Moodle PH-OÖ

Seminar Masterarbeit/Seminar für DissertantInnen (LIT)

Melissa Kennedy

Thursdays 11:30--13:00

Content

This seminar is for students who are in the process of writing their M.Ed Masters thesis on a topic related to literature or cultural studies, including the use of literature or media in the EFL classroom.

The course helps students conceptualize, clarify, expand on and refine their research plan, including help with choosing primary material, working with theory, critical analysis and use of secondary material, and the writing process. We will discuss practical questions surrounding the organisation and design of an M.Ed project, as well as relevant research methods. We start with a shared case study of the steps involved in choosing, planning, and revising a research project, with emphasis on thesis statements, primary and secondary resources, and table of contents/project plan. In a second step, each student guides a class discussion of one major concept/method/theory/primary resource of their project, based on the shared reading of one resource. Following an oral presentation of an overview and sample chapter of their thesis, students hand in an annotated sample chapter at the end of semester.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The MA Seminar is independent of thesis supervision: it is up to you to contact professors with your research ideas to find someone willing to supervise your thesis topic. You can do the MA Seminar course with any professor, and you can take the seminar before finding a supervisor. I will not supervise the theses of all students in this MA Seminar, so students interested in my supervision should contact me separately with their research proposal before the semester begins.