The following are the guidelines for a Capstone Thesis with the IR Department, applicable both to the History & IR Advanced Major-thesis and IR fourth-year thesis:
1. The IR Department calls for thesis proposals in April (sixth semester). Students should use their proposal statements to highlight key details about their thesis project: the research area and questions, methods and sources. The department will take on students for pursuing a thesis based on the quality and feasibility of their proposals.
Students are advised to discuss their topics for theses with faculty members, who might be best suited to supervise their theses. If the latter agree to supervise the thesis, the same should be mentioned in the proposal statement. The allocation of supervisors will finally be decided by the department during the process of selection.
2. The IR Department has structured the Capstone Thesis requirements to equip the students with the necessary skills required to write a thesis. The coursework for the thesis is divided into a two-semester plan, as under:
A. Monsoon Semester: There will be 4 mandatory research workshops, followed by a proposal presentation in the Monsoon semester. The proposal presentation will be the first graded component of the overall thesis.
B. Spring Semester: There will be two graded seminars in the Spring semester. The first one will be a preliminary presentation and the second one will be a final presentation of your work.
C. Additional seminars/workshops may be scheduled depending upon the progress and requirements.
3. The Department can provide financial support for the purpose of sourcing materials, field trips, interviews, etc if required. Students will have to make a clear case for this with the endorsement of their supervisors.
4. The Department also welcomes students who want to write a joint thesis with other departments. However, one should be clear about the primary department they want to apply to. One will get IR credits only when IR is the primary department they enrol in. In any case, the students will have to apply formally by responding to the call for proposals and should discuss their plans with the prospective supervisor from the IR department.
5. The IR Department does not permit third-year students to write a thesis in IR. Only the ASP students are permitted to do so.