What is The Honors Summer Fellowship?

The LSA Honors Program is soliciting application for as many as 25 positions in the 2013 interdisciplinary Honors Summer Fellows program.  Participation in HSF program is intended to support students in the academic work necessary for their summer theses, to provide them with exposure to a wide range of scholarship conducted within LSA, and to free the time needed for thesis work by providing financial support when necessary.

Program Description

Honors Summer Fellows will be brought together in an interdisciplinary cohort for ten weeks in Ann Arbor during the summer of 2013, from June 3 to August 9. Fellows will spend most of this time engaged in full-time pursuit of their thesis project. In addition, all Fellows will meet together for two hours each week with Honors Director Tim McKay. These sessions will be dedicated to regular reports from Fellows on their progress, discussions on the evolving nature of scholarly work, presentations from distinguished UM faculty panels about their research and academic lives, practical training in scholarly writing, academic presentations, and public outreach, and tours of labs and research collections. Fellows will be expected to play an active role in designing these sessions, and to participate electronically even if off campus for short periods.


The Fellows program provides a unique opportunity for a group of upper class students to gather from across all three divisions of LSA: the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Participants learn from one another about the nature of research across this whole range, comparing the modes of work, nature of valid evidence, styles of presentation, and special challenges. It is an unusual opportunity to reclaim the interdisciplinary interactions which play such an important role in a genuine liberal arts education at a time in your studies when many influences push you to specialize.


In addition to the intellectual and moral support provided by the cohort of Fellows, financial support is available to enable students to remain in Ann Arbor and dedicate substantial time to their thesis projects. Students seeking financial support will receive a summer grant of $4000 for the ten week program. This can be supplemented by half-time support from other sources. Fellows may also apply for additional support for research expenses, to attend academic conferences, travel to archives or research sites, or pay publication costs. Some Fellows will already be fully supported by departmental or lab research grants. Such students are encouraged to apply to the Fellows program as non-stipendiary fellows so that they may take advantage of the many benefits provided by participation in this interdisciplinary cohort. 

All Fellows will be expected to work full-time (40 hours per week) on their thesis projects through the term of the fellowship.