Bates College: Difference between revisions

Students at Bates take a first-year seminar, which provides a template for the rest of the four years at Bates. The student selects a specific topic offered by the college, and works together in a small class with a scholar-in-field professor of that topic, to study and critically analyze the subject. All first-year seminars place importance on writing ability, and composition in order to facilitate the process of complex and fluid ideas being put down on paper. Seminars range from [[Constitutionalism|constitutional analysis]] to [[Mathematical theory|mathematical theorizing]] to [[Disturbance (ecology)|disturbance ecology]]. After three complete years at Bates, each student participates in a [[Thesis|senior thesis or capstone]] that demonstrates expertise and overall knowledge of the [[Major (academic)|Major]], [[Minor (academic)|Minor]] or General Education Concentrations (GECs). The Senior Thesis is an intensive program that begins with the skills taught in the first-year program and concludes with a compiled thesis that stresses research and innovation.<ref name="www.bates.edu22">{{cite web|url=https://www.bates.edu/academics/|title= Academics {{!}} Bates College|website=www.bates.edu|date= 21 June 2011|access-date=December 8, 2020}}</ref> [[File:Bates College Concert Hall.jpg|thumb|271x271px|The [[Campus of Bates College|Olin Concert Hall]], houses keynotes, performances, and special debate tournaments.]]A feature of a Bates education is the Honors Program which includes a [[Tutorial system|tutorial-based]] thesis modeled after the universities of [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/honors/|title=Honors Program – Bates College |website=www.bates.edu|date=9 June 2011 |access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref> The program consists of a senior thesis that is defended against a faculty panel. A faculty member must nominate the student for thesis candidacy by the conclusion of their junior year. Under the guidance of the nominating faculty member, the student declares his or her thesis at the start of senior year and concludes it before his or her graduation. The honors thesis is always subject to an [[oral exam]]ination, which is based on [[Thesis|defending a dissertation]] or [[Oral argument in the United States|oral argumentation]]. The oral examination committee includes a member of the faculty from the same department, a member of the faculty from a different department, the student's faculty advisor, and an examiner who specializes in the field of study that the student is defending and who comes from another institution of high rank.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/honors/honors-program-guidelines/|title=Honors Guidelines – Honors Program – Bates College |website=www.bates.edu|date=6 December 2011 |access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref>