Supervised Study Projects

The Department of Political Science offers two independent study courses that provide students with the option of completing a research or reading project under the supervision of a faculty member within the department.

These two courses are available for students who would like to investigate a topic that is not covered by existing courses offered through the department. To enroll in one of these courses, students must contact a faculty member from UTSC in the department with whom they are interested in working with and request the faculty member’s availability to supervise a readings or research course. Please note that faculty are not required to supervise independent studies; it really depends on their availability.

To fully enrol in these courses students will need to complete a Supervised Study Form. The form must be completed by the student and their Supervisor for the term. If students would like to complete one of these courses, they must send the completed form to the departmental Program Coordinator before the last day to add a course for the term and the department will send the approval to the Registrar’s Office.

We recommend that students first identify a topic they are interested in studying, then email a faculty member to request for supervision and they will help guide students through the reading or research on their selected topic. Please note that there is no template for the proposal, a short summary of your intended research and topic (i.e. 1 page) works well. Most independent studies, whether research or reading, involve meeting with the faculty early in the semester to come up with a reading list or research topic, followed by a few meetings throughout the term to discuss your progress, and finally a substantial piece of writing such as a literature review or research paper.