Honors
The history department offers an Honors Program for students who wish to research and write a thesis in the course of their senior year.
Entry into the Honors Program
During the second term of the sophomore year or early in the junior year, interested students should speak to a faculty member or faculty adviser about the Honors Program.
The requirements for entry to the Honors Program are:
- a 3.5 GPA in courses taken within the History Department
- Each student must submit an application form and writing sample. Students bring the application form, a transcript, and writing sample to the chair of the Honors committee for formal admittance into the Honors Program. The writing sample is ideally a paper submitted for a 2000-level seminar, but may also be a writing sample from a discipline other than History.
- To continue in the program, students must secure the written agreement of a faculty member to serve as a supervisor to direct the thesis
Students who have completed all requirements (including completion of History 4000 in their junior year) may enter the Honors Program as late as the beginning of their senior year.
Preparation for Thesis Writing: History 4000 (Junior Year)
Students planning to write an Honors thesis must take History 4000, the Honors Proseminar, in the fall or spring semester of their junior year. (While designed for students considering the Honors Program, History 4000 is open to any student with a 3.5 GPA in the major.) History 4000 is offered in both the fall and spring semesters. Those considering pursuing an Honors thesis thus should plan their academic schedules accordingly.
Junior Year Abroad
History majors who wish both to study abroad (or in Cornell-in-Washington) and to enter the honors program should consult their advisors or the DUS as soon as possible after declaring a major. The department requires honors students to enroll in History 4000 before writing a thesis in their senior year, and are not allowed to enroll simultaneously in 4000 and 4001 (the first term of thesis-writing). So planning ahead is essential, especially if you intend to spend a full year abroad.
Selecting a Thesis Supervisor and First Reader
Before the beginning of the senior year, the candidate presents, in conversation or in writing, a thesis proposal to an appropriate member of the faculty. The faculty member who approves the proposal ordinarily becomes the thesis supervisor. If for any reason it is necessary to change supervisors, this arrangement must be confirmed no later than the third week after the beginning of the candidate's senior year.
In consultation with the supervisor, the Honors candidate selects a First Reader. The first reader provides additional guidance in areas of specialization. At the conclusion of the student’s senior year, the supervisor and first reader conduct the student’s oral exam; the first reader also serves as one of the two referees of the Honors thesis in a written report to the Honors committee.
History 4001 and History 4002 (senior year)
At the beginning of their senior year, students who wish to pursue an Honors thesis and who have met the prerequisites (completion of History 4000, acceptance into the Honors Program) enroll in History 4001, Honors Guidance. History 4001 is a regular seminar, which is attended by all students writing Honors theses. It meets once a week for the first month and then generally biweekly thereafter. Its purpose is to provide Honors students structure for their research, to introduce them to research techniques, and to allow them to pursue their research and writing in a seminar format. Honors students continue to consult with their supervisors on specialized readings and research questions.
In the spring semester of their senior year, Honors students continue their research and writing in History 4002. History 4002 is a seminar meeting weekly from the beginning of the semester until the first week in April. Students share and discuss their written work, while continuing to meet on an individual basis with their supervisors.
Submission and Evaluation of the Honors Thesis
The text of the Honors essay may not exceed 60 pages except by permission of the chair of the Honors committee and the student's supervisor. Three copies are due during the third or fourth week of April. In May, each Honors candidate is given an oral examination administered by the supervisor. Examination focuses on the essay as well as the specific sub-field of history in which the student has conducted research (e.g., Periclean Athens, seventeenth-century science, nineteenth-century American politics).
The completed thesis is evaluated by two readers: the first reader and an anonymous second reader from among the History Department faculty.
In determining whether to award Honors and at what level (honors; high honors; highest honors), the Honors committee weighs: the student’s thesis; the readers’ reports on the thesis; the student’s performance in their end-of-year oral exam; and, the student’s grades in History 4001 and 4002.
To qualify for a bachelor of arts degree with Honors in history, a student must (1) sustain at least a 3.5 cumulative average in all history courses and (2) earn at least an “honors” grade on the essay and on the oral examination.
Graduation Requirements for Honors Students in the History Major
To complete an Honors thesis, students must:
- maintain a 3.5 average in their history courses
- complete a total of 10 courses in history.
- All other requirements are the same as those for the History major.
Structure of the Honors Program for January graduates:
As History 4001-4002 are offered in strict fall-spring sequence, January graduates cannot take these courses in sequence. January graduates will enroll in History 4001-History 4002 as one-on-one directed research overseen by their supervisor. At the end of the candidate’s first semester of his or her final year, there will be an oral examination to gauge the student’s progress. The candidate then continues to write and research the honors thesis in History 4002, conducted as a one-on-one directed research. (Thus History 4001 in the fall semester is a seminar course; when offered in the spring semester for January graduates, it is a directed one-on-one research course. In the spring, History 4002 is a seminar course; when offered in the fall for January graduates, it is a directed one-on-one research course.) In all other respects, January graduates observe the criteria of evaluation and requirements for honors as other Honors students.