Senior Thesis

In the final year of undergraduate study, Honors Program students complete a thesis. The thesis is a serious project, representing a valuable opportunity for UHP students to work closely with senior faculty. To begin the thesis, students must take the Thesis Seminar offered through the Honors Program each fall and spring terms. After passing the Thesis Seminar students write the thesis over one to two terms and give a short presentation upon completion.

The large majority of students not only complete the thesis project with excellence but also find it a powerfully useful tool for integrating the work done in their departmental major with the preparatory work done throughout the honors curriculum. They also find it a valuable component of an application portfolio to graduate or professional school as well as a signal opportunity to stabilize and to communicate a serious and thoughtful intellectual vision.

Thesis Seminar

The first part of the thesis is the 2 credit Thesis Seminar (HON 407), which may be taken in the spring term of your junior year or the fall term of your senior year. During the Thesis Seminar you will find a thesis adviser and compose a prospectus.

The prospectus should be an indication that you are already aware of the main contours of your thesis project, and it is not to be written as pure speculation. Instead, it should reflect substantial consideration and reflection already undertaken. In addition to the cogent statement of plan presented in the essay portion of the prospectus, you will also provide a bibliography indicating your awareness of other resources appropriate to your project. This bibliography should represent an informed awareness of materials pertinent to each of the main terms and to the refinements of your argument—keeping always in mind, of course, that a thesis has an argument and is never simply a report. This prospectus will be due in the eighth week of the quarter during which you are registered for the thesis seminar (HON 407). Separate copies must be submitted to the following parties:

• the thesis adviser
• the department adviser responsible for honors college students
• the instructor of the Thesis Seminar. This copy must include a signed Thesis Prospectus Approval Form.

Thesis

Once you have submitted the thesis prospectus with approval form to the Thesis Seminar instructor, you may register for the thesis itself (in the Honors Program office). You receive 6 credits for the thesis, which may be distributed as you wish (that is, three credit hours over two quarters or six credit hours in one quarter). The thesis is due in the 8th week of the final quarter of work on the project and must include a Thesis Acceptance Form signed by the thesis adviser and the honors departmental adviser.

Thesis Presentation

The last part of the thesis is a 20 minute presentation you will give in front of a faculty committee (comprised of the director of the Honors Program, your thesis adviser, and third faculty member, preferably from your major department). Faculty and students in the Honors Program and your guests are encouraged to attend.