A. PURPOSE
This contract is a capstone study for Ms. P’s concentration called “Media, Communication, and Society”; in it, she will integrate the conceptual frameworks of the various disciplines which make up her concentration and use the resulting framework to analyze her question.

B. LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Ms. P will begin by doing a literature search on the broad topic of Computer Mediated Communication. She will then narrow her topic into a feasible question for research. She will write a paper in which she both (1) analyzes the question that she has raised and (2) explicitly relates her research to the theories and concepts gained throughout her concentration studies. This will be a substantial paper (at least 20 pages). Ms. P will communicate regularly with Ms. Mendelsohn via email or telephone as appropriate.

C. METHOD AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Ms. P’s work will be evaluated on the basis of her paper and electronic and telephone discussions with Mentor Mendelsohn. This paper should demonstrate a solid understanding of the tools and techniques for analysis, knowledge of the relevant literature, and integration and progression of knowledge within her concentration. Work will show that she has gone beyond popular sources (e.g., news and popular magazine articles) to find appropriate scholarly sources to add depth and authenticity to her work.

Ms. P’s writing will also be evaluated. Her paper should be carefully prepared, clearly written and well organized. It should conform to standard conventions in regard to spelling, grammar and punctuation and it should use the objective rhetoric appropriate to argumentation in the social sciences. All ideas not the student’s own should be appropriately cited, both in the body of the text and at the end of the paper.