Studies

Most modules will conclude with a written term paper. Here are some guidelines: 

• Guidelines for writing term papers and the MA thesis
• The rubric according to which papers are graded 
• When submitting a term paper, make sure to enclose a signed plagiarism statement. This is a sample statement that you can copy. 
• If you have formally registered to write a paper, an exam, or to take an oral exam, these are the rules about unregistering (in case of sickness etc.)

Students are supposed to engage actively in looking for a placement for an internship or research stay. The module aims at disclosing perspectives for future careers and to establish a professional network and practical experiences. Internships and research activities should cover a period of at least four weeks, but can be broken up into smaller units. Internships should be conducted in areas of work related to a student's individual career plans. Here are some guidelines and inspirations for possible internship employers in the area of Hannover. You may also apply for a scholarship to help fund a stay abroad. Information about funding can be found here.

Please remember to register for an examination performance (Prüfungsleistung) in the exam registration period when concretizing the module. Afterwards you should hand in a 10-page report to Prof. Mayer (pdf file). The report should be 1.5-spaced, and otherwise adhere to the MLA style. It can comprise work samples, and should delineate a) how you found your internship or research place, b) what motivated your choice, c) what exactly you were doing, d) who supervised your work, e) whether and how this activity contributed to your career planning and whether you would recommend it to other students. 

One possible option for this module is to attend one or more summer/winter school(s). If you are interested in this, please check beforehand with the program coordinator what requirements should be met. Here are some suggestions for summer or winter schools. 

Procedure

Please note: If you are planning to write an interdisciplinary thesis with an examiner from a different discipline (NOT American Studies) or you have other reasons for involving a second reader from outside the English Department of LUH, you need written permission by the examination committee to do so (this permission needs to be added to the application for the master's thesis registration). 

If both examiners are from the American Studies Division, please proceed as follows: 

1. Apply for Master's Thesis Registration
In order to apply, send a freely formulated email to the examination office of the philosophical faculty, in which you ask for admission to the final exam (master's thesis). Be sure to include a pdf-scan of your ID, as well as your name and the names of your first and second examiners in your email to Pruefungsamt@phil.uni-hannover.de. 

2. Issuing of the Topic
Once the examination office has verified that you are qualified to register for the master's thesis, you will receive an email with instructions, which you should forward to your first examiner. They will then issue the topic for your thesis via email to you, ccing the examination office. The examination office will determine the deadline for your thesis on the grounds of the examination regulations and will announce this deadline via the student online service ("Info über angemeldete Prüfungen"). 

3. Declaration of Originality

Please note that you have to confirm in writing when handing in your master's thesis that 
a)  the thesis has been written independently, 
b)  no sources or tools have been used other than the ones indicated and cited, 
c)  all parts of the thesis that have been taken verbatim or in paraphrases from other sources have been marked as such and 
d)  the thesis has not been submitted in this or similar form to another institution of examination.
This declaration has to be included in the thesis itself. 

Please find the Department's "Declaration on Plagiarism and AI" here.

4. Submitting Your Thesis
Please send an email with a pdf-version of the thesis to office@engsem.uni-hannover.de and (cc) to the two examiners. This counts as the official submission of your thesis. The secretary's office will then immediately confirm the submission to the examination office. In addition, you have to submit two print copies of your thesis to the two examiners. Please contact them about the mode of submission of these hard copies and please note that for ecological and practical reasons, the English Seminar prefers softcover hot-glue binding. Please do not use hardcover binding! 

5. Defense/Oral Exam
Your master thesis is concluded with an oral exam - a defense of your thesis. In this exam you get the chance to respond to your supervisors' evaluation, to reflect and possibly to expand on some aspects of your work. The exam takes 30 minutes, and you will be asked to represent the main points of your thesis to start with for about 10 minutes. Don't go too much into detail and do not go overtime with your presentation. No powerpoint, please. In preparation for the exam, please prepare a Thesenpapier or position paper - formulating a number of brief propositions (i.e. discussion points or claims) based on your thesis. These do not have to be controversial, but they should give material for discussion. You should formulate no more than three propositions, and move from general to specific aspects (i.e. from the context or historical background or theorical frame to specific and selected aspects of your case study and material). Please submit this a week before the exam to both examiners. Here's a sample proposition paper.