project proposal each with a signed coversheet provided by the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics to the graduate secretary.
  • The Graduate Studies Committee will then review the project proposal.
  • If the project proposal is not approved, the Graduate Studies Committee will consult with the project director. 
  • After revising the project proposal the student may resubmit it to the project committee for approval and then to the Graduate Studies Committee.
  • Resubmitted proposals must include an updated cover sheet.
  • If the revised project proposal is not approved by the Graduate Studies Committee, the student may, after revision and consultation with the project director, resubmit the project proposal the following semester.

Project 

With an adviser and in conjunction with ENGL 595, Project Writing, students must complete a minimum 25-30 page project (excluding bibliography and other ancillary materials). The project can emerge from their own professional and personal interests in the discipline, or from papers or presentations completed in seminars. The project must consist of an intensive exploration of a student's chosen subject matter resulting in the creation of a professional quality document.  Projects may be written in a variety of genres and may have a critical, pedagogical, or creative emphasis.

Evaluation

The project will be evaluated by each student's faculty adviser in conjunction with the instructor in ENGL 595.  Each project will be evaluated for its completeness and quality in relation to the parameters the student has set in the original proposal, the thoroughness of its research (where appropriate), and the extent to which it has been revised and polished in light of the feedback received from the faculty advisor and the instructor in ENGL 595. The student is expected to have followed the timeline of the 595 Instructor in completion of portions of the Project and been in regular consultation with the Project Director. Obtaining final signatures on the Title Sheet is crucial. In order to obtain signatures, the student must submit a final, revised project to the Director by mid-week of the fourteenth week of classes in order to ensure the Director has adequate time to evaluate the Project before the end of the Fifteenth Week. By noon on the last day of classes, the student must submit to the Department a bound copy of the Project. The Project Defense will be conducted as the final activity of the 595 course.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE M.A. PROPOSAL AND PROJECT

PURPOSE:

The following policies and procedures are intended to assure high quality in the project as well as to clarify the responsibilities and requirements of those involved: the student, the project director, any additional readers, and the members of the Graduate Studies Committee.

THE PROJECT DIRECTOR:

  • The director must be a full-time professor in the Department of English, Comparative Literature, and Linguistics, unless the Graduate Adviser has approved another CSUF full-time faculty member.
  • The director should be a professor whose studies and interests qualify him or her for involvement in the project. 
  • The student is responsible for finding the director and for receiving his/her approval of the project proposal.
  • The project director will:  
    • Read drafts of the project proposal.
    • Make suggestions for appropriate revisions and corrections.
    • When the project proposal is ready for submission to the Graduate Studies Committee, signs the cover sheet.
    • Regularly consult with the project writing course instructor.

Additional Committee Members:

After consultation with the project director and the graduate adviser, the student may add additional members to his/her project committee, if desired. Any additional project committee members must approve the proposal prior to submission to the Graduate Studies Committee

THE PROJECT PROPOSAL:

The MA proposal is a clear, well-researched description and justification of a student's MA project. In the semester before submitting the proposal, students must attend a mandatory workshop on writing and submitting a proposal. In no more than five double-spaced pages, not including the Bibliography (if relevant), the proposal should present the subject matter, methods, and context that will inform the student's project and demonstrate the relevance/significance of the project to the student's field of study.

If a student intends to include human participants in the project, the student should consult the IRB website for the requirements and timeline for approval: http://www.fullerton.edu/research/research_compliance/irb/

 

Following are guidelines for the different kinds of Projects (Academic, Pedagogical, Creative/Professional) a student might pursue:

 

Academic Professional Project

A successful project proposal will demonstrate that the student has a worthwhile project that fosters inquiry into an academic/professional topic and that the student has finished the preparation necessary to write this project. It should address the following elements: 

  • A clear and convincing description of the student's argument that includes discussion of the subject matter, a statement of the emerging argument on this subject (as a tentative thesis or research questions), and definition of the scope of this argument.
  • An understanding of the methodology that the student intends to use that includes a description of the kind of research involved (i.e., archival, historical, cultural) and the criticism and/or critical theories involved in making this argument as well as a clear sense of what has been accomplished and how the student will complete what remains.
  • A survey of relevant scholarship that reflects the student's research and outlines what has been written on this subject (i.e., the major interpretations, debates, or controversies in the ways that the subject has been addressed or a significant "gap" that the student has discovered) and how the project engages with the field of study.
  • An outline or summation of the sections/chapters of the project that provides an overview of how the student will introduce the subject, methodology, and scholarship as well as the different parts of the student's argument.

 

Pedagogical Project

A successful project proposal will demonstrate that the student has a worthwhile project that fosters inquiry into a pedagogical topic and that the student has finished the preparation necessary to write this project. It should address the following elements:

  • A clear and convincing description of the student's argument that includes discussion of the subject matter or problem, a statement of the emerging argument on this subject (as a tentative thesis or research questions), and definition of the scope of this argument.
  • An understanding of the methodology that the student intends to use that includes a description of the kind of research involved (i.e., empirical, cultural, historical) and the critical and/or pedagogical theories involved in making this argument along with a clear timeline and explanation of how the evidence will be collected, analyzed, and validated.
  • A survey of relevant scholarship that reflects the student's research and outlines what has been written on this subject (i.e., the major interpretations, debates, or controversies in the ways that the subject has been addressed or a significant "gap" that the student has discovered) and how the project engages with the field of study.
  • An outline or summation of the sections/chapters of the project that provides an overview of how the student will introduce the subject, methodology, and scholarship as well as the different parts of the student's argument.

 

Creative/Professional Project

A successful project proposal will demonstrate that the student has a worthwhile project that fosters inquiry into a creative/professional topic and that the student has finished the preparation necessary to write this project. It should address the following elements:

  • A clear and compelling description of the student's creative/professional project that includes discussion of the subject matter, an explanation of the central conflicts, themes, and other major creative considerations, as well as an elaboration of the project's scope.
  • An explanation of the style and technique that the student will employ in developing this project, which includes description of the literary conventions that are most relevant to the genre of this project (i.e., imagery, metaphor, character) or how the project deliberately reimagines the style and techniques for significant ends.
  • An established connection between the project and the literary traditions and aesthetic principles behind the genre with which the student is engaging. Such connections might be made to major writers in those traditions and/or theorists of that genre as well as the most significant/relevant features of that genre.
  • An outline or summation of the sections/chapters of the project that provides an overview of how the student will exemplify and engage with the subject, the style, and the literary traditions.