An Independent Study Proposal

Oak Tree House

Independent Study Proposal to be Submitted in a Quarter Prior to Travel in the Southwest


This study is intended to help focus upon, and plan, a piece of investigation of interest to individual students to be undertaken in the Spring 2009 quarter. You will not be held strictly to the proposal, but it will help you get organized and it will help us to help you. We should be able to understand your interests and the proposal should help you plan for your individual studies in the Southwest.

Intentions

Although this study may be related to your other work in seminar, lecture and studio courses, it is intended to allow you to investigate a topic which personally interests you. It may focus upon a sub-regional geographic area, a time period, a cultural, social, technological, economic or environmental change. It may also focus upon the architecture or spaces of a particular group or designer. Your work in this preparatory quarter is also intended to give you experience in formulating, developing and submitting a short research proposal.

Activities

Look through the Introductory Readings list, available from David Saile, and read the works, or sections of works, which especially interest you. Use our working bibliographies to further your background knowledge in that area.

  • 1 Think about reasons for your interest in the topic and for specific questions which fascinate you. Why is it interesting? Who else may be interested? Is the topic important? Why?
  • 2 What information is available? Are there photographs, surveys, histories, residents to talk with, activities to observe, buildings to visit, technical data?
  • 3 How will you study? How are these approaches or methods related to the questions you want to address? What will you gain from the readings? How will you analyze material,numbers or themes? Will you use statistics? How will you analyze photographs? How can you use museum collections or archaeological sites?
  • 4 What do you hope to learn? Will this help you design? Will it deepen your theoretical understanding, help with certain processes or broaden your familiarity with an area of the field?
  • 5 What will you produce and submit at the end of the quarter in the Southwest? Do you envision your results being: a sketchbook, a well documented paper, a theoretical proposition or theoretical diagram, a narrative of your exploration, a workbook, a photographic essay with text, a video or something else?

Requirements

Talk with David Saile or Dennis Mann about your interests and the feasibility of your study. Make an appointment for a first discussion before the end of the second week of the quarter in which you are making the proposal.

Submit a one page outline proposal for the independent study project in the third week of the quarter. Indicate the resources which will make this study feasible in the Southwest quarter.

Submit a draft proposal by the end of the eighth week of the quarter. Submit a final proposal by the last day of the quarter. (You may also undertake this preparation while you are on co-op using approximately the same timetable. You can receive credit for this in the Southwest quarter)

The proposal must include the following sections on approximately eight single-spaced typed pages:

  • a background, how did you get interested?
  • b intentions, purposes in undertaking study, why?
  • c methods, fieldwork, kinds of analysis, visual, how?
  • d resources, available writings, people, buildings, evidence?
  • e intended outcome, product, what?
  • f timetable, sequence of study, when?
  • g bibliography, who wrote about this?

David G. Saile 556-3415, 242-8131, Office 7210B DAAP, david.saile@uc.edu Dennis Alan Mann 556-0230, 281-1766, Office 7211 DAAP, Dennis.Alan.Mann@uc.edu