Undergraduate Research
Research for the Honors Thesis
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese strongly encourages research projects for advanced undergraduates in the Department. A number of opportunities for such projects are available each year. For example, all students who choose to pursue an
Honors major in Spanish or Portuguese "with distinction" enroll in
Spanish H783 or
Portuguese H783, where they write a thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor.
Research for Other Course Work
A significant research project is also required of every student enrolled in
one of the several departmental Senior Seminars that are offered each quarter.
These are numbered Spanish 630, Spanish 650, Spanish 660, Spanish H680, and Portuguese
650, and the specific topic in each varies from quarter to quarter. In addition
to those classes, the Department also schedules annually a number of courses
at the 500 and 600 levels that have embedded research requirements. Particular
mention should be made here of those courses, including Spanish 510 and on occasion,
Portuguese 330 and Spanish 520, which combine formal instruction on the Ohio
State campus with travel and research abroad, as well as of Spanish 689, which
involves a significant research project involving field work in Central Ohio.
Descriptions of all of these can be found under the
Course
Descriptions section of the Department’s Web site.
Research Outside the Classroom: Faculty Research Interests
Students who choose to engage in research outside the confines of the classroom,
either an
Honors thesis
or some other kind of independent project, normally do so under the supervision
of one of the Department’s professors. These faculty members represent
a large variety of different research interests in the fields of Hispanic Linguistics
and Spanish and Portuguese literatures and cultures. Before undertaking an independent
research project, students will want to consult the list of Faculty
Research Interests to determine which professor’s interests coincides
with their own.
Online Research Help
Another useful source of information for students embarking on an independent
research project is
The
Honors Theses Collection in the OSU Knowledge Bank, which enables users to
find out, among other things, what kinds of theses have been written in a particular
field. Also helpful, when undertaking a research project, are the following Web sites:
The
Ohio State University Libraries Latin America, Spanish, and Portuguese Collection,
OSU
Libraries Online Credit Courses and
net.Tutor.
Each of these offers valuable information on the use of the Internet for research
purposes.
Departmental and College of Humanities Scholarships and Awards
Recognition of outstanding undergraduate research in the Department is accomplished
in a number of different ways. One of these is the awarding of prizes and scholarships.
Undergraduate awards and prizes in the Deparment of Spanish and Portuguese include
the Aristóbulo Pardo Prize for Undergraduate Excellence in Spanish, the
LoAnn Crane Award for Hispanic Studies,
the
Mario Iglesias Award
for Study Abroad-Language Studies Scholarship, the
The Club Hispano Study Abroad Scholarship,
and the ICALP Scholarship for Study in Portugal. Students should also be aware
that there are many awards and scholarships available through the
College
of Humanities.
Denman Undergraduate Research Forum
Finally, all students involved in a significant research project are encouraged
to investigate the
Denman
Undergraduate Research Forum. The Forum provides a means for undergraduate
students to share their research with members and friends of the OSU community;
recognizes the significant contributions to research by OSU undergraduates; and
facilitates exchange between students, faculty, and the public.
