CIS Juniors

As a CIS major, your senior thesis or capstone is a significant part of your experience and it is important to stay on track with planning and key milestones/deliverables during your junior and senior years.

CIS Research Presentations 

Formerly the CIS "lunches," these gatherings are a beloved CIS tradition. For 2022-23, the CIS Presentations are scheduled to be in person. The Center will make adjustments (such as switching to Zoom, for example) as necessary to follow Davidson College COVID guidelines. The CIS research presentations are a great opportunity for interdisciplinary majors and their advisers to get to know each other away from the office or the classroom. The majority of our presentations will be from CIS senior majors in the midst of their thesis research. These presentations are a requirement for seniors in order to gain feedback on their work and practice oral presentation skills. Occasionally, faculty or visiting scholars will offer presentations. Juniors attend these lunches to learn more about interdisciplinary research projects and to ask questions of their fellow CIS majors. These presentations provide useful examples for juniors as they begin to write their prospectus. Please note that if you are studying abroad during junior year, you are not expected to attend the presentations.

CIS Presentation Schedule 2022-23 
Wall 281 (Creative Crossroads)
Monday noon to 1:00 p.m. and Tuesday, 11:05 a.m. to 12:05 p.m.

Fall
Tuesday, Oct. 4: Emma Jones, Neuroscience Major & Lillian Byer, Neuroscience Major

Monday, Oct 17: Rachel Clubine Horowitz, Public Health Major & Julia Lau, Digital and Screen Media Major

Tuesday, Nov. 1: Morgan Martin, Immersive Computing Major 

Monday, Nov. 14: Amani Sodhi, Digital and Screen Media Major & Christine Ahn, Educational Studies Major

Spring
Tuesday, Jan. 31: Gwen Van Doren, Social, Digital & Computational Studies Major & Skylar McVicar, Politics, Ethics & Religion Major

Tuesday, February 14: Jordan Benson, Neuroscience Major & Anna Sharp, Public Health Major

Tuesday, Feb. 28: Abby Murray, Philosophy, Politics & Economics Major & Isabelle DePue, Linguistics

Tuesday, March 21: Catherine Diop, Feminist Science Studies Major & Abby Francis, Educational Studies Major

Additional Important Dates

  • Tuesday, April 25: End of Year Wrap Up Meeting
  • Monday, May 1: 6 to 7:30 p.m.: Senior Banquet, Lilly Gallery

Adviser Meetings

Ongoing, students schedule with their advisers

As a CIS major, you should meet frequently with your advisers. Every semester, advisers complete progress forms to inform the CIS director of students’ progress. During the junior year, majors should use those meetings to design their thesis or capstone research plan. You may also wish to discuss funding plans for research or travel related to your work as many CIS majors will use a portion or all of their summer after junior year to work on the senior projects.

Grant Opportunities

Various due dates

As you search for funding options for your research, please look at the following Davidson College resources:

Prospectus

Write in January and defend by Friday, March 31

The prospectus should be a 3-4 page document that outlines your topic, defines the proposed final product (thesis, paper, creative work), and details the research & methods you will use to achieve that outcome. Be sure to include a preliminary title, identify the central question your project will address, and clarify how your work is unique. Attach to the prospectus a bibliography of at least one page (single-spaced) that lists relevant sources upon which your work will engage.

Early in Spring Semester, the CIS Director will host a workshop on the junior prospectus in conjunction with the Writing Center.  Attendance is strongly encouraged.

Prospectus Defense for Thesis or Capstone

Due Friday March 31, 2023

By February you should send your prospectus to your CIS advisers and one additional faculty member. You should also schedule a time to meet with all three professors for your prospectus defense. This allows you to receive feedback on your ideas and incorporate that feedback into the project. Specifically, your professors will provide guidance on research design, planning for grants, finalize methods or theoretical underpinnings, and plan research trips. At the end of the defense, when your advisers have approved your prospectus, you will need to complete the CIS Prospectus Form (Davidson login required), which is sent to your advisors, third reviewer, CIS Director, and CIS Program Coordinator.  The Prospectus Defense and Form due date is March 31, 2023.

Please note that all CIS Juniors are required to write the prospectus and hold the defense. Those students in study abroad programs will need to make arrangements well in advance to use Zoom or another virtual platform for the defense.

Course Changes

Please only request course changes in situations that are outside of your control (e.g., the course that was approved is no longer offered at Davidson). This request would likely only occur for one course at maximum per student in those unique situations. Please do not make requests for convenience as your approved contract has been previously carefully vetted by a committee.  The Course Change Form can be found on Kuali. (Davidson login required)