Physics 399 -- Senior Seminar - Fall 2011/Spring 2012

Fall Syllabus

Fall meetings will be held Tuesday 7.30pm to 10pm in KINSC L205, except as noted below.

Spring Syllabus

Spring senior seminar will consist of one or two organizational meetings in the first weeks of the semester, plus writing your senior thesis and giving your senior talk.  See the syllabus for dates and timing for these.

All course readings and guidelines are posted on Blackboard.

Instructor: Peter Love

FALL TERM

The physics faculty welcomes you to Senior Seminar! In this course you will practice writing a scientific paper; learn how to give a scientific presentation; hear lectures by eminent scientists and interact with them; learn more about careers available to you when you finish at Haverford; get into contact with alums who have gone in career directions of interest to you; learn about graduate school and how to go about selecting and applying to schools; and participate in discussions on topics relevant to science.

Course Requirements (Fall)
• Attend all scheduled meetings of the seminar.
• Attend Philips visits and department colloquia. We hope you will also attend the informal meetings with our visitors. They enjoy talking with students and these informal gatherings are a great way to find out more about speaker and what he or she is up to.
• Read assigned selections and participate in class discussions.
• Write a short paper consisting of a preliminary version of the introduction and background sections of your senior paper (4-5 pages typically), a short (one page) progress report on the actual status of the project, and a bibliography that puts your work in its proper scholarly context. This is due at the end of the semester.
• Give a brief (10 min.) informal presentation to the seminar about the intro/background part of your senior paper project during Finals Period.

Grading

You will receive one grade at the end of the academic year for Phys 399 as a whole. (The grade of CIP, course in progress, will besubmitted at the end of the fall semester provided all fall requirements were met.) The physics faculty working together assigns grades in the senior seminar according to the following approximate weighting factors:

A reduction of 0.5 grade point will be applied per unexcused absence if more than one occurs per semester. (This includes attendance at required colloquia and senior talks.)

Fall Schedule

SPRING TERM

The physics and astronomy faculty welcomes you back to the spring semester of Senior Seminar!

In this semester, you will complete writing your Senior Thesis, with feedback from two faculty members, and deliver your Senior Talk.

You are expected to participate in any departmental colloquia, and are encouraged to interact with our speakers through the luncheons, dinners and other opportunities for conversation.

Course Requirements (Spring)

• Attend all scheduled meetings of the seminar.

• Attend the department colloquia and student Senior Talks

• Read any assigned articles and participate in class discussions.

• Carefully prepare and deliver a 30 minute Senior Talk.

• Write your Senior Thesis according to guidelines posted on Blackboard.

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SPRING SCHEDULE - Physics 399

January 19	First organizational meeting
1st 3 to 4weeks of spring semester	Bryn Mawr Physics Search talks
February 21 & 22	Philips visit:  Talks by David Cahill (Mon. & Tues.)
March 9	SPRING BREAK
March 23	APS March Meeting
April 14	Thursday 5 p.m.; deadline for first draft of your Senior Paper
April 19	Tuesday: first reader returns revised first draft to student
April 25	Monday: Revised version of Senior Paper to first and second readers, noon (This version is graded)
April 29	Friday: Check to see if additional changes are needed for the final version (Last Day of Classes)
May 2 to 4	Senior Comprehensive Exam Period:  Senior talks 9 am to noon Mon. - Wed. KINSC Hilles 108 Mon. May 2:  Garrett Vanacore, Alex Cahill, Andrew Ross, Ben Brock Tues. May 3:  Jen Campbell, Oliver Elbert, Wesley Chu, Alberto Guerrero Wed. May 4:  Elias Tousley, Zach Needell, Ivy Tao
May 5	Thursday: final version of senior paper submitted to first reader by noon (Finals Period)

Senior Paper Readers:

Here are the first and second readers for your Senior Papers (subject to revision):