What is a seminar paper?

Some notes on the genre in the humanities

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

As you eagerly scan your graduate course syllabus, the term "seminar paper" and a brief explanation of the word counts and sources needed immediately catch your attention. Despite your assumption that everyone else understands its meaning, you find yourself uncertain and curious about what precisely constitutes a seminar paper.

You are not alone, dear reader; despite the fact that many professors assign seminar papers as a capstone to their rigorous reading and discussion courses, the genre is rarely defined explicitly or even agreed upon in graduate school.

Yet, the seminar paper is a foundational academic writing genre for graduate students in the humanities that allows you to practice your research and analytical skills. Learning the ins and outs of this genre can help you express your thoughts clearly, participate more actively in academic conversations, and learn how to write more effectively.

Professors typically lay out granular guidelines for seminar papers, but students are not always given a clear picture of the genre's overall value and purpose. You are expected to learn through doing, as is common in graduate school and the academy in general, but no one has told you what the overarching goals of this type of writing are or how different professors apply them.

In true Publish Not Perish fashion, this post is about making the seminar paper more transparent for graduate students in the humanities in particular, but some of this insight may be applicable in other areas of study.