Honors Information HONORS INFORMATION-REVISED SPRING 2008
THE ENGLISH HONORS PROGRAM CONSISTS OF TWO COURSES AND A COLLOQUIUM: One Topics seminar (4.0 credits), the Senior Honors thesis (4.0 credits); and a year-long Senior Honors Colloquium taken during the senior year (2.0 credits each term). You should typically apply for admission to the Honors program in the Spring semester of your Sophomore year (though it is also possible to apply to the Honors Program in the Fall of your Junior year). The three Honors courses form part of the 10 courses required for the major. They may substitute for advanced electives, though not for the four core courses. See also the section “Honors Program” under Department of English in the CAS Bulletin.
Students applying to Honors Program select a Topics Seminar in their junior year. The Topics seminars are small classes (limited to 12) whose primary focus is on research (sometimes in local archives) and the application of critical methodologies. During the junior year, students will also attend two Junior Honors Workshops on research and methodology which will also assist them in preparing their Thesis Proposal.
While writing your SENIOR HONORS THESIS, you will work individually with a member of the English department faculty. The topic of the thesis is proposed by you and approved by the faculty member who has agreed to direct the thesis. The thesis is a critical paper of 12,000-18,000 words (approximately 40-60 pages). Subject and treatment vary widely. Typically, an Honors thesis includes some close reading of a text or texts, as well as engagement with published criticism. The thesis is the single most important component of the program. Your desire to write a thesis during your senior year should be the major factor in your decision to apply for admission. The HONORS COLLOQUIUM is the one experience common to all seniors in the program. It is a year-long works-in-progress seminar in which students refine their work and participate in a larger scholarly conversation about research and criticism. Faculty guests present their own research, and guest speakers from archives and rare-books libraries give presentations about special collections.
HONORS AND STUDY ABROAD: The English department encourages its majors to study abroad. If you are admitted to the Honors program and intend to study abroad in your junior year, you may want to discuss your schedule with your advisor or with the Director of Honors before deciding when and where to study.
ADMISSION to the Honors program is competitive. The Honors seminars are limited to 12 students. The major factor in admission is your performance in your English courses. In considering your application, the Director of Honors reviews your overall transcript and consults with your instructors. In addition, the DH reads the critical paper that you submit with your application to get a sense of the way you do critical analysis.
APPLICATION AND GRADES: The minimum grade point average for application to any CAS departmental honors program is 3.65. The average GPA of admitted English majors is generally higher. In addition, you should ideally have completed the four core courses by the end of the semester in which you apply. (Sophomores should aim to have completed three of the core courses plus one of the distribprinution requirements).
SCHEDULE FOR APPLYING TO HONORS:
Sophomore year:
Spring semester: In their second semester (Spring of Sophomore year), students submit an Honors Application Form to Shanna Williams in the English department, indicating that they intend to apply to the Honors Program.
Note: Sophomores planning to Study Abroad in their junior year must plan on taking a Topics Seminar during either Fall or Spring of junior year.
Junior year:
Fall semester: In the Fall semester, students should start contemplating areas of interest and talking to faculty about possible thesis topics. They should also take a Topics Seminar in either the Fall or Spring semester of the junior year.
Note on delayed Application: Juniors who not yet applied to the Honors Program may also submit a Honors Application Form to Shanna Williams by the end of the Fall semester of their junior year.
Spring semester: At the end of the Spring semester of their junior year, students who are admitted into the Honors Program and given permission to write their thesis submit an Honors Proposal to Shanna Williams in the English Department. Students applying to Honors will need to earn an A/A- in their junior year Topics seminar.
Senior year:
Fall semester: Students attend the Senior Honors Colloquium in both the Fall and Spring semesters of their senior year, and work closely with their faculty advisor on their thesis research and the writing process. They may register for the Senior Honors Thesis in either semester.
Students may wish to register for an additional, optional Topics Seminar in the Fall semester if a course is being offered in their area of thesis research.
Spring semester: Students continue working closely with their advisor and the Senior Honors Colloquium as they draft their thesis. The final version of the Honors Thesis is due after Spring Break. Honors Thesis defenses, in which students make short presentations about their Thesis topic and participate in q&a, are held in the April of the spring semester.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Turn in a completed application to Shanna Williams, the Undergraduate Administrator, in the English Department. Be sure to attach a clean copy of a paper submitted in a CAS English course with your application. The paper should demonstrate your abilities at close reading and application of critical methodology.
DECISIONS will be made once final grades have been submitted for the term in which you apply.
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