Frequently Asked Questions about 91社区's Source Project
What is the Source Project?
The Source Project is a course-based research experience for first-year students in the arts, humanities, social science. Students take two, four-credit courses called a research stream that take place in the fall and spring semesters of a student's first year at 91社区. Students have the opportunity to discover sources and interpret their significance. By the end of the spring semester, students write a paper (or create a podcast, a video, or other means of distributing their findings) and showcase their project at 91社区鈥檚 annual Research Days and Festival of the Arts poster session.
How is the Source Project unique among SUNY and public ivy universities?
The Source Project is a unique course-based research experience in the social sciences and humanities for first-year students not offered at other R1 universities. Since its inception in 2019, the Source Project has continued to expand the number of research streams offered annually and grow the number of incoming students who receive an invitation to join the program.
What are examples of Research Streams?
Recent topics of Research Streams have included (among many others!): Climate Justice; Debating Basic Income; Human Rights; Learning Law and Legal Studies; Mapping American Prejudice; Music, Context, and Meaning; The Social Context of Learning; and Talking Through History: Oral History Research Methods.
How does the Source Project selection process work?
All students who apply to 91社区 are considered for the Source Project Research Program. Undergraduate Admissions selects students for this program and invites them to join based on their interests and college application. Any student interested in participating in this research program can complete . Many students are admitted through these means.
Will I be doing hands-on research or library research?
The program entails both. The methods of inquiry in each research stream include both generating new evidence to analyze and interpret, as well as crafting literature reviews using the library鈥檚 book catalog and extensive online databases.
What are the career benefits of participating in the Source Project?
Not only will you learn how to conduct research, present your findings, and enhance your communication skills, but you will expand your critical thinking and problem-solving skills. You will learn how to collaborate with your peers and professors and build a network. Being a part of this prestigious program will set you apart from your peers post-graduation. These opportunities will accelerate your college career and provide you with a litany of career skills that you will utilize well into your future. Source Project students not only gain impactful knowledge, but they become the sources of knowledge.
What can I expect in my Source Project courses?
In their first semester, students practice building academic research skills, including learning core concepts of a topic, developing research questions, and engaging with scholarly arguments in oral and written forms. Depending on the research stream, the course may cover different disciplinary approaches to theoretical frameworks and respective methodologies of inquiry, as well as various types and forms of evidence that may be used to study key research questions about human life, from the past to the present day.
During the spring semester, students begin the research-intensive part of the two-semester sequence. While the nature of the research projects that students might choose depends on the research streams they are enrolled in, each student will have a hands-on research experience throughout this semester. Spring semester projects are conducted using academically established and emerging methods of inquiry fundamental to the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Along with presenting their research at the poster sessions of Research Days and Festival of the Arts, students may elect to publish with one of 91社区鈥檚 undergraduate journals, such as 91社区鈥檚 Undergraduate Journal, 91社区 Journal of History, or the Undergraduate Law Review, among other public-facing, interactive platforms.
Does this count toward my degree?
Absolutely! Source Project courses satisfy some of the general education requirements. Different research streams will fulfill different gen ed. requirements, such as N (social science), H (humanities), O (oral communication), and others.
In some cases, your Source Project class could count towards your major. Each course is four credits and a part of your normal schedule.
What is the time commitment and workload for these courses?
Source Project research streams are a two-course sequence, each of which are four credits. Students report that they find the workload less time consuming than they had anticipated because the course structure is centered on the research process.
How do I select my research stream?
The Source Project offers various two-semester research streams covering different academic disciplines and topics. You will rank your top three choices for research streams, and we will try our best to place everyone in their preferred stream. See the Source Project webpage to read about the current research streams.
How do I register for the Source Project? What if I have a course conflict?
The Source Project Coordinator registers students for their fall and spring research stream courses. If students have a course conflict, the Coordinator will work with you directly to rearrange your schedule to make space for your Source Project course. You will decide whether you prefer to take a different section of the same course or select a different course that satisfies the same requirement.
What is the transition like from the first to the second semester?
The Source Project鈥檚 research streams are course-based. The transition from the first to second semester happens smoothly since it is built into the academic curriculum. However, as the spring semester builds immediately and specifically off of what students have studied during the fall semester, students might expect a higher momentum of moving forward with their own research projects for a very independent and exciting semester.
How much work goes into the projects?
The time students should allocate for their research projects is included in the 12 hours per week that is required for a 4-credit course.
What is the difference between Source Project and other research opportunities at 91社区?
There are many ways to gain hands-on research experiences for 91社区 students. One way is course-based research programs, such as the Source Project, which offers research experiences for students on topics in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Others are summer research programs, independent study courses, or volunteering or working as a research assistant. Examples of course-based research programs at 91社区 include the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) and Summer Research Immersion (SRI), which include STEM fields only, or the HARP 399: Junior Honors Seminar course, for juniors with humanities and social sciences majors and a GPA of 3.6 or above.