Are you a History B.A. or B.S. student who’s thinking about applying for graduate school? Is there some historical issue you’d like to do a deep dive into? Do you want to learn how professional historians do their scholarly work? Do you want special recognition as an “undergraduate scholar” at graduation? If you answered “yes” to some or all of these, then you should consider creating a History Departmental Honors Thesis!
A departmental honors thesis is a substantial piece of scholarship (usually 40 to 50 pages), grounded in original research and primary sources, and crafted under the mentorship of a faculty advisor. Most honors theses are completed during the fall and spring of a student’s senior year.
To begin the departmental honors process, ask a faculty member who specializes in your area of interest whether they’ll serve as your thesis advisor. With their approval, you can register for HIST 4313 (Departmental Honors Thesis Research). In this one-on-one, independent study you’ll identify your research questions, start familiarizing yourself with relevant scholarship, and formulate a historical argument.
The next semester you’ll register for HIST 4314 (Departmental Honors Thesis Writing) to continue researching and writing the project, again in collaboration with your thesis advisor. You’ll also engage a second faculty reader to provide additional feedback and serve on your thesis defense committee.
Sound challenging? It is! But your completed departmental honors thesis will be the most meaningful piece of work you produce as an undergraduate. It will showcase your research and communication skills, and prove that you are capable of planning and managing a large-scale project. Our students have presented their thesis research at scholarly conferences and published articles in scholarly journals.
To be eligible, students must have a minimum 3.25 overall GPA, and a minimum 3.5 GPA in History courses. Students who complete a departmental honors thesis are excused from taking HIST 4300 (Senior Seminar).