Research

Mastery of a subject requires the ability to apply what has been learned to some problem or project. The student needs to be able to formulate questions, find appropriate resources, analyze text and data, draw conclusions, and communicate new information to others.

The Chatham Senior Tutorial is a yearlong research project in a student’s major which serves as this type of capstone experience. The student analyzes existing literature on the topic, but also creates new knowledge through her own research. When faculty write letters of recommendation for students, they often cite the tutorial as evidence of the student’s ability to organize, research, and complete a substantial piece of work. The tutorial demonstrates not only intellectual mastery of a subject matter, but also the skills of organization, time management, and effective presentation. The skills learned in completing the tutorial transfer to many areas of personal and professional life.

Selection of tutorial topics in the Division of Global and Public Policy Studies:
• Impact of Legal-Political Policy Framework on Child Labor
• Policy Analysis of the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act
• Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans after World War II
• Decoding the Effects of Trade Volume and Trade Policies on Economic Growth
• Microcredit NGO’s in India
• Marginalized No More: The Emergence of a Palestinian National Identity
• Gender Wage Gap in Pittsburgh
• United States Sanctions against Burma
• Security in Iraq: A Policy Analysis of Failure
• Orphan Trains: A Case Study in Social Transformation