Undergraduate Seminar Program
Introduction
To stand out as global leaders in the rapidly changing 21st century, it is important to be able to recognize, explore, and logically express pressing issues instead of simply learning what is preached. The International Relations major (Department of Political Science and International Relations) aims to foster such individuals to lead the globalized era through encouraging students in their third and fourth years to pursue independent research (group or individual) under the guidance of professors in undergraduate seminars. Through this program, we aim to develop the academic curiosity fostered in the overseas field trips in their second years into a more solid academic paper, and provide the fundamental tools for them to succeed in writing their graduating thesis in their fourth years.
Undergraduate seminars hosted by the International Relations major forms groups of students based on their topic interests and provide the necessary tools for the whole process, from the selection of research topic to the completion of their final papers.
This whole process will be conducted under the guidance of advising professors in ‘professor-student interactive’ format.
Through expert guidance on the the basics of social science writing, research methods, and research study formulation, along with the seminar and field research, we aim to provide the students with an opportunity to explore the beauty of research. In addition, through interactions with students of similar interests and selections of outstanding projects (presented with an award and publication), we intend to stimulate the latent potential in every student to help them grow into global leaders of the 21st century.
About the Program
For the Undergraduate Seminar, students enroll in the 3-unit course that is offered every semester, and conduct a research study on the topic of discussion. The course consists of a small group of 10~15 students per each of the 2~4 seminars that each focuses on different topics. The enrolled students will formulate a research study, either in groups of 2~4 or individually (depending on the topic at hand), and should aim to develop this into a completed paper by the end of the semester. If necessary, small-scale academic field trips can be organized in relation to the topic for data collection and field research. The students are also given the opportunity to receive feedback for their research study in the mid-term and final term presentations where they can share their results with other students in the program. At the end of the semester, outstanding studies are selected and awarded, with the possibility of future publication.
