MAR Theological Studies TrackTHESIS OPTION GUIDELINES

A student seeking an MAR degree in the Theological Studies track may elect either to undergo a senior comprehensive examination or to complete a 50-to-80-page thesis as the culmination of the student’s academic work in his/her specialization. The thesis option is encouraged for those students intending further graduate studies. The option is discouraged for students who have not exhibited strong writing and self-motivational skills.

Completion of the MAR thesis earns two total units of credit toward the degree program. One unit of the thesis may be applied toward the seven total units required in the area of specialization. What courses the student needs to take in his/her MAR program must be agreed upon by the student, the advisor, and the director of the area of specialization, if that is not the student’s advisor. If the specialization has no assigned director or if the student seeks to create an alternate area of specialization, the student’s instructional plan is to have the approval of the instructional Area in which the specialization resides or of the Faculty as a whole.

SupervisionA student who wishes to undertake the MAR thesis option should begin developing that plan no later than the end of his/her first year of full-time study, as it entails two full semesters of involvement. Part-time students whose loads are generally half-time or less should generally leave the thesis to their final two semesters before graduation and take no other courses during those semesters.

The student should initiate the conversation concerning the thesis option with his/her academic advisor and the Director of MA Programs. Those persons will assist the student to discern the appropriateness of undertaking a thesis and guide the student toward an appropriate thesis advisor.

During the first semester of thesis preparation, the student and thesis advisor will engage an appropriate person to be the second reader. Ordinarily, the second reader will be another LTSP faculty member. With the approval of the Director of MA Programs, a student may approach and make arrangements with an outside reader from another academic institution; however, no compensation is available from LTSP for outside readers.

EvaluationThe MAR student who completes a thesis will receive a final letter grade for each of two semesters of thesis preparation. The grade for the first semester will be submitted by the student’s thesis supervisor (ordinarily also the student’s specialization advisor) during the grading period for the semester of registration. The grade is to evaluate how well the student has met the objectives of SIS500 MAR Thesis 1: preparing the thesis proposal, building a bibliography, conducting research, and outlining the thesis. A student who has not completed SIS500 and received his/her final grade may not proceed to register for SIS501 MAR Thesis 2.

1

The final grade for the second semester of thesis preparation (SIS501) will be assessed by the thesis supervisor in collaboration with the second reader (and third reader, if applicable). The grade will be based on the quality of the student’s thesis paper and defense.

Should the student’s performance in the thesis and defense be judged as weak or deficient (i.e., graded below a C), the student may be accorded one opportunity to correct the deficiency. Normally, the student will be given at least two weeks in which to revise his/her paper or prepare for a new defense. Depending on the amount of time remaining in the semester, this may necessitate the postponement of the student’s graduation to the following year.

Should the student’s performance in the revised paper and defense be judged again as below a C, a grade of F will be recorded, and no academic credit will be earned. The student may elect to terminate his/her academic program and accept the award of a Certificate of Theological Studies at Commencement. Alternatively, the student may choose to register within the next academic year to undertake a new thesis or to sit for an oral or written comprehensive examination. A new advisor/supervisor may be appointed only upon the mutual agreement of the initial specialization advisor, the student, and the Director of MA Programs (or the Dean on behalf of the Director of MA Programs).

CalendarIt is important for the MAR student to bear in mind the date of his/her intended graduation (held annually around mid-May). The thesis must be submitted in its final form for archiving in the Library prior to graduation; failure to do so will result the student’s having to wait until the next year for graduation. Consequently, it is normally expected that the complete final draft be submitted to the students’ readers no later than April 1 of the year of graduation, so that there is time for reader review, a defense, completion of any required revisions, and production of the final, archival copies. The student and his/her thesis advisor should then think backward from that date in setting deadlines for the attainment of the various steps in the process.

SequencePrior to or during the registration period for the semester in which the student plans to begin thesis work, the student should identify per above an appropriate thesis advisor and obtain that instructor’s assent to act as advisor. The student would then register for SIS500 MAR Thesis 1, using the Special Course Registration Form available from the registrar’s office. The student will list the thesis advisor as the instructor and the proposed general thesis topic as the course title.

During the semester of MAR Thesis 1, the student is expected to consult regularly with the thesis advisor to develop a full thesis proposal. The proposal should include the following:

1. A short and descriptive title2. The rationale of the project, including the origin and background of the study, its

implications, and reasons for interest in the subject.3. A general statement of the project, including its area and scope of study and the basic

proposition, situation, question, or technique the project will examine.4. A precise statement of what the student proposes to do, including the desired goal or

outcome of the study.

2

5. A preliminary way in which theological and/or biblical issues or foundations are relevant.

6. A statement of why the student is justified in carrying out the study; how is it different from or an expansion on prior works?

7. A bibliography of sources and an indication of how source materials are to be handled.8. A description of the steps and procedures to be followed.9. A tentative outline of the thesis document.

By the end of the semester in which the student has registered for SIS500 Thesis 1, the student should have completed the thesis proposal per above, generated an appropriate bibliography, outlined the thesis, and completed a significant amount of preliminary research. The student will then earn a letter grade based upon the work completed. The student may take a grade of “incomplete” only if he/she agrees to defer graduation until the following year. The student will not be permitted to register for SIS501 MAR Thesis 2 until he/she has completed and received a final grade for SIS500 MAR Thesis 1.

During the student’s final semester of study and following successful completion of SIS500 MAR Thesis 1, he/she will register for SIS501 MAR Thesis 2, using the MAR Thesis registration form on page 9.

During the semester of MAR Thesis 2, the student will write the thesis. The student and thesis advisor will develop at the outset a suitable timetable and strategy for submission of draft writings and consultations so as to keep the project on track for graduation. When the student has finished the thesis according to guidelines, he/she will present copies to both the thesis advisor and second reader. The normal deadline for submission of the final draft to readers is April 1 of the year of intended graduation. The thesis advisor will coordinate a meeting of all three (the two readers and the student) to discuss the thesis and permit the student to defend it. The panel may then approve the thesis as submitted or require minor modifications/corrections or require a major revision to be followed by a second review.

After all corrections/revisions have been made and the thesis gains the full approval of the thesis panel, the student is to prepare two copies of archival quality. They are to be printed on high-quality, white, acid-free 8 ½ x 11-inch paper. The print quality is to be clear and dark. [See the format requirements below.] The thesis advisor, in collaboration with the other reader(s), will assign a letter grade for the thesis as the grade for the course. Submission of the final, archival copies of the thesis to the Faculty Assistant no later than one week prior to graduation will enable the student, all other degree requirements having been satisfied, to graduate.

Timeline in BriefNo later than 2nd semester of full-time study or equivalent

End of academic year prior to intended graduation

Steps toward completion and graduationStudent declares MAR track and specialization. Specialization advisor, likely replacing initial academic advisor, is assigned.

Student consults with advisor concerning appropriate thesis topic and plans for writing thesis.

3

Drop/add deadline of first semester or final year of study

Drop/add deadline of final semester of study

April 1 of year of graduation

1 week before graduation

Register for SIS500 MAR Thesis 1, using Special Course Registration Form (available from registrar)

Engage second reader (and/or third reader, if needed)Complete thesis proposal and build bibliographyConduct preliminary research and outline thesis

Register for SIS501 MAR Thesis 2, using form on p. 8Submit regular drafts to thesis advisor

Final thesis submitted to readers.Set date for thesis defenseHold defense

Final archival copy submitted to Faculty Assistant. Final grade submitted by supervisor to registrar

Thesis Style[A brief version of thesis format requirements is included as the final three pages of this manual. You may want to print it out and consult it regularly as you prepare your thesis drafts.]

1. General layout, format, and stylea. Leave a one and one-half inch margin at the left on each page and at least three-quarters

of an inch on the other three sides. The same margins apply to charts, graphs, tables, and maps. Use a five-to-ten space indentation for paragraphing.

b. Double space the body of the manuscript. Single-space long indented quotations, footnotes, and similar special material.

c. The Title Page should follow the template included below.d. The thesis document should otherwise follow the standard style-manual: Kate L.

Turabian, A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press, latest edition). A section on grammar, punctuation, style, etc. is included in most standard dictionaries and generally conform to Turabian. (See especially Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, 2003; The Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, 2nd Edition, NY Random House, 2005.) For style and rhetoric, see William Strunk and E.B. White, Elements of Style, 4th edition, Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000, or William Strunk, E. B. White, and M. Kalman, The Elements of Style Illustrated, 2007.

2. Citation of sources Generally, there are two acceptable ways of proceeding:a. The first is quite traditional and utilizes footnotes and endnotes with a bibliography. See

Turabian, particularly chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11. An example of a footnote in the first style:

Rebecca Smith, Lifelong Education: Reflections of a Teacher (Philadelphia: Bell Press, 2009), 54.

4

In this style, the bibliographic citation would be:Smith, Rebecca. Lifelong Education: Reflections of a Teacher. Philadelphia: Bell Press, 1997.

b. The second style is more contemporary and utilizes parenthetical references and a reference list. See Turabian, particularly chapters 8, 10 and 11. An example of a parenthetical reference, right in the text itself in this style, would be:

(Smith 1997, 54)In this style the reference list at the end of the manuscript would take this form:

Smith, Rebecca. 2009. Lifelong Education: Reflections of a Teacher. Philadelphia: Bell Press.

Titles may be in italics or underlined. (The student may choose the style but, having chosen, must be consistent in its use.)

3. Bibliography/reference listThe bibliography or reference list at the end should include all (but only) the books and articles that have been used by the writer in preparing the thesis. If the thesis is dependent on a major author, the bibliography may be divided into two sections, one for the primary (major author’s) works, the other for the secondary works. [Most theses will not require this distinction in the bibliography.] If there are any important works on the subject that were not available to the writer, they may be listed separately, and the fact that they were not consulted should be mentioned.

Every item in the bibliography or reference list should contain the following information: (a) the full name of the author or editor; (b) the exact title of the work as it appears on the title page; (c) the name of the translator, if there is one; and, (d) the place, publisher, and date of publication.

The order of these items will vary according to the choice between bibliography and reference list for citations.

Bibliographic citations for electronic media should include: author's last name, author's first name, article title (in quotation marks), title of complete work, name of site, date, URL address or location, and date of your visit to the site. It might look like this:

Thomas Paine, Rights of Man: Being an Answer to Mr. Burke’s Attack on the French Revolution, Part I, ed. Moncure Daniel Conway (London: G. P. Putnam, 1894), Google Books, http://books.google.com/books?id=GrYBAAAAYAAJ (accessed November 16, 2009).

Thomas Paine, Common Sense, Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (New York: Signet Classics, 2007), Kindle edition.

4. The font should be Times New Roman, 12 pt, throughout the thesis and 10 pt for footnotes.

5. Pages should be numbered with a centered page number at the bottom. The title page is not numbered, nor is the table of contents if it is a single page. If the table of contents is more than one page, number in small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii…, etc.).

6. Do not justify the right margin. Only the left margin should be justified.

5

7. Use spell-check and grammar-check programs to ensure accuracy.

8. Boldface and italics should be used rarely and are not necessary. Boldface may be used in headings only. Italics are to be used only for foreign words, book titles, and journal titles. Alternatively, book titles may be underlined without italics.

9. To emphasize words or phrases within the text, underline the word or phrase. Do not italicize. Do not use boldface or all capitals.

10. This is an objective piece of research. If possible, construct your sentences to avoid reference to yourself, or use such references very sparingly. Consult your advisor if you need to make an exception to this rule (e.g., in the use of case studies). Or you may refer to yourself in the third person (e.g., “The author subscribes to the theory that….).

11. Should the confidentiality of persons or groups need protection, you may change the names and say so early in the text or refer to “Mr. A” and “Ms. B”.

12. The student is responsible for obtaining written permission to include any materials, artwork, maps, music, etc. from published sources or verbal material from interviews, questionnaires, surveys, sermons, etc., cited in the thesis. The student is responsible to pay for any permission fees that may be incurred. As the author of the manuscript, you will be asked to certify that any previously copyrighted material used in your work beyond “fair use” is with the written permission of the copyright owner. Please refer to Copyright Law and Graduate Research: New Media, New Rights and Your New Dissertation by Dr. Kenneth Crews. This booklet is available at no charge from UMI. Visit the website at www.umi.com/go/copyrightlaw for the latest digital version.

6

Final Submission (Archival Copies)[As noted above, a brief version of thesis format requirements is included as the final three pages of this manual. You may want to print if out and consult it regularly as you prepare your thesis drafts.]

1. To ensure archival quality, the seminary requires that the final copies of your thesis be printed high-quality, white, acid free, 8 ½ x 11-inch paper.

2. The quality of print needs to be clear and dark. (Many students utilize the services of photocopy companies, such as FedEx, Kinko’s, or Staples.) The second and third copies may be photocopies of the original.

3. Prepare two copies of the thesis document and submit them to the Faculty Assistant no later than one week prior to graduation. (One copy is for library archives and one is for library circulation.) Do not punch holes in the pages or bind them in any way. The Library will bind both copies. Print only on one side of the page. (It is recommended that the student make a personal copy.)

4. With each copy of the project document, provide the following separate documents (same margins, but single-spaced):

a. The Precis.This is an even briefer summary of not more than 150 words. Single space on separate sheet, headed simply, “Precis”. No page numbering.

b. The Abstract.This is a summary document of not more than one thousand words. It should enable one who does not have time to read the whole project document to take in at a glance the specific issue to be studied, the method, the principal facts and the solution or findings. Single space on separate sheets numbered in Arabic numerals. Numbering is separate from the project itself, since the Abstract is not considered a part of the project.

5. Assemble in the following order: Precis, Abstract, Thesis (title page, table of contents, chapters, bibliography, and appendices, if any).

6. If you have one or two short Appendices, continue page numbering to the end. If the Appendix/ces are more than a few pages, number separately starting with Appendix A. If you have more than three appendices, include a Table of Appendices before Appendix A.

7. Along with the archival copies, submit the Release Form for LTSP library circulation.

The Cover PageThe cover page must conform exactly to the example printed on the last page of this manual. Notice the margins required, the use of upper and lower case, the spacing, and the date (month and year of commencement, e.g. May, 2016).

Release Form[Library Circulation]

An unpublished manuscript is protected under U.S. Copyright Law against unauthorized use and thereby illegally gotten gain. Should there be interest in "publishing" your scholarship by

7

printing, multiple photocopies, or microfilming, it will remain the responsibility of the party publishing to obtain your permission and make any other necessary arrangements.

However, for the sake of sharing your scholarship, this seminary wishes to make available for library circulation one copy of your thesis. In order that you know this to be the situation, we request that you sign the release printed page 10 following and file that release with the final archival copies of the thesis.

8

Thesis 2 (SIS501)Registration Form

Toward the Master of Arts in Religion DegreeTheological Studies Track

Student’s Name (please print): ________________________________________

Area of Specialization: _______________________________________________

Specialization Advisor: _______________________________________________

Second Reader: _____________________________________________________

Tentative Thesis Title: __________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

To the Student: You are to obtain the signature of your specialization advisor below, signifying his/her agreement to the following:

The above-named student has completed SIS500 MAR Thesis 1. The student has prepared, and I have accepted, a thesis proposal and bibliography on the subject shown above.

___________________________________________ _________________[specialization advisor’s signature] [date]

STUDENT: Submit this form, signed above by specialization advisor and below by you, to Registrar’s Office by drop/add deadline of term in which Thesis 2 is registered.

I am registering for SIS501, semester 2 of MAR thesis preparation. I understand that tuition will be assessed at the rate of one unit of credit. I have read the thesis guidelines and understand that failure to adhere to prescribed deadlines and thesis format requirements may result in delay of my graduation.

Term and year of registration: _____________________

___________________________________________ _________________[student’s signature] [date]

\MA Programs\MAR_Thesis_Reg

9

RELEASE FORM[Library Circulation]

[Please print your name and the thesis title.]

AUTHOR: ________________________________________________

THESIS TITLE: ________________________________________________

________________________________________________

________________________________________________

By my signature below I attest that I understand that a copy of my MAR thesis will be placed in the circulating collection of the Krauth Memorial Library for the purpose of sharing this scholarship with interested readers. I understand that, other than the photocopying of small portions for scholarly study by individuals, any copying by photocopy or microfilm, or any other publication of my work, is not be undertaken unless I have first given written permission. This release is not to be construed as waiving my rights to the copyright protection of this work under the provision for unpublished manuscripts or any other provision of copyright law.

______________________________________ __________________[signature] [date]

10

The Lutheran Theological Seminary at PhiladelphiaMaster of Arts in Religion

THESIS/PROJECT PANEL ACTION AND FINAL GRADE

STUDENT AND PANEL

STUDENT NAME: _______________________________

SPECIALIZATION: ____________________________________________________

THESIS/PROJECT ADVISOR (CONVENER): _____________________________

2nd PANEL MEMBER: _____________________________

3rd PANEL MEMBER, if applicable: _____________________________

PANEL ACTION

Panel Chair (Advisor), please submit this form to the Registrar only after the student has presented his/her senior project or defended his/her thesis. Submit this form immediately upon conclusion of the panel.

___ MAR Senior Project successfully presented. FINAL LETTER GRADE: ____[If project is for two units, supply two grades: Paper: ____ Presentation: ____

Project Title:_____________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

___ MAR Thesis approved; student will provide two final, archival copies to Faculty Assistant.___ Document acceptable for archives as presented.___ Document acceptable for archives after minor revisions

___ revised document to be submitted to Faculty Assistant without review___ revised document to be reviewed by advisor

FINAL LETTER GRADE FOR THESIS: ____

Final Title of Thesis as approved (enter here or attach photocopy of title page):

__________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

___ Thesis or Project not successfully presented___ Deadline for submission of revised thesis or project: ___________________

(may entail delay of graduation)[NOTE TO ADVISOR: Submit new Panel Review Action form for new submission]

Notes: ________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________ _________[Advisor signature] [date]

registr\programs\MA programs\MAR_Panel_Review

11