WHAT IS A POLITICAL SCIENCE POSTER?
Your senior (paper) projects will give a full accounting of all the complexities of your case, the policies possible for dealing with it, and a complete accounting of your own views. Your posters, on the other hand, are designed to give your peers and colleagues a quick overview of your topic and findings; a poster will therefore only present the highlights of your paper.
What are the basic elements of a Poster?
- Title/Author: should be simple and easy to see
- Abstract: identifies what is being studied, what you are trying to figure out, and your findings/conclusion.
- Body: What are the main questions your paper is addressing (i.e. what are the main challenges/problems facing democracy in your country? What are the main alternatives available for dealing with these challenges?
- Data/empirics: Here is where you could use graphs, charts or quantitative analysis. Visual representations of your argument or data are very useful in a poster.
- Conclusions: Be clear and concise: What did you find and how is this similar/different from previous analyses? What is the “bottom line” of your analysis? (i.e. What, in a nutshell, do you suggest the U.S. do vis-à-vis democratic consolidation in your country and how is this similar/different from what is currently being done?)
- Basic references
Standard size is usually no larger than 2 feet by 4 feet. Your poster should be hard-backed. STOP BY THE DEPARTMENT OFFICE IN LEHMAN 417 TO PICK UP POSTERBOARD.
A great poster is:
- Readable: the elements should flow and relate logically to each other. Text should be clear, concise, and free of spelling and grammatical mistakes.
- Legible: Don’t cram too much info or data into the space you have. Don’t use overly fancy fonts or fonts that are too small. Organize your information carefully.
- Attractive to the eye: this may mean making good use of graphics and/or pictures, but it may also just mean presenting your research and findings in a succinct, easily digestible and interesting manner. Color and spacing should be used wisely and consistently.
- Want to see an example of a great poster? Click here.
Local options for printing your poster:
Fed Ex: 600 West 116th Street
Price range: $7.25/sq. ft. and up
Village Copier: 118th and Amsterdam
Price range: $10-$200+
Staples: 125th Street and Lenox
Price range: $5.99/sq. ft. and up
Additional Poster Resources:
American Political Science Association: http://www.apsanet.org/content_17364.cfm
How To Make A Great Poster:
Poster Presentation - Mount Holyoke College "The Effect of Gender of Victim and Gender of Perpetrator on Recall of a Crime"
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/lablouin/psych200/projectsSp02/gender.htm
"Recommendations for your Poster Presentation" - Smith College:
http://www.science.smith.edu/departments/Biology/PosterSymp/guidelines.htm
"Advice on Presenting - Creating Academic Posters" Bryn Mawr:
http://libguides.brynmawr.edu/content.php?pid=385359&sid=3158338
Tips on Presenting - Wellesley College
Poster Presentation Guidelines – Harvard University
Do's and Don'ts of Poster Presentation – Stanford University
http://www.stanford.edu/group/blocklab/dos%20and%20donts%20of%20poster%20presentation.pdf
Guide to Designing & Printing a Research Poster – Dartmouth University
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~ugar/undergrad/posterinstructions.html
http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/PUBL/SPHposter.pdf
http://abacus.bates.edu/~bpfohl/posters/
http://www.units.muohio.edu/oars/undergrad_research/ur_forum/posterhints.php
http://www.ugresearch.umd.edu/researchposter.php
http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/posc/photos/compsSpr13/
http://www.kumc.edu/SAH/OTEd/jradel/Poster_Presentations/PstrStart.html
Senior Experience
Barnard College has a long-standing commitment to preparing students in the major so that they may undertake a capstone project. All Barnard seniors are required to complete a senior project or thesis. Senior projects or theses represent the culmination of academic work in the major. They allow students to develop records of individual research that include theoretical engagement in the major discipline, the development of creative projects or research, and original empirical and interpretative analysis. The form of the senior requirement may vary across majors, but the most common forms are the senior thesis (one or two semesters), supervised original research in a lab, a final creative project, and/or research that has been completed within a dedicated senior seminar.
