Independent Studies

To qualify for a New College Independent Study course, you must be either:

• A New College student
• Enrolled in a New College Program (Critical Studies in Equity and Solidarity; Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health)
• Enrolled in a New College-affiliated Program (African Studies; Caribbean Studies; Women and Gender Studies; Human Biology)
  • Please note these programs may have their own Independent Studies offerings that will count towards your program completion requirements. We recommend you connect with your home academic unit to discuss whether it may be better to pursue their course offerings versus New College’s.
• Supervised by a New College-affiliated faculty member.

You must also have a faculty member who is willing to serve as the course instructor and supervisor.

There are no specific course prerequisites. However, students are expected to have completed 8.0 credits to apply for a 300-level Independent Study course and 12.0 credits for the 400-level options.

While there is no minimum GPA required, students are expected to be in good academic standing. Your prospective supervisor will assess your academic record for strength and depth in the area of the proposed study.

Students are expected to find an appropriate supervisor for their intended project. Supervisors must be a member of the faculty at the University of Toronto (i.e., those in the research or teaching stream holding the title of either Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor). This faculty member must also not have been your supervisor in a prior Independent Study course or project. Neither Sessional Instructors nor (graduate student) Course Instructors are eligible to be supervisors.

New College students do not have any topic restrictions. For non-New College students, the proposed project must be related to their New College (affiliated) program.

We remind you that independent Study courses are intended to be opportunities for research requiring originality and independent investigation. The project should involve posing appropriate questions, application of relevant research methods, critical analysis and results reporting consistent with the chosen discipline.

We advise supervisors that the expected amount of work should be at least as much as in an equivalent regular course. You should be aware that the time you spend is very much up to you, and that most students find these courses highly interesting and often put in more hours than they might in a regular course.

Due to the high expected workload, we do not recommend that students take more than a single Independent Study course at one time, and many units will not permit students to do so to begin with.

No. The amount of work and the time needed to read the literature, gather data or ideas, conduct an appropriate critical analysis, and write a good report precludes the completion of a full year project in one term. These are special experiences and should not be rushed.

No. Independent Study courses provide the opportunity to do original research with a faculty supervisor and are not meant to duplicate established courses.

Your proposal should include a brief description of your topic, the question you are investigating, and the methodology that will be used.

The course marking scheme must adhere to Faculty of Arts and Science guidelines. For ‘H’ courses, a minimum of 10% of the final mark must be returned to the student by a specified date whereas for ‘Y’ courses, a minimum of 20% is required.

These deadlines depend on the session. Students and supervisors may consult the Arts and Science Academic Handbook for Instructors (section 4.5 “Deadlines for Returning Marked Assignments”) as well as the Arts and Science Academic Dates & Deadlines to determine the applicable deadline.

Additionally, the total weight on the final research project (i.e., 15-page for ‘H’ course or 30-page for ‘Y’ course final paper, essay or report), including interim deliverables, must be worth at least 50% of the final grade.

A copy of this final project must be submitted to the New College Programs Office at the end of the course.

Yes. The signature indicates they are aware of the faculty member’s involvement in the project and agree to it. Proposals missing any of the requested signatures will be considered incomplete.

Yes. In the case you will be joining your supervisor’s existing research project that already has REB approval, they will be responsible for submitting an amendment to add you to it. Note, in certain cases and with the supervisor’s permission, we have made exceptions for Y courses in Humanities and Social Science projects.

Your final paper is graded by your supervisor. We keep copies of your final report on file as a record of the work completed and in the case of petitions or other concerns that may arise. Your work will not be shared with any other party.

Students may only complete one 300-level course (H or Y) and then one 400-level course (H or Y). You cannot complete a 300-level course if you have already completed one of the 400-level offerings.