I am one of the very ambitious seniors who decided to take on a thesis project. A thesis is essentially a big research project that you spend your entire senior writing and researching. It is usually on a topic related to your major. If you know me in person, you know I never stop talking about my thesis project. Not only because it is really fascinating to me, but because it is slowly taking over my life. In the best way possible.
As a Peace and Justice studies major with a concentration in human rights, I am interested in issues related to the enforcement of human rights and international human rights organizations. I spent the fall semester of my junior year in Senegal. There, I took a course on African politics and the question of democracy. In that course, I gained an interest in exploring this in regard to human rights. I did some more research and found out about the African Union (AU) and their mechanisms for protecting rights. There were a lot of unanswered questions during this period of research. I have always known that I wanted to thesis, I liked the idea of dedicating time to researching a topic of serious interest. I decided it would be best to turn a research interest into a thesis topic. For my thesis, I am writing my on the African Union and its enforcement of human rights.
The AU is an organization that seeks to promote unity among African states. The AU and its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) wanted to be a revolutionary, decolonizing project that would allow self-determination for African states. However, in that process of emphasizing sovereignty for states, the OAU/AU was reluctant to get involved in domestic affairs; affairs that often dealt with human rights abuses.
It is a multilayered issue. I am talking about the history of colonialism, the hierarchy in the international system, the concept of human rights and why the AU has failed to protect people from human rights abuses. I am framing my project around concepts I have learned in the classes for my major. The peace and justice discipline focuses on questions related to peace, justice and violence. One of the central questions of the discipline is (which may seem obvious) what is the best way to promote peace and reduce harm. With this research project, I am applying this question to the AU.
In order to thesis, you have to come up with a topic and contact your major advisor, usually in your junior spring. From there, you find a thesis advisor who may fit best with your research interests. After that, you build a plan and submit a proposal. Once that is set, you just start. I started researching about this at the end of my junior year. I began writing, in September of last year.
My advice if you are considering thesis-ing is to find a topic that is a multifaceted and of great interests to you. That way, you don’t get bored. I genuinely enjoy reading about human rights and thinking of ways to improve the world. Human rights isn’t just an academic interests but one I want to pursue professionally.
Wish me luck as I start to finish my first draft! It’s due on April 24th and then I have to go through an approval process. Until then, I probably won’t stop talking about it.
Until next time,
Laïssa