INDEPENDENT STUDY PROJECTS (ISPs)

 Potential organizations to mine for ISP ideas 

Toward the end of each fall semester students outline specific independent study projects (ISPs) for completion during January Interterm. Faculty remain in residence to assist students and consult needed.  

Three ISPs, each representing four or more weeks of full-time academic effort, are required for graduation.  The first must be done on campus but the others may be completed off-campus, locally or abroad. 

The ISP has four objectives:

     1.)  To train students to carry out independent research, preparing them to plan
         and complete an effective senior thesis in their fourth year

     2.)  To complement the curriculum, providing opportunities to study in areas not
           usually addressed in ordinary coursework

     3.)  To provide opportunities for non-traditional, innovative and  experiential
           learning projects

     4.)  To provide opportunities for intensive involvement in one subject during the
           Interterm as a change of pace from pursuing multiple courses during the
          academic year    
 
ISPs are expected to be completed by the end of January and submitted to the contract sponsor for evaluation.  Alternatively, they may be completed during the summer Interterm to explore unique opportunities such as residence abroad.  

Following are sample ISPs completed by students:


Humanities ISPs
*  Introduction to Colloquial Tibetan Language       
         
*  Analysis of Female Characters in Indian Epics

*  Exploration of the Works of Gao Xingiian

*  Internship at the Salvador Dali Museum

*  Alternative Theater in Australia and New Zealand

*  Sicilian Legends:  A Collection and Illustration

*  Phenomenology of Egoistic Consciousness:  A Self-Reflexive Study



Social Sciences ISPs
*  Effects of Tourism on Nepalese Children

*  NATO's Methods to Enlist Women in the Armed
   Forces and its Application to Other Fields

*  Bulgarians' Perceptions of Eastern Orthodox
   Monasteries

*  At-risk Youth on the Streets of Seattle

*  Street Performance and Public Improvisation

*  Study of Ukranian-Canadians in Northern Alberta

*  Mobilization Against AIDS and HIV in the Early American Outbreak  

Natural Sciences ISPs
*  Internship at the Aventis Pharmamolecular 
   Biology Laboratory

*  Internship with the National Zoo and
   Jane Goodall Institute

*  Alternative Medicine:  Light Beam Theory,
   Acupuncture, Electrodermal Screening and 
   Mind Healing

*  Using Operant Conditioning to Counter Food 
   Neophobia

*  Overexpressions and Characterization of Malate Dehydrogenase

*  Cortison RU486 Levels In Learning and Forgetting Abilities in Pinfish

*  Socio-biological Attraction and Mate Selection

Interdisciplinary  ISPs
*  Database and Application Design Principles for Online Systems

*  Cross-Cultural Differences in Clinical Diagnosis

*  Internship as a Manatee Caretaker

*  Brief History of Mosaics and Modern  
   Application

*  Volunteer Internship with the      
   Sarasota Opera Costume Shop"

*  Teacher Training Course: Sivananda 
   Yoga Retreat in Nassau, Bahamas

*  Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Pathology Field Schools

*  Photographing the Construction and Destruction of Urban Buildings 


Sources of ISP Ideas

Individual professors, of course, are the best sources of ISP ideas.  Talk to them about individual projects or available group projects such as the following offered for Interterm 2003:

*  Archaeological Excavations at Little Salt Spring (Dr. Baram)
*  Economics of Income Differences (Dr. Burgman)     
*  Bio-inorganic Chemistry (Dr. Sherman)
*  Nature Writing That Matters (Dr. Clark)


Other sources of ideas for ISPs include local not-for-profit corporations such as the following:

Not-for-Profit Corporations (Manatee County United Way Member Agencies)

Not-for-Profit Corporations (Sarasota County United Way Member Agencies)

Other Local Not-for-Profit Corporations

United Way of Manatee County

United Way of Sarasota County

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