The Honors Program
Requirements for Honors in History
Students who meet the necessary qualifications will be invited to
apply to the honors programs. Invitations are issued at the beginning
of the senior year and are based on grade-point average in the
department and on progress toward finishing department degree
requirements. To graduate with honors in history, students must in
addition to the regular department degree requirements, have completed
an additional 300W-level history course (that is, two total--not
including HIS 393W); have a Departmental cumulative grade-point
average of at least a 3.7; and have completed a distinguished research
paper under the direction of a faculty adviser. This thesis must be
of at least A- quality in order to secure honors.
Seniors who hope to graduate with honors typically get started on
their theses in the fall semester, either by taking a 300W-level
seminar in an area relevant to their topic, or by arranging to take
History 393 (Senior Project) with their likely honors advisor in order
to begin their research. In the spring, while completing their
thesis, honors students ordinarily register for History 393W (Senior
Project). We also strongly encourage all honors students to take the
optional two-credit Honors Seminar (History 398), which meets once a
month in the spring semester. The purpose of the honors seminar is to
provide a forum in which students can present preliminary versions of
their senior theses and get critical response from both their student
peers and the director of the honors program. The program culminates
with a half-day honors colloquium at the end of the spring semester.
Requirements for Distinction in History
To graduate with distinction in History, students must have a GPA of 3.7 in the major and to receive highest distinction in History, students must have a GPA of 3.8 in the major.