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Senior Thesis Cohort 2024
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Admission Requirements
- Completed HIST 200: Intro Hist Interpretation
- Minimum 3.5 GPA in History, minimum 3.25 overall GPA
- Interview with the Director of Undergraduate Studies by the term before honors coursework begins (usually by the end of sophomore year and at the latest fall semester junior year)
- Students may be admitted in the fall of junior year on a probationary basis, pending completion of HIST 200 or improvement in GPA during the junior year
Two Ways to Complete the Honors Program
- The preferred method is to complete the Honors Senior Thesis. Students choosing this option need to complete HIST 498 and HIST 492 in their junior year (see Required Coursework in Preparation for the Honors Senior Thesis below). In the senior year, students writing the thesis will enroll in HIST 493: Honors Senior Thesis and HIST 499: Thesis Seminar in both the fall and the spring. HIST 493 constitutes independent research and writing under the supervision of the student’s faculty advisor, who will be responsible for assigning the grade for this course at the end of the academic year. HIST 499 is a seminar and workshop run by the Director of Undergraduate Studies, required of all thesis writers; it carries a maximum of 3 credit hours for the entire academic year and is graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U). The Honors Senior Thesis itself is evaluated by the advisor and by a second faculty reader, who will decide whether the finished project should be designated worthy of distinction, high distinction, or highest distinction in the major. A thesis may also be judged unworthy of distinction, in which case the student will still receive full credit for the completion of the History 493 – assuming that the student’s performance has been satisfactory to the faculty advisor. So, the typical course sequence would be:
Fall Junior Year – HIST 498 (3 hrs)
Spring Junior Year – HIST 492 (3 hrs)
Fall Senior Year – 493 (3 hrs) & 499 (1 hr)
Spring Senior Year – 493 (3 hrs) & 499 (2 hrs)
- Alternatively, students may opt to complete a sequence of two independent projects under the supervision of two different advisors, on two different topics. These students will be eligible to graduate with distinction in the major, but will not be eligible for high or highest distinction (designations carried only by the Honors Senior Thesis). Even though students are not expected to write the Honors Senior Thesis, they are still required to complete HIST 492 and HIST 498 (see below).
Required Coursework in Preparation for the Honors Senior Thesis
- HIST 498: Research and Writing Seminar
- Students admitted to the Honors Program will enroll in History 498. In addition to completing all the requirements for HIST 498, Honors students are expected to prepare a critical self-assessment of their past work in consultation with the DUS. Ideally, students will complete History 498 in the fall of the junior year.
- HIST 492: Historiography and Methodology
- A designated seminar (offered every spring) for all students in the Honors Program, to be taken no later than the spring of the junior year. Students will study the development of the historian’s craft and will be exposed to new research methods and techniques. The course will culminate in the preparation of a research proposal for the Honors Senior Thesis, developed in consultation with an individual faculty advisor. The instructor of History 492 and the DUS will assist students in the selection of an appropriate mentor. Even those students who may not be planning to write the Honors Senior Thesis must enroll in this course and prepare a research proposal.
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Waiver text : The department offers one section of HIST 492 each spring. If you are in a year-long off campus program, like study abroad, or in back-to-back semester-long off-campus programs or if for other reasons you are not able to take an honors seminar, you may seek a waiver of this junior honors course requirement. To do so you should complete HIST 498 and at least one other 400 level HIST class with grades of B+ or better and then work with your proposed senior thesis advisor to write a research proposal for your Senior Honors Thesis. This proposal, typically five to fifteen pages in length, should include a review of related scholarship, a discussion of your proposed topic, method, and sources, and an explanation of the question you hope to answer and its significance. Your proposed senior thesis advisor should submit a letter approving this proposal and affirming her/his willingness to advise your Senior Honors Thesis. You may develop this proposal outside of your regular coursework, as a regular course assignment (if the instructor approves), or as an independent study course under the HIST 199 rubric. Your application must be submitted to the Director of Undergraduate Study no later than two weeks before the start of the fall semester in which you would like to start the HIST 493/HIST 499 Honors Thesis sequence.