English Honors Program

Eligibility : (1) Upper-class majors (60 credits or more) in any English Emphasis with resident, total, and English GPAs of 3.50 or higher; (2) Transfer students with junior status who enter with a GPA of 3.50 or higher.

Application Procedure : A written application for Departmental Honors shall be submitted to the department chair for approval. The application will be considered by an Honors Committee appointed by the chair. Upon the Committee’s approval, applicants shall be admitted to the program. So long as they continue to meet the eligibility requirements listed above, admitted students will continue as participants in the program.

Requirements : Candidates for Departmental Honors must complete the requirements of an English major program while meeting the following requirements with distinction: (1) Complete two English courses at the 400 level taken as Honors Options courses. An Honors Option course can be any English offering in which a student chooses to do honors work. Prior approval is required both by the instructor and by the department chair. By the end of the second week of classes, the student must file a description of the honors work to be completed during the course. The honors work must include a written project that will be submitted to the instructor and also filed with the department chair. (2) Complete one-three credits of Honors Independent Study in English. (3) Complete an Honors Thesis. This thesis may be part of the course work for the Honors Independent Study, but it is distinct from the English Capstone project. (English Honors candidates who wish to complete a substantial project that would simultaneously satisfy both the Capstone requirement and the Honors Thesis requirement can only do so with advance approval of the department chair, the Honors Independent Study instructor, and the Capstone instructor.) (4) Presentation of Results. Candidates for English Honors will present results of their Honors Thesis work at a public forum in conjunction with the English Festival or a similar appropriate event.