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ENGLISH 495.01
Th 3:30-6 pm
Car Barn 302A
Honors Proseminar 2015
Nathan K. Hensley
Fall 2015 | Georgetown University
Office Hours: T, 1:30-3; Th, 3-4, and by appt.
nathan.hensley@georgetown.edu
Office: 316 New North
202-687-5297
Official Description
This course is for students accepted into the Honors Program. Students will be expected to read and
comment on primary and secondary texts related to the group's honors projects; to read and
comment on each other's work; and to present their own work for discussion. Attendance and
engagement mandatory. Periodic written assignments required. Students should expect to complete
at least 20 pages of the honors thesis by the end of the term.
Longer Description
The Purpose: This proseminar will provide scholarly/creative criticism, peer support, and research
assistance for your honors thesis project. We will serve as one another’s first and most committed
readers as we move from bibliographies to outlines, to arguments and/or narratives, to chapter
drafts, and finally, to revisions. I will facilitate our classroom community; I will also provide written
and oral feedback on your projects. However, the success of the seminar depends primarily on
you—on how fully you participate, both as a scholar/writer and critic.
Your role: This course is yours. Its content is composed (primarily) of your work.
My role: My primary purpose as seminar leader is to aid you in your thesis project, to create a
scholarly community of readers in the classroom, and to serve as proxy for the mysterious ‘second
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reader’—the English professor who will serve as an anonymous evaluator of your thesis project. I
hope to bring my expertise both in your scholarly/creative fields and in project development to your
work. I am eager to support you in every way possible; don’t hesitate to come to office hours if you
want more individualized attention. I’m here for you.
Course Structure: After our initial meetings, we will divide into three working groups. Think of this
group as your creative/critical family (minus the Oedipal complexes and sibling rivalry). I will
convene these groups weekly; you will provide status reports and research presentations, the details
of which I will enumerate after our second class. We will workshop your writing, thinking, and
presentation. We will also use some of the time to actually write.
Material requirements. Everyone is required to maintain a research journal (preferably a notebook or
binder) devoted entirely to the thesis project; this should contain notes on all the articles and books
you are reading, with complete bibliographical information; jottings/free writing on your topic, as
you keep track of new and developing ideas for your thesis; notes from class discussion relevant to
your project; notes from meetings with your mentor; etc. Print out whatever is in your computer so
it’s in your notebook. When we meet in conference, you will need to bring your notebook and be
able to update me on your reading and thinking.
Course grade. Your final grade for the term is decided by me in consultation with your thesis mentor;
your continuation in the English Honors Program is contingent on my approval of your work over
the term. This means that the most important aspect of your performance will be the quality of
written work you produce. But your grade will also reflect the quality of your participation in the
collaborative labor of the course. Thus, your thoughtful responses to others’ texts, your active
participation in class discussions, and your level of commitment to our shared undertaking will all
contribute crucially to your final grade. Your full participation in the course is a requirement, but if
you’re doing this for the grade, I recommend you rethink your decision to pursue honors.
Policy on Late Work:
Reliability is important, and respect for our shared academic endeavor means that turning in late
work is strongly discouraged. Anything more than an hour late will not be counted or read. Please
see me in advance if genuinely extraordinary circumstances arise, as when a helmet falls from the sky
in The Castle of Otranto.
Absence and Tardy Policy:
The seminar-style nature of this course makes your presence in class imperative. Do not miss it. See
me in advance if a situation arises that will result in an absence. Please don’t come to class late.
Plagiarism:
The absolute prohibition here should be understood. See the Georgetown Honor System website
for guidelines: http://gervaseprograms.georgetown.edu/honor/system/53377.html. Note that in all
matters I expect you to observe the Georgetown honor pledge, which likewise describes what’s
expected of you as a member of the academic community: To be honest in every academic endeavor, and to
conduct myself honorably, as a responsible member of the Georgetown community as we live and work together.
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Title IX Disclosure Requirements:
Georgetown University and its faculty are committed to supporting survivors of sexual misconduct,
including relationship violence, sexual harassment and sexual assault. University policy requires
faculty members to report any disclosures about sexual misconduct to the Title IX Coordinator,
whose role is to coordinate the University’s response to sexual misconduct. Information about
campus resources and reporting sexual misconduct can be found
at http://sexualassault.georgetown.edu.
Disabilities, Special Conditions, Etc.:
I’m committed to providing whatever it takes to help you be successful in this course. “Georgetown
does not discriminate or deny access to an otherwise qualified student with a disability on the basis
of disability, and students with disabilities may be eligible for reasonable accommodations and/or
special services in accordance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Amendments Act (ADAA) of 2008. However, students are responsible for
communicating their needs to the Academic Resource Center. The University is not responsible for
making special accommodations for students who have not requested an accommodation and
adequately documented their disabilities. Also, the University need not modify programmatic,
course, or degree requirements considered to be an essential requirement of the program of
instruction.” See: http://guarc.georgetown.edu/disability/accommodations/; and please see me
early in the term to discuss how I can help.
Major Assignments
Section of Thesis. At the end of the course you will be handing in 20 pages (minimum) of
polished, fully articulate pages of analysis and/or original creative work (not including citations);
these 20 pages will become the core of your thesis. The 20 pages should be handed in to me;
another copy should go directly to your mentor. On the basis of my and your mentor’s evaluation
of them, and my evaluation of your work in the proseminar, you will (or will not) be allowed to
continue work on your thesis in the spring semester.
Tentative Project Outline. Due the week of September 24th. This text is shared with your mentor
and me to prepare for your meeting; it sketches your current sense of the project and details the way
forward. It will include:
1. Thesis Title
2. Topic: 1 or 2 sentences (revision/formalization of elevator pitch)
3. General description: 1 paragraph describing the central issues/problems/topics
4. Contribution: 1 paragraph describing the contribution you expect to make in your thesis
5. Reading and Writing Completed So Far: a list of all the reading and writing you have
done to date.
6. Next steps: What do you and your mentor agree are the immediate next steps you should
take on your project?
Status Report and Work Plan. This 2 page, double spaced document follows from your mid-term
meeting with your mentor. (Due October 1). This should include: 1) a detailed summary of the
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suggestions and criticisms made to you and 2) your current understanding of the scope of your
project, with attention to what has changed -- new texts, new structure, etc.-- in light of your
discussion with your mentor. Take this seriously; it is a contract.
Other Written Work: As the semester proceeds you will be asked to produce various forms of
writing and intellectual activity, creative and critical; these may be announced on the syllabus, or they
may not be. These assignments are an integral part of your participation in the class. Do them well.
A Note on the Workshop Format.
A substantial portion of our time together will be spent in workshop format, both in your working
groups and as a class: the workshop is a collaborative environment of mutual encouragement and
collective thinking. It is where close and generous critical reading -- in its best and fullest sense of
generative engagement-- takes place. We will workshop in two phases:
Whole-Class Workshops: In these brief evaluative sessions (20 minutes per writer), the class will
convene as a group to evaluate a short selection (5 pages) of close reading (if critical) or original
poetry-prose (if creative), alongside a brief written statement of the larger project’s scope, intention,
and relation to the selection chosen for workshopping. These documents will be circulated one
week before the assigned discussion. Writer can speak.
Focused Workshops: For the second workshop session you will break into working groups, with
whom you will share 15-20 pages of continuous writing from your thesis—a revised and expanded
version of the shorter selection you handed in on the day of your first presentation. After a 1-2
minute framing statement, the writer is silent. We divide into working groups (A, B, C) to ensure
substantial feedback time for all. Text due one week before assigned discussion. I will provide
written comments on your piece at this point.
Workshop protocol: Bring the reading to class in hard copy. Those without the readings will be
asked to leave. Be smart. Be kind. Be observant. Be aimed toward the future.
COURSE SCHEDULE: HONORS PROSEMINAR
[Please note that the calendar is subject to change; I reserve the right to alter our program as progress dictates. Readings
marked with an asterisk (*) are electronic resources on our class weblog]
Thursday September 3: Introductions. Elevator Pitches. Groundrules. Vote on “literary” text to
close read for next week.
PHASE I: THINKING / PLANNING / FRAMING
Thursday, September 10: On style and you.
Assignments: Bring one page of writing you admire, “critical” or “creative”; be prepared to
talk about it intimately. Reading: Hayot, from Elements of Academic Style;* Bishop, “At the
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Fishouses,”* and Nabokov, from Lolita.* Close reading of shared text from 9/3. Everybody
reads everything.
Thursday, September 17: What is research?
Melissa Van Vuuren guest lecture on library resources and the undertaking of research. Meet in
Special Collections, 5th Floor Lauinger.
Working Groups announced. Assignments: 1) Bring three research questions (printed out); 2)
Schedule a meeting with your mentor; meeting must happen before Thursday October 1.
Thursday, September 24: Dialectical thought, dialectical criticism, the poetry of these.
Reading: F. Jameson, from “Towards a Dialectical Criticism”* and E. Said, The World, The
Text, and the Critic.*
Assignments: (1) Find and read two new interlocutor texts based on our library session.
Write a paragraph that puts them into conversation with one another. What do they
offer your project? How do they differ/converge? What dissatisfies you about either? What
provokes you/challenges you about either? Come to class ready to discuss with your
working group. (2) Examine the online archive of past English honors theses. Pick two to
skim, one to read. For each, write a paragraph summarizing the argument of the
thesis or (if creative) its governing aesthetic ambition. Think with this argument: what are its
blindspots? What questions remain unanswered? What sources untouched? What might have
been done otherwise? (3) Continue scheduling meeting with mentor; meeting must happen
before Thursday October 1.
Thursday October 1: Presentations, and the way forward.
5-minute presentations of your own research project. You should have met with your
mentor before this date. Failure to do so cancels your presentation. In class writing exercise:
false sources.
Assignment 1: At least three days before your meeting with your mentor, hand in both to me
and to your mentor a reminder of the meeting (date and time) and a Tentative Project
Outline (both in hardcopy). In class, turn in Status Report and Work Plan based on the
outcome of your meeting.
Thursday October 8: No class; individual meetings.
Assignment: Bring your Work Plan and any questions/problems/lingering ideas you have. Sign up
for a 20-minute slot on the sheet to be provided.
PHASE II: CREATING / REFINING / PRESENTING
Thursday October 15: Panel discussion: “Research, Thought, and the Creative Act.” Mark
McMorris and other participants TBD.
Thursday October 22: Full-Class Workshops: Working Group A.
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Thursday October 29: Full-Class Workshops: Working Group B.
Thursday November 5: Full-Class Workshops: Working Group C.
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Thursday November 12: Focused Workshops: Schedule TBD.
Thursday November 19: Focused Workshops: Schedule TBD.
Thursday November 26: NO CLASS / THANKSGIVING BREAK
Thursday December 3: Final Class. Wrapup. Short readings curated by students.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11: 20 pages of thesis due. These should be polished, sharp, ready.