Honors Concentration Requirement

Prerequisites

  1. 3.5 GPA in History of Art courses
  2. Overall GPA of 3.4
  3. Successful completion of HA 393 (there are exceptions to this rule; see below)

Because the junior proseminar, HA 393, provides students with research skills necessary for successful completion of an honors project, honors concentration students are generally expected to take this course. For this reason students who wish to study overseas are encouraged to schedule their study-abroad so it does not conflict with taking a junior proseminar. At the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, students whose schedules prevent them from taking HA 393 may be admitted to the program if they are judged ready to conduct advanced level research. 
 
Acceptance into the Honors Program
 
Step one: The backbone of the Honors Program is a cooperative, scholarly relationship between a student and a faculty advisor. Therefore the first and most important step in being accepted into the program is to identify a research topic and convince a faculty member of its worth. Once the student has identified a topic, and has conducted sufficient initial research, s/he may get an application form from the departmental web site under "HA Forms." Normally this should occur sometime before March of the junior year.  However, initial research may be pursued during the summer and step two may take place very early in the fall.
 
Step two: The application form should be submitted to the potential faculty advisor along with a two- to four-page, double-spaced project proposal along with a separate bibliography. If the faculty advisor accepts the project, the student will submit the application form and proposal, with revisions if necessary, to student services. Normally this should occur by April 15 of the junior year, however, the final deadline is the second Friday of the fall term in the senior year. 
 
Step three: Applications and proposals will be reviewed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Students accepted into the program will be issued an override to enroll in HA 498 in the fall term. 
 
The Thesis
 
Honors concentrators register for a two-semester sequence of three-credit-hour courses:
HA 498, the "Honors Colloquium" (fall semester); and HA 499, the "Senior Thesis" (winter semester).  HA 498 must be completed with a grade of A- or better in order to enroll in HA 499.
 
Over the course of these two semesters, senior thesis students will:

  • Meet weekly with their faculty advisors
  • Meet as a group regularly during the semester with all other thesis-writers and the Director of Undergraduate Studies
  • Present a twenty-minute oral report on the state of their research at the Honors Colloquium (held the end of the fall semester, typically the first week of December). The Colloquium is generally attended by all Honors concentrators as well as interested History of Art faculty, students and parents. Following the Honors Colloquium, the Director of Undergraduate Studies will confer with the Honors advisors. At this time Honors concentrators, with the help of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, will seek a second reader for the project.
  • Present the final draft of their thesis to their advisor and second reader for evaluation at the end of winter semester. The final draft should be submitted to both readers by April 1st and should be ready for final submission to Student Services before April 15th. The thesis grade determines whether a student will graduate with "Honors," "High Honors," or "Highest Honors" and is also the grade for HA 499.

Ideal Timeline
 
Junior Year:  Student enrolls in HA 393.
Prior to March 31:  Student seeks a faculty advisor.
Prior to April 15:  Faculty advisor & student submit proposal to Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Senior Year, second Friday of Fall term: Final deadline for submission of proposals to Director of Undergraduate Studies.
First week of December: Student presentations at the Honors Colloquium.
Prior to the 3rd Friday of December: Students, with the aid of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, identify a second reader and turn in the form with reader’s signature to Student Services.
January:  Student enrolls in HA 499
April 1:  Student submits a final draft @ 40-45 pages to both readers
April 15: Student submits a copy of thesis to Student Services
Student services records Honors credit.