Senior Scholars

An exciting option for your last year in college!

The Program allows as many as fifteen Seniors to devote their entire final year of college to work on a single intellectual project—a year-long independent study. The project could be a scientific investigation, a scholarly endeavor, a work of art, creative writing, or filmmaking, or any other proposal that engages the imaginative and intellectual faculties you've been developing at Rochester. It should draw and build upon your career through the junior year and should exhibit intellectual breadth and focused expertise. The project must be composed and carried out under the supervision of a faculty advisor or advisors.

To be eligible for the Senior Scholars Program, you need to have satisfied all general College requirements by the end of the Junior Year, except for credit hours and the completion of a major. Although Senior Scholars are not required to take courses, the project may include course work in addition to independent study. Altogether, the project will carry from 16 to 32 academic credits and must be capable of being completed by the end of the Senior year.

The project can be a part of your major, with the consent of the department. When such departmental endorsement is not possible or appropriate, you will receive the degree under the auspices of the Committee on Individualized Interdepartmental majors: that is, you will graduate with a concentration in Interdepartmental Studies.

If you are interested in applying for the Senior Scholars Program, begin to think and plan. Discuss your ideas with a faculty member (or members) whom you would like to have as an advisor for your project. Test out your plans with others. Prepare to submit, with a faculty advisor's help, a well-reasoned and convincing document.

  • Past projects have included:
  • Afghanistan: The Cultural Legacy of an Unpopular War
  • Gender, Politics and Religion: A Comparative Study
  • Parental Characteristics and Techniques with ADHD Children
  • Perceptions of the Family in Modern Japanese Literature
  • Physical Characterization of the R2Bm Retrotransposon
  • Study of the Abayudayah in Mbale, Uganda
  • Synthesis & Evaluation of a New Camphor Lactam Imide Chiral Auxiliary
  • Well of the Mind: A Super8 Filmmaking Project

View Past Participants »»