What is Undergraduate Research?

Undergraduate Research provides opportunities for students to work closely with faculty in the members' areas of shared interest and expertise. Students can participate in various ways:

• Students may help faculty members conduct research. Interested students should consult current faculty research interests at the Undergraduate Research Program website or at the Faculty Profiles section of the English Department website.
• Students writing a senior thesis (UNIV 401-402) can help faculty members in their research while gathering material for their own project. For more on the Senior Thesis enterprise, see http://www.urp.udel.edu/srthesis.html
• For qualified undergraduate researchers, there are fellowships for summer work in conjunction with the senior thesis. See http://www.urp.udel.edu/scholars.html
• McNair scholars can develop their research projects under the mentorship of English faculty: http://mcnair.udel.edu/
• Opportunities for collaborative research with English Studies faculty

English faculty work in a wide variety of areas: literary and cultural studies, film studies, business and technical communication, journalism, creative writing, and English education. Chances are good that you can find a good fit between your interests and those of a faculty member. For more information, contact Professor Jim Dean in the English Department.

What are the Benefits of Undergraduate Research?

Undergraduate research meets the General Education requirement for “Discover or Experiential Learning” as long as the work is done for credit.

Undergraduate Research offers selected students unique opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research and to advance their skills in literature, researching, and writing. They can learn how their favorite faculty mentors know what they know. Knowing how to conduct research is an important for anyone contemplating graduate school in any discipline.

Undergraduate research can involve travel to present at conferences and result in publications. In March 2004, three University of Delaware student researchers from humanities' disciplines traveled to Washington, DC to present talks on their research under the auspices of the Reinvention Center, an institution dedicated to improving undergraduate education. Two of these students were English majors. High-level administrators from schools all over the eastern seaboard attended this conference. For more information on this, see the Reinvention Center Spotlight.

For an example of faculty-student collaboration in a research project that resulted in publication, see http://www.sfsu.edu/~medieval/Volume5/Kaiser.html

What is a Senior Thesis?

To earn an Honors degree with distinction or a degree with distinction, a student must write a senior thesis. A senior thesis is similar to an independent project but the senior thesis is both longer and more ambitious than an independent project, because a senior thesis requires the creation of new knowledge through rigorous research. Thesis students normally read intensively in a well-defined area of interest and then define their own topic in part based on what remains to be said about the chosen topic.

Steps for becoming involved in Undergraduate Research in English Studies

• Contact the English Department Representative to Undergraduate Research, Professor James Dean (recommended). Let him know your interests and get his feedback.
• Make a list of two or three faculty members for whom you might want to conduct research. Figure out how your research interests match up with those of the faculty.
• Write a brief e-mail message to your first-choice faculty member. Explain your academic status, including GPA, your interests, and how you imagine your interests fit with those of the professor. For faculty e-mail addresses, consult the Department's faculty directory.
• Meet with the faculty member to explore possibilities. Realize you may have to settle for your second or third choice depending on faculty availability. You should also be adaptable—you want to find a good fit of your work to that of the professor.

Sample Email Message

Dear Professor X,

I was a student in your course on ENGL3xx in the fall semester of 05. I enjoyed learning about style and writing [here be as specific as you can be about the professor's subjects], and I would like to explore the possibility of doing guided research with you on this subject. In particular, I am interested in issues of online style. Do journalists who publish in such online sources as Slate take on a new, online style that differs from their work in daily newspapers? I have read your research profile on the Undergraduate Research home page, and I believe my interests coincide with your research topics. I see you have a recent book on style, and that you also are successful in publishing online journalism.

I hope we can meet soon to discuss the possibility of doing research together. I am available to meet with you on Mondays and Wednesdays after 2:30 and Thursday before noon. If these times are not convenient, I can rearrange my schedule to meet with you.

I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely yours,
[your name; include your e-mail address and your phone number]