As part of the AES Department requirements for graduation, senior students must complete successfully five credits of EITHER AES 495 [Senior Seminar] OR AES 496 [Senior Thesis]. A student may take one of the two options to fulfill this requirement.

AES 496: Senior Thesis

This is a five (5) credit supervised, independent individual study class; that is taken in conjunction with an upper-division departmentally approved course. The student will write a 20 to 30 page Senior Thesis or a project related to that subject matter. For example, a student might enroll in CHSTU 352, “Mexican Immigration: A Comparative Analysis” for 5 credits and obtain the instructor’s permission to enroll, in conjunction with it, in an AES 496 course (5 additional credits) and write a Senior Thesis related to that subject matter.

After getting the sponsorship from an AES or Adjunct AES faculty, the student will complete and sign, in triplicate, the “American Ethnic Studies, AES 496, Senior Thesis Application Form,” obtain the signature of the faculty member and submit the three (3) forms to the AES Academic Advisor or Undergraduate Curriculum Director.

The Senior Thesis is not restricted to a research paper. A student may initiate and complete a project such as a video documentary, a work of art, a work of literary or creative merit, or other such worthy endeavors. For the project option, however, when deemed appropriate by the instructor, a written portion is required that explains the rationale, documents the method, discusses the work, and includes a bibliography.

The student may take AES 496 in a later quarter after completion of the appropriate class with the approval of the sponsoring faculty.