Research - The Honors Thesis

"These lessons that I have learned are a whole lot deeper and more meaningful to life than I ever thought I would gain from working on a research paper.  But I have found that this thesis is much more than a research paper, because when you put your effort and heart into a project combined with others, it takes on so much more significance."
~ Laura Tillistrand, Class of 2007 

Hear what other graduates said about their Honors thesis.

What is an Honors Thesis?

The senior Honors thesis is a capstone project, the culmination of four years of learning, and it is done with the close mentoring of a faculty member. Theses vary considerably depending on one's major and interests, as can be seen in the class of 2007 thesis topics, class of 2008 thesis topics and class of 2009 thesis topics.

Students work with both the Honors Program and their major department as they prepare for the project. The Honors Program holds a mandatory meeting for second-year students to make sure they understand what is expected and can plan accordingly. During the third year, there are required workshops to help students find appropriate topics and mentors and develop an impressive thesis proposal that is approved by the Honors Advisory Committee.

Overall requirements are set by the Honors Program, but individual departments provide guidance for what a thesis should be like and how it counts toward major requirements. Documents describing their expectations as well as those describing the thesis guidelines, requirements, and timeline are available as printer-friendly Word documents. Other documents related to the thesis process are available in the right-hand column.

Fall 2008 - Important Dates

Workshops

• New Faculty Mentor Workshop
  F or faculty members new to Honors thesis mentoring
  Planning Week; Wed. August 27th 10:30 to 12:00; McEwen 210
• Student Workshop Thesis 1 (for 2nd-year Fellows and any 3rd-year Fellows who have not had the workshop) - Overview of the Honors Thesis Project/Process and Finding a Mentor
  Friday, Sept. 5 at 3:00 to 5; McEwen 011
• S tudent Workshop Thesis 2 (for 3rd-year Fellows planning to submit a thesis this fall) - Developing a Good Thesis Proposal
  Friday, Sept. 12; 3:00-4:30; Alamance 218

Other Important Dates

• Semester Contracts due for all students enrolled in HNR 498 - Monday, Sept. 15 at 4:00 (Alamance 216)
• Student Mid-semester reports due - Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 4:00 pm (Alamance 216)
• Thesis-in-Progress Presentations; 3 to 5 pm Friday Oct. 24, Rooms TBA
• Thesis Proposals due (for 3rd-year Fellows who are registered for Hnr 498) - Monday, Oct. 27 at 9:00 a.m. (paper copy to Alamance 216, electronic version to Blackboard)
• Revised Thesis proposals due - Tuesday, Dec. 2nd at 9 am (Alamance 216)
• Student End of semester reports due - Wednesday, Dec. 10 at noon (Alamance 216) (Faculty reports due December 18)

Other research, funding, and presentation opportunities