Honors Program

Departmental Honors in Government may be awarded through one of two tracks: the Thesis Track or the Exam Track.  This dual track system is effective beginning with the Class of 2011 and is described in more detail below.

I.  Entry into the Government Department Honors Program

      Early in the spring semester of each year, the Department of Government’s Committee on Honors will identify and nominate approximately 20 students as potential candidates for Departmental Honors.  The nominations will be submitted to the entire Department faculty for amendment and approval.  Determinations will be made based upon an evaluation of student's past academic performance and future potential in the honors program.

Students designated as Honors-eligible will be informed by the Department and invited to apply to write an Honors thesis.  All Honors’-eligible students may apply but this Track will only be open to a limited number of students who submit a compelling research statement and have the support of a faculty mentor. To apply students must submit a prospectus in late March which will be forwarded by the student’s thesis advisor to the Department for its review and approval.

Honors-eligible students who do not apply to write theses and students whose theses proposals are not approved by the Department remain eligible to pursue Departmental Honors via the examination track and will be thus informed.

The schedule for determining eligibility for the various Honors’ Tracks will be made in a timely fashion and in advance of the spring semester pre-registration period.

A second “late” entry into the Exam Track will occur after the fall semester of the senior year. At that time, the Department Chair will identify students, if any, who were not eligible for Honors in the second semester of the junior year.  The “late” entry is designed to accommodate those students whose performance improves significantly during junior year (spring semester) and fall semester of the senior year.  “Late“entrants are restricted, however, to the Exam Track.

     II.   The Thesis Track: 

Students approved for the Thesis Honors Track will be required to enroll in the Capstone Thesis Seminar during spring preregistration for the fall semester.  The seminar will be a “Permission of Instructor” course to accommodate students other than those approved to write Department theses (see below) should space be available.

Before departing for the summer, students will expand on the March prospectus in consultation with the student’s faculty mentor/thesis advisor.  As part of this process, the student and mentor/advisor will develop a summer reading list/research activity schedule.

The Capstone Thesis Seminar will meet on a weekly basis during the fall semester of the senior year. Successful completion of this seminar will require one or two chapters of high quality which at a minimum contain the following:

• An articulation of the central question of the thesis
• A review of the literature that addresses that question
• A research design statement
• An articulation of the theory/argument of the thesis
• A detailed outline of the thesis

Students who fail to meet this minimum requirement, or who otherwise do not perform satisfactorily in the seminar, will no longer be eligible to pursue the Thesis Honors Track.  They would, however, be allowed to pursue the Exam Honors Track.

During the fall semester, the usual function of thesis advising will be divided between the instructor of the Capstone Thesis Seminar and the actual thesis advisor.  During this fall semester, the instructor will work closely with the student to develop the thesis literature review, methodology, and structure.  The thesis advisor will act as a "consultant" during the fall semester meeting as needed to advise the student on these matters (likely 3-4 times in the fall).  In the spring semester, the instructor's role in the thesis would end.  All of the thesis advising duties would revert to the thesis advisor (who would enroll the thesis student in the 410 tutorial). 

On a space available basis (defined as a class size not exceeding 15), non-Government students may, at the discretion of the instructor, be allowed to enroll in the Capstone Thesis Seminar. 

Maximum thesis length will normally be 100 pages (plus the bibliography).

III.    The Exam Track 

Students wishing to take this option should enroll in a directed reading seminar, Capstone Seminar in Political Science, during the spring semester of their senior year.

The Capstone Seminar in Political Science will focus on the exam readings for the general portion of the exam, many of which will overlap with works in the various subfields in which students concentrate.  A list of both general political science readings and more specialized readings in each of the concentrations is available here. The exam will consist of five questions of which the student will be required to answer two.  The page limit is five double-spaced, typed pages for each part (10 pages total on the exam). High Honors, Honors, and no Honors will be granted separately from the grade in the course (i.e., two separate determinations by the reader).  The task of grading will be divided among the Department in a manner to distribute the work load equally among active faculty.

IV. Class Cancellation

If a Capstone Seminar does not have enough students to meet the Academic Affairs minimum requirements for the course to count as a “class” (5 students) that course will be canceled and:

• The thesis track would revert to the traditional process of the student enrolling in G409 in the fall and G410 in the spring, provided that an advisor is available and willing to advise the student.  Failing that, the student remains eligible for the exam track. Maximum thesis length would remain approximately 100 pages.
   
• The exam track would revert to a student-directed preparation effort to read and interpret the material on the reading list.  The exam would take place as planned above.

 The decision to cancel the thesis track seminar will be made at the end of registration in the spring.  The decision to cancel the exam track seminar will be made at the end of registration in the fall.

 V. Review:

The Department will evaluate this new system in its third year, after it has been in operation for two full years

 Please note: Students are strongly urged to discuss their thesis idea with potential faculty thesis advisers before submitting the application.  In addition, some faculty have specific requirements and expectations beyond those specified on the Department web page.

If you are off campus this semester, you may submit your application materials electronically.

Students wishing to receive Honors or High Honors in Government must meet the following requirements:

 

 

1. Students who pursue honors through the thesis track must complete a research and writing project that culminates in a thesis.   The project must involve original, independent work on the part of the student and be judged to be of Honors quality. Students write a thesis under the supervision of a member or members of the Department.  Students ordinarily enroll in the Capstone Thesis Seminar during spring preregistration for the fall semester, and in a thesis tutorial (G410) in the spring semester of the senior year.  Only one credit may be counted toward the major. Writing such a thesis can be a very rewarding intellectual experience provided that the student adequately prepares for a project and plans it well. Students who may wish to write a senior thesis should therefore begin to plan their project during their junior year. A number of faculty members are either unwilling or very reluctant to supervise a senior thesis unless the student who proposes it has completed at least one upper-division course with the prospective adviser, has a well-defined, imaginative, and feasible project, and demonstrates that he or she has acquired substantive knowledge and research skills pertinent to the proposed project. The formulation of an acceptable thesis topic is a more difficult and time-consuming task than it might appear. Students who anticipate writing a thesis may also wish to spend the summer preceding their senior year working in a job that is related in some way to their chosen thesis topic or doing preliminary reading and research. Moreover, students who wish to apply for Davenport Awards for summer research must begin preparing their proposals well in advance of the deadline for application, which is usually before Spring break.

 

2. The evaluation committee for each Honors candidate is composed of:

(a) in the case of Honors, the Tutor and a First Reader. The first Reader is appointed by the Chair, in consultation with the tutor. In the event the Tutor and the First Reader disagree in their assessment of the thesis, the Chair appoints a Second Reader;

(b) in the case of High Honors, the Tutor, the First Reader, and a Second Reader appointed by the Chair.

 

The decision to grant Honors is made by the Chair, acting on behalf of the Department, upon the positive recommendations of the Tutor and the First Reader. In the event of a disagreement between the Tutor and the First Reader, the decision to grant Honors is made by the Chair, acting on behalf of the Department, upon two positive recommendations from among those submitted by the Tutor, the First Reader and the Second Reader. For High Honors, a unanimous recommendation of all three readers is needed.

 

In the event that the Capstone Theses Seminar is canceled, any eligible Senior major wishing to write an Honors Thesis should register for a tutorial, G409, in September,  and a second tutorial, G410, in the spring semester.  Only one tutorial credit (of the two, G409-410, normally awarded) may be counted toward the major. A Government major must choose a Tutor from within the Department. Exceptions to this rule may be granted by the Chair, upon written request from the student and the student's Department adviser. Completed Tutorial forms are signed by the tutor and forwarded to the Chair for his/her signature. It is the student's responsibility to return the Tutorial Form to the Registrar's office. In mid-October students must submit a Statement of Intention signed by the Tutor to the Chair. The Chair gives these statements to the Administrative Assistant, and copies are placed in the Department's Honors file. In this manner, the Department has an opportunity to remind students who are delinquent in meeting deadlines.

 

Each fall Honors Board provides the department with a schedule of deadlines. Through the Thorndike Grant, Honors Board has funds available to provide financial assistance towards typing and binding costs. Thesis writers desiring funds should submit requests to the Coordinator of the Honors program. The Honors Committee distributes the awards after April 15.

 

The Chair, after consulting the tutor, is responsible for designating a Reader (or Readers in the case of disagreements or nominations for High Honors) for the Thesis. Honors Board sends the Chair the Reader's Form and s/he presents it to the Tutor. After a Reader has been assigned, the Reader's Form is returned to the Chair.

 

The Thesis is submitted directly by the student to Honors Board, and the College delivers it to the Department. The Tutor and Reader each receive individual copies. The Tutor and the Reader submit their written evaluations to the Chair. If the Tutor and the Reader agree with respect to Honors or No Honors, the Chair, acting on behalf of the Department, either grants Honors, or does not. If the Tutor and the Reader disagree with respect to Honors, or agree with respect to High Honors, the Chair appoints a second reader. A majority of readers is needed for Honors; a unanimous vote is needed for High Honors. Theses are returned to the Department and arrangements are made by the Department to return them to Honors Board. [Please note that the comments and grade are not included in the Thesis packet--they are given directly to the Chair.] The Administrative Assistant logs-in the recommendation and retains a copy of the comments. Evaluations are kept in the Department. In the case of a discrepancy, a third reader is selected.

 

When all evaluations and grades have been received by the Department and discrepancies settled, a written statement by the Chair is submitted to Honors Board. It only states whether the student received High Honors, Honors or No Honors. The tutorial grades and evaluations are not included. The evaluations are made available to the student by the Department or the Tutor. The Department retains a copy of each evaluation and award for the files.