Honors 499 General Overview

We get it! “Independent Study” is a vague term that rarely, if ever, gets defined for students. Definitions of Independent Study vary from department to department, but for Interdisciplinary Honors, Independent Study means (in it’s simplest terms) that a student is creating their own course. In the HONORS 499 application, students must outline their learning goals, assignments, and grading breakdowns, just like instructors are required to do on a syllabus for their courses at the UW. That said, students pursuing HONORS 499 are not required to follow traditional assessment or assignment structures, especially if they do not serve the student’s learning goals! For example, students do not have to create and take their own midterm or final exams unless they feel that is the best way to demonstrate their knowledge!

Because HONORS 499 encourages students to explore interdisciplinary, academic interests they can’t otherwise pursue at the UW, students are free to choose assignments and coursework that best align with the learning goals they outline in their application, so long as said assignments are gradable by the instructor.
While many students choose to model their HONORS 499 proposal on the structure of many Honors-prefix courses (weekly readings, reflections, midterm and final papers/projects), students are welcome to pursue a project-oriented Independent Study or integrate elements of service and community engagement into their Independent Study. Students interested in these options should keep in mind that the volume of work must reflect the number of credits they are pursuing; that there must be regular, graded assignments; and that their Independent Study must still be interdisciplinary in nature.
As outlined in the process above, students are expected to discuss their HONORS 499 idea with an adviser before submitting their Independent Study proposal, which is a great place to ask more questions about what kind of HONORS 499 pathway best suits a students’ interest!

The volume of work for an HONORS 499 Independent Study should reflect the number of credits a student is pursuing for HONORS 499. For a 4-5 credit HONORS 499, students should be completing roughly 8-10 hours of work per week. When an Honors adviser reviews an HONORS 499 application, they assess the amount of work a student has outlined in their assignments and determine if it appears to be an appropriate volume of work for the number of credits a student has requested.

Who you ask to support your HONORS 499 Independent Study depends on a variety of factors. Generally, your HONORS 499 instructor should be somewhat well-versed in the subject area you aim to explore and should be able to give you robust feedback on the direction of your independent study.
Many students also ask instructors they have already taken classes with to be HONORS 499 instructors, especially if the student’s HONORS 499 topic is related to the course their instructor taught. However, if students are interested in a certain subject area,
Please note that there are some restrictions on who can and cannot be an HONORS 499 instructor. Your HONORS 499 instructor must have an active appointment at the UW, meaning that they must be working for the university during the quarter you wish to pursue HONORS 499. Most obviously, your instructor must have the time and capacity to support your Independent Study!

Since HONORS 499 is a time-intensive experience for both students and instructors, the earlier students get in contact with a potential HONORS 499 instructor, the better. Students should ask instructors early enough in advance that can create new plans or find another instructor who might be willing to oversee their HONORS 499 work. Remember, instructors are NEVER obligated to oversee a student’s HONORS 499 course. It’s important that students acknowledge the work that their instructor is doing to supervise their HONORS 499.
When reaching out to an instructor about overseeing HONORS 499, students should have some ideas about how they might structure their proposal and explore their subject of choice. This will help the instructor make decisions about their interest and capacity to support your HONORS 499 proposal. Students can reach out to an instructor over email and/or arrange to meet the instructor during office hours or an alternate time. When reaching out to the instructor, students should direct them to the HONORS 499 page and give the instructor a brief description of what they might want to explore. Students don’t have to have a draft of their HONORS 499 application ready to show the instructor, but may consider using the prompts in the application to structure the thoughts/ideas they share with their instructor.

When reviewing HONORS 499 proposals, advisers look for specificity, cohesive proposal responses, interdisciplinary direction, and a realistic plan of study.

Specificity: What will the HONORS 499 entail? Applications should be specific enough that another person should be able to somewhat follow along/replicate the students’ HONORS 499 experience.

Cohesive Proposal Responses: Each part of the proposal should make sense in the context of and/or speak to the other responses. This means that the learning goals and assignments, for example, should complement each other. If a student is planning on doing a community-involved project as a part of HONORS 499, it doesn’t necessarily make sense for all of their assignments to be essays.

Interdisciplinary Direction: HONORS 499 proposals must be interdisciplinary in nature. Students should explicitly address the interdisciplinary nature of their proposal in their application.

Realistic Plan of Study: Related to specificity, advisers want to understand the work students will be doing throughout the quarter. This means that the anticipated amount of work should coincide with the number of credits a student is completing (usually, this means 2 hours for every 1 credit, so for a 5-credit HONORS 499, students should be completing an average of 10 hours of work per week for the course). Advisers are also looking for points of contact and communication between the student and instructor.

If a students’ HONORS 499 proposal fits with one of the Experiential Learning categories, yes, they could ask their instructor if they would be willing to complete the supervisor evaluations for Experiential Learning in addition to the HONORS 499 instructor responsibilities. Students will still need to apply for Experiential Learning separately.

Student Name: Melissa Gile
Course Overview: A general description of your course topic, including how and why you have chosen to participate in this independent study project.

The course topic will be human migration studies in Germany, particularly asylum seekers and refugees. I have previously taken an honors course on human migration through the UW Summer 2012 Honors in Rome program, and therefore have a basic knowledge of migration policy in the European Union and Italy in specific. However, as this is a very fluid topic that changes with political and social developments, I am interested in learning more about human migration in the European Union.

I am interested in studying human migration in the EU again because my previous experience studying human migration enhanced my cultural and personal awareness. I learned to notice pockets of communities with foreign cultures, and I began to understand the concept of cultural immersion, especially in the face of oftentimes-traumatic incidences. I had the opportunity to interface with people who I would normally pass over due to sheer unawareness, and quite frankly, it opened my eyes to the lives and difficulties of others. I found this to be very personally enriching, and since my experience in Rome, I have been making it a point to continue working with immigrants and refugees, as well as raise awareness in my own community about the struggles that some people go through as a result of political or social pressure. I see human migration as a direct consequence of current events, and it shapes the development of the global society that we have today. I see human migration as the “behind the scenes” part of current world politics. Beyond personal fulfillment, it is an important aspect of understanding the dynamics of international relationships and events.

Learning Objectives: What do you hope to achieve through this project? What questions will you consider? What resources will you use?

Through this project I hope to achieve a better understanding of human migration in Germany and the EU. Some general questions to be answered are as follows: what are the immigration policies in the EU and Germany? What are the similarities and differences between Germany and Italy, in the way that both countries handle refugees and asylum seekers? How do geographical, economical, social, political and other factors affect the way that Germany handles people with migration backgrounds? What are the overarching policies governing human migration in the EU and more particularly Germany? Why were these policies enacted, and how do they affect the lives of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany?

I aim to answer these questions using literature searches, case studies, volunteering opportunities, interviews and other available sources. I will also be going into more specific situations such as woman and underage children asylum seekers, as well as human trafficking issues that people with migration backgrounds deal with. Overall, this project will be a comprehensive study of refugees and asylum seekers in Germany.

In order to complete this project, I will use Professor Sabine Lang as my adviser, but also have Professor Kathie Friedman in the International Studies Department, who also deals with human migration. She also taught my class in Rome and may provide me with literature suggestions. I am already in contact with Agisra (http://www.agisra.org/index.php?de_home) in Cologne, Germany, a refugee support group that focuses woman refugees and asylum seekers, and was given information about active refugee organizations in Münster (e.g. GGUA, which I have just recently contacted and am still awaiting a response).

Assignments:
W 1: 9/24-10/1
Literature Search: Immigration policy in the EU — current debates and challenges
W 2: 10/2-10/8
Essay 1: 6 Pages: Immigration policy in the EU — current debates and challenges
W 3: 10/9-10/15
Literature Search: Asylum policy in Germany — historical development and current debates
W 4: 10/16-10/22
Essay 2: 6 Pages: Asylum policy in Germany — historical development and current debates
W 5: 10/23-10/29
Asylum policy in crisis: Case Study- Women asylum seekers (including literature search)
W 6: 10/30-11/5
Asylum policy in crisis: Woman asylum seekers — interviews with NGOs
W 7: 11/6-11/12
Essay 3: 15 pages, case study
W 8: 11/13-11/19
Literature Search: Underage children asylum seekers
W 9: 11/20-11/26
Literature Search: Trafficked women and asylum in Germany
W 10: 11/27-12/3
Final Journal Entry/Summary: Conclusion and outlook
W 11: 12/4-12/9
Final Essay: consists of previous three essays plus additional materials/interviews: 30 pages total.
Due December 9, 11am via e-mail.Additional requirements:
– weekly journal entry 500 words minimum
– 40 hours of volunteer work total throughout the quarter

Weekly Schedule: Include reading assignments, activities and progress toward overall objectives, instructor meetings and contact points, etc.)

A weekly schedule throughout the quarter has been outlined in the section above. I just sent an email to GGUA (Gemeinnützige Gesellschaft zur Unterstützung Asylsuchender e.V.) (http://www.ggua.de/) asking for volunteering opportunities throughout the quarter, and may also see various churches in the area for volunteering opportunities as well, since both may provide largely different opportunities to work with refugees.
As described above, weekly goals/assignments will include:
– Weekly journal
– 3 hours of volunteering a week (this number is tentative depending on opportunities provided in the area, but the end goal is to have 40 hours of volunteering total by the end of the quarter)
– Weekly assignments as outlined above
Due to the distance (Germany-USA), the main method of contact will be via email, and the student is expected to demonstrate a level of proactivity when pursuing research, case studies, completion of assignments, etc. A more complete list of readings, reading assignments and activities will be developed and recorded throughout the quarter in the weekly journal. The journal will be an effective method of not only tracking progress, but also organizing course goals, progress and developments.

Grading:Outline how the course will be graded, rubrics for assignments or final projects, etc.

Grading:
W 2 essay 10 %
W 4 essay: 10%
W 7 essay: 30%
W 11 Essay 40%
Weekly journal 10%

Journals will be graded in weeks 5 and 10.