As part of your degree, you will complete an independent research project. This project will result in a dissertation (Abschlussarbeit) or, if you’re studying to become a teacher, a Zulassungarbeit. If you consider conducting your research project under Prof. Dr. Boehm’s supervision, please read through the following guidelines.

• BA European Studies, BA KuWi, BA Medien und Kommunikation, BA Sprach- und Textwissenschaften: 25 pages excl. bibliography (Times New Roman 12pt, line spacing 1,5)
• MA European Studies, MA KuWi: 40 pages excl. bibliography (Times New Roman 12pt, line spacing 1,5)
• MA Text und Kultursemiotik: 90 pages excl. bibliography (Times New Roman 12pt, line spacing 1,5)
• Zulassungsarbeit Lehramt Grundschule, Mittelschule, Realschule, Gymnasium: 60-80 pages  (Times New Roman 12pt, line spacing 1,5)

Please pay close attention to the style guidelines (stylesheet) which can be found under “Term Papers” on the Chair’s website.

1. Choose a topic that seems interesting and feasible to you. You’ll be spending a lot of time researching your topic and writing the dissertation – don’t make yourself miserable by working on a project that doesn’t really interest you. You might want to think about topics, literary periods, and methods that you encountered and enjoyed in seminars and lecture courses and then build on those.
2. Conduct an initial literature search (use the MLA online bibliography) and devise some provisional research questions (i.e., what is it that you’d like to find out?).
3. Sign up for my office hours and send me a four- or five-sentence mini-abstract outlining your ideas 1 week ahead of our meeting! We’ll discuss your topic and, if necessary, I’ll help you reframe the topic and your research question(s).
4. Following our meeting, you will submit a paper proposal consisting of
   a) 300-400 word abstract outlining the structure and key research questions of your dissertation or Zula
   b) provisional table of contents.
   Submit your materials via email and I’ll provide feedback.
5. Check the course programme to see if there’s currently an Oberseminar running that’s dedicated to the discussion of dissertations and Zulas-in-progress. Register for the Oberseminar if you’d like to present work-in-progress and receive feedback from me and other students.