Thesis Support

Students are welcome to search Penji to meet with a tutor who specializes in writing in the subject of the major in which you are writing your thesis or capstone. Though many of our writing tutors are now just writing their thesis, they can provide an empathetic ear–as a fellow student who knows exactly what you’re experiencing as a writer and researcher–and a trained eye for reading drafts of parts of your thesis and for simply talking about your ideas and plans for getting through this challenging final writing project of your Bates career.

If a peer tutor is not what you’re looking for, please email your questions and concerns about thesis writing and your capstone projects to Bridget Fullerton at swlc@bates.edu and let her know what you need and we’ll see what kinds of support we can offer you!

Resources for Thesis Writing

Scarab: Search and read past theses written by Bates students. Get inspired by your peers!

Thesis Templates (and other Thesis formatting and citation guides from Ladd Library): Use these resources to start formatting your thesis for submission. Start early!

Staying On Track: Check out these tips for staying motivated, developing a research plan, seeking support and prioritizing self-care throughout your thesis-writing process.

Elevator Pitch Exercise: Try this to hone your argument and get clearer (for yourself!) what you’re arguing, to whom, and why. Record your pitch a few times over the course of a semester to see how your ideas and foci change and shift as you go through the research and writing process.

Thesis In The Home Stretch: Take a gander at these helpful tips for final edits and proofreading (vs. revisions) and getting ready to submit your thesis. Don’t wait to read this until the last week!

Thesis Café

For seniors only! Open every Wednesday from 9-11am and 4-6pm in the SWLC, Thesis Café offers you a quiet, supportive space for seniors to write, research, and think with your peers. Come for inspirationmotivation, and helpful answers to your writing questions. Professional writing staff will also be on duty, ready to offer you an attentive ear about your concerns, ideas, and research and writing plans, and even a friendly reading of portions of your drafts. You need only bring yourself and your writing and researching tools of choice to hang out with us each week!


Please use the calendar below to view time, location and Zoom links for each scheduled Thesis Café. Click on a scheduled session to place that information on your own Google Calendar or click the +Google Calendar button on the bottom right to add the entire calendar to your own.