degree honors thesis

Honors Theses

What this handout is about.

Writing a senior honors thesis, or any major research essay, can seem daunting at first. A thesis requires a reflective, multi-stage writing process. This handout will walk you through those stages. It is targeted at students in the humanities and social sciences, since their theses tend to involve more writing than projects in the hard sciences. Yet all thesis writers may find the organizational strategies helpful.

Introduction

What is an honors thesis.

That depends quite a bit on your field of study. However, all honors theses have at least two things in common:

• They are based on students’ original research.
• They take the form of a written manuscript, which presents the findings of that research. In the humanities, theses average 50-75 pages in length and consist of two or more chapters. In the social sciences, the manuscript may be shorter, depending on whether the project involves more quantitative than qualitative research. In the hard sciences, the manuscript may be shorter still, often taking the form of a sophisticated laboratory report.

Who can write an honors thesis?

In general, students who are at the end of their junior year, have an overall 3.2 GPA, and meet their departmental requirements can write a senior thesis. For information about your eligibility, contact:

• UNC Honors Program
• Your departmental administrators of undergraduate studies/honors

Why write an honors thesis?

Satisfy your intellectual curiosity This is the most compelling reason to write a thesis. Whether it’s the short stories of Flannery O’Connor or the challenges of urban poverty, you’ve studied topics in college that really piqued your interest. Now’s your chance to follow your passions, explore further, and contribute some original ideas and research in your field.

Develop transferable skills Whether you choose to stay in your field of study or not, the process of developing and crafting a feasible research project will hone skills that will serve you well in almost any future job. After all, most jobs require some form of problem solving and oral and written communication. Writing an honors thesis requires that you:

• ask smart questions
• acquire the investigative instincts needed to find answers
• navigate libraries, laboratories, archives, databases, and other research venues
• develop the flexibility to redirect your research if your initial plan flops
• master the art of time management
• hone your argumentation skills
• organize a lengthy piece of writing
• polish your oral communication skills by presenting and defending your project to faculty and peers

Work closely with faculty mentors At large research universities like Carolina, you’ve likely taken classes where you barely got to know your instructor. Writing a thesis offers the opportunity to work one-on-one with a with faculty adviser. Such mentors can enrich your intellectual development and later serve as invaluable references for graduate school and employment.

Open windows into future professions An honors thesis will give you a taste of what it’s like to do research in your field. Even if you’re a sociology major, you may not really know what it’s like to be a sociologist. Writing a sociology thesis would open a window into that world. It also might help you decide whether to pursue that field in graduate school or in your future career.

How do you write an honors thesis?

Get an idea of what’s expected.

It’s a good idea to review some of the honors theses other students have submitted to get a sense of what an honors thesis might look like and what kinds of things might be appropriate topics. Look for examples from the previous year in the Carolina Digital Repository. You may also be able to find past theses collected in your major department or at the North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library. Pay special attention to theses written by students who share your major.

Choose a topic

Ideally, you should start thinking about topics early in your junior year, so you can begin your research and writing quickly during your senior year. (Many departments require that you submit a proposal for an honors thesis project during the spring of your junior year.)

How should you choose a topic?

• Read widely in the fields that interest you. Make a habit of browsing professional journals to survey the “hot” areas of research and to familiarize yourself with your field’s stylistic conventions. (You’ll find the most recent issues of the major professional journals in the periodicals reading room on the first floor of Davis Library).
• Set up appointments to talk with faculty in your field. This is a good idea, since you’ll eventually need to select an advisor and a second reader. Faculty also can help you start narrowing down potential topics.
• Look at honors theses from the past. The North Carolina Collection in Wilson Library holds UNC honors theses. To get a sense of the typical scope of a thesis, take a look at a sampling from your field.

What makes a good topic?

• It’s fascinating. Above all, choose something that grips your imagination. If you don’t, the chances are good that you’ll struggle to finish.
• It’s doable. Even if a topic interests you, it won’t work out unless you have access to the materials you need to research it. Also be sure that your topic is narrow enough. Let’s take an example: Say you’re interested in the efforts to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and early 1980s. That’s a big topic that probably can’t be adequately covered in a single thesis. You need to find a case study within that larger topic. For example, maybe you’re particularly interested in the states that did not ratify the ERA. Of those states, perhaps you’ll select North Carolina, since you’ll have ready access to local research materials. And maybe you want to focus primarily on the ERA’s opponents. Beyond that, maybe you’re particularly interested in female opponents of the ERA. Now you’ve got a much more manageable topic: Women in North Carolina Who Opposed the ERA in the 1970s and 1980s.
• It contains a question. There’s a big difference between having a topic and having a guiding research question. Taking the above topic, perhaps your main question is: Why did some women in North Carolina oppose the ERA? You will, of course, generate other questions: Who were the most outspoken opponents? White women? Middle-class women? How did they oppose the ERA? Public protests? Legislative petitions? etc. etc. Yet it’s good to start with a guiding question that will focus your research.

Goal-setting and time management

The senior year is an exceptionally busy time for college students. In addition to the usual load of courses and jobs, seniors have the daunting task of applying for jobs and/or graduate school. These demands are angst producing and time consuming If that scenario sounds familiar, don’t panic! Do start strategizing about how to make a time for your thesis. You may need to take a lighter course load or eliminate extracurricular activities. Even if the thesis is the only thing on your plate, you still need to make a systematic schedule for yourself. Most departments require that you take a class that guides you through the honors project, so deadlines likely will be set for you. Still, you should set your own goals for meeting those deadlines. Here are a few suggestions for goal setting and time management:

Start early. Keep in mind that many departments will require that you turn in your thesis sometime in early April, so don’t count on having the entire spring semester to finish your work. Ideally, you’ll start the research process the semester or summer before your senior year so that the writing process can begin early in the fall. Some goal-setting will be done for you if you are taking a required class that guides you through the honors project. But any substantive research project requires a clear timetable.

Set clear goals in making a timetable. Find out the final deadline for turning in your project to your department. Working backwards from that deadline, figure out how much time you can allow for the various stages of production.

Here is a sample timetable. Use it, however, with two caveats in mind:

• The timetable for your thesis might look very different depending on your departmental requirements.
• You may not wish to proceed through these stages in a linear fashion. You may want to revise chapter one before you write chapter two. Or you might want to write your introduction last, not first. This sample is designed simply to help you start thinking about how to customize your own schedule.

Sample timetable

Avoid falling into the trap of procrastination. Once you’ve set goals for yourself, stick to them! For some tips on how to do this, see our handout on procrastination .

Consistent production

It’s a good idea to try to squeeze in a bit of thesis work every day—even if it’s just fifteen minutes of journaling or brainstorming about your topic. Or maybe you’ll spend that fifteen minutes taking notes on a book. The important thing is to accomplish a bit of active production (i.e., putting words on paper) for your thesis every day. That way, you develop good writing habits that will help you keep your project moving forward.

Make yourself accountable to someone other than yourself

Since most of you will be taking a required thesis seminar, you will have deadlines. Yet you might want to form a writing group or enlist a peer reader, some person or people who can help you stick to your goals. Moreover, if your advisor encourages you to work mostly independently, don’t be afraid to ask them to set up periodic meetings at which you’ll turn in installments of your project.

Brainstorming and freewriting

One of the biggest challenges of a lengthy writing project is keeping the creative juices flowing. Here’s where freewriting can help. Try keeping a small notebook handy where you jot down stray ideas that pop into your head. Or schedule time to freewrite. You may find that such exercises “free” you up to articulate your argument and generate new ideas. Here are some questions to stimulate freewriting.

Questions for basic brainstorming at the beginning of your project:

• What do I already know about this topic?
• Why do I care about this topic?
• Why is this topic important to people other than myself
• What more do I want to learn about this topic?
• What is the main question that I am trying to answer?
• Where can I look for additional information?
• Who is my audience and how can I reach them?
• How will my work inform my larger field of study?
• What’s the main goal of my research project?

Questions for reflection throughout your project:

• What’s my main argument? How has it changed since I began the project?
• What’s the most important evidence that I have in support of my “big point”?
• What questions do my sources not answer?
• How does my case study inform or challenge my field writ large?
• Does my project reinforce or contradict noted scholars in my field? How?
• What is the most surprising finding of my research?
• What is the most frustrating part of this project?
• What is the most rewarding part of this project?
• What will be my work’s most important contribution?

Research and note-taking

In conducting research, you will need to find both primary sources (“firsthand” sources that come directly from the period/events/people you are studying) and secondary sources (“secondhand” sources that are filtered through the interpretations of experts in your field.) The nature of your research will vary tremendously, depending on what field you’re in. For some general suggestions on finding sources, consult the UNC Libraries tutorials . Whatever the exact nature of the research you’re conducting, you’ll be taking lots of notes and should reflect critically on how you do that. Too often it’s assumed that the research phase of a project involves very little substantive writing (i.e., writing that involves thinking). We sit down with our research materials and plunder them for basic facts and useful quotations. That mechanical type of information-recording is important. But a more thoughtful type of writing and analytical thinking is also essential at this stage. Some general guidelines for note-taking:

First of all, develop a research system. There are lots of ways to take and organize your notes. Whether you choose to use note cards, computer databases, or notebooks, follow two cardinal rules:

• Make careful distinctions between direct quotations and your paraphrasing! This is critical if you want to be sure to avoid accidentally plagiarizing someone else’s work. For more on this, see our handout on plagiarism .
• Record full citations for each source. Don’t get lazy here! It will be far more difficult to find the proper citation later than to write it down now.

Keeping those rules in mind, here’s a template for the types of information that your note cards/legal pad sheets/computer files should include for each of your sources:

Abbreviated subject heading: Include two or three words to remind you of what this sources is about (this shorthand categorization is essential for the later sorting of your sources).

Complete bibliographic citation:

• author, title, publisher, copyright date, and page numbers for published works
• box and folder numbers and document descriptions for archival sources
• complete web page title, author, address, and date accessed for online sources

Notes on facts, quotations, and arguments: Depending on the type of source you’re using, the content of your notes will vary. If, for example, you’re using US Census data, then you’ll mainly be writing down statistics and numbers. If you’re looking at someone else’s diary, you might jot down a number of quotations that illustrate the subject’s feelings and perspectives. If you’re looking at a secondary source, you’ll want to make note not just of factual information provided by the author but also of their key arguments.

Your interpretation of the source: This is the most important part of note-taking. Don’t just record facts. Go ahead and take a stab at interpreting them. As historians Jacques Barzun and Henry F. Graff insist, “A note is a thought.” So what do these thoughts entail? Ask yourself questions about the context and significance of each source.

Interpreting the context of a source:

• Who wrote/created the source?
• When, and under what circumstances, was it written/created?
• Why was it written/created? What was the agenda behind the source?
• How was it written/created?
• If using a secondary source: How does it speak to other scholarship in the field?

Interpreting the significance of a source:

• How does this source answer (or complicate) my guiding research questions?
• Does it pose new questions for my project? What are they?
• Does it challenge my fundamental argument? If so, how?
• Given the source’s context, how reliable is it?

You don’t need to answer all of these questions for each source, but you should set a goal of engaging in at least one or two sentences of thoughtful, interpretative writing for each source. If you do so, you’ll make much easier the next task that awaits you: drafting.

The dread of drafting

Why do we often dread drafting? We dread drafting because it requires synthesis, one of the more difficult forms of thinking and interpretation. If you’ve been free-writing and taking thoughtful notes during the research phase of your project, then the drafting should be far less painful. Here are some tips on how to get started:

Sort your “evidence” or research into analytical categories:

• Some people file note cards into categories.
• The technologically-oriented among us take notes using computer database programs that have built-in sorting mechanisms.
• Others cut and paste evidence into detailed outlines on their computer.
• Still others stack books, notes, and photocopies into topically-arranged piles.There is not a single right way, but this step—in some form or fashion—is essential!

If you’ve been forcing yourself to put subject headings on your notes as you go along, you’ll have generated a number of important analytical categories. Now, you need to refine those categories and sort your evidence. Everyone has a different “sorting style.”

Formulate working arguments for your entire thesis and individual chapters. Once you’ve sorted your evidence, you need to spend some time thinking about your project’s “big picture.” You need to be able to answer two questions in specific terms:

• What is the overall argument of my thesis?
• What are the sub-arguments of each chapter and how do they relate to my main argument?

Keep in mind that “working arguments” may change after you start writing. But a senior thesis is big and potentially unwieldy. If you leave this business of argument to chance, you may end up with a tangle of ideas. See our handout on arguments and handout on thesis statements for some general advice on formulating arguments.

Divide your thesis into manageable chunks. The surest road to frustration at this stage is getting obsessed with the big picture. What? Didn’t we just say that you needed to focus on the big picture? Yes, by all means, yes. You do need to focus on the big picture in order to get a conceptual handle on your project, but you also need to break your thesis down into manageable chunks of writing. For example, take a small stack of note cards and flesh them out on paper. Or write through one point on a chapter outline. Those small bits of prose will add up quickly.

Just start! Even if it’s not at the beginning. Are you having trouble writing those first few pages of your chapter? Sometimes the introduction is the toughest place to start. You should have a rough idea of your overall argument before you begin writing one of the main chapters, but you might find it easier to start writing in the middle of a chapter of somewhere other than word one. Grab hold where you evidence is strongest and your ideas are clearest.

Keep up the momentum! Assuming the first draft won’t be your last draft, try to get your thoughts on paper without spending too much time fussing over minor stylistic concerns. At the drafting stage, it’s all about getting those ideas on paper. Once that task is done, you can turn your attention to revising.

Peter Elbow, in Writing With Power, suggests that writing is difficult because it requires two conflicting tasks: creating and criticizing. While these two tasks are intimately intertwined, the drafting stage focuses on creating, while revising requires criticizing. If you leave your revising to the last minute, then you’ve left out a crucial stage of the writing process. See our handout for some general tips on revising . The challenges of revising an honors thesis may include:

Juggling feedback from multiple readers

A senior thesis may mark the first time that you have had to juggle feedback from a wide range of readers:

• your adviser
• a second (and sometimes third) faculty reader
• the professor and students in your honors thesis seminar

You may feel overwhelmed by the prospect of incorporating all this advice. Keep in mind that some advice is better than others. You will probably want to take most seriously the advice of your adviser since they carry the most weight in giving your project a stamp of approval. But sometimes your adviser may give you more advice than you can digest. If so, don’t be afraid to approach them—in a polite and cooperative spirit, of course—and ask for some help in prioritizing that advice. See our handout for some tips on getting and receiving feedback .

Refining your argument

It’s especially easy in writing a lengthy work to lose sight of your main ideas. So spend some time after you’ve drafted to go back and clarify your overall argument and the individual chapter arguments and make sure they match the evidence you present.

Organizing and reorganizing

Again, in writing a 50-75 page thesis, things can get jumbled. You may find it particularly helpful to make a “reverse outline” of each of your chapters. That will help you to see the big sections in your work and move things around so there’s a logical flow of ideas. See our handout on  organization  for more organizational suggestions and tips on making a reverse outline

Plugging in holes in your evidence

It’s unlikely that you anticipated everything you needed to look up before you drafted your thesis. Save some time at the revising stage to plug in the holes in your research. Make sure that you have both primary and secondary evidence to support and contextualize your main ideas.

Saving time for the small stuff

Even though your argument, evidence, and organization are most important, leave plenty of time to polish your prose. At this point, you’ve spent a very long time on your thesis. Don’t let minor blemishes (misspellings and incorrect grammar) distract your readers!

Formatting and final touches

You’re almost done! You’ve researched, drafted, and revised your thesis; now you need to take care of those pesky little formatting matters. An honors thesis should replicate—on a smaller scale—the appearance of a dissertation or master’s thesis. So, you need to include the “trappings” of a formal piece of academic work. For specific questions on formatting matters, check with your department to see if it has a style guide that you should use. For general formatting guidelines, consult the Graduate School’s Guide to Dissertations and Theses . Keeping in mind the caveat that you should always check with your department first about its stylistic guidelines, here’s a brief overview of the final “finishing touches” that you’ll need to put on your honors thesis:

• Honors Thesis
• Name of Department
• University of North Carolina
• These parts of the thesis will vary in format depending on whether your discipline uses MLA, APA, CBE, or Chicago (also known in its shortened version as Turabian) style. Whichever style you’re using, stick to the rules and be consistent. It might be helpful to buy an appropriate style guide. Or consult the UNC LibrariesYear Citations/footnotes and works cited/reference pages  citation tutorial
• In addition, in the bottom left corner, you need to leave space for your adviser and faculty readers to sign their names. For example:

Approved by: _____________________

Adviser: Prof. Jane Doe

• This is not a required component of an honors thesis. However, if you want to thank particular librarians, archivists, interviewees, and advisers, here’s the place to do it. You should include an acknowledgments page if you received a grant from the university or an outside agency that supported your research. It’s a good idea to acknowledge folks who helped you with a major project, but do not feel the need to go overboard with copious and flowery expressions of gratitude. You can—and should—always write additional thank-you notes to people who gave you assistance.
• Formatted much like the table of contents.
• You’ll need to save this until the end, because it needs to reflect your final pagination. Once you’ve made all changes to the body of the thesis, then type up your table of contents with the titles of each section aligned on the left and the page numbers on which those sections begin flush right.
• Each page of your thesis needs a number, although not all page numbers are displayed. All pages that precede the first page of the main text (i.e., your introduction or chapter one) are numbered with small roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.). All pages thereafter use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.).
• Your text should be double spaced (except, in some cases, long excerpts of quoted material), in a 12 point font and a standard font style (e.g., Times New Roman). An honors thesis isn’t the place to experiment with funky fonts—they won’t enhance your work, they’ll only distract your readers.
• In general, leave a one-inch inch margin on all sides. However, for the copy of your thesis that will be bound by the library, you need to leave a 1.25-inch margin on the left.

How do I defend my honors thesis?

Graciously, enthusiastically, and confidently. The term defense is scary and misleading—it conjures up images of a military exercise or an athletic maneuver. An academic defense ideally shouldn’t be a combative scene but a congenial conversation about the work’s merits and weaknesses. That said, the defense probably won’t be like the average conversation that you have with your friends. You’ll be the center of attention. And you may get some challenging questions. Thus, it’s a good idea to spend some time preparing yourself. First of all, you’ll want to prepare 5-10 minutes of opening comments. Here’s a good time to preempt some criticisms by frankly acknowledging what you think your work’s greatest strengths and weaknesses are. Then you may be asked some typical questions:

• What is the main argument of your thesis?
• How does it fit in with the work of Ms. Famous Scholar?
• Have you read the work of Mr. Important Author?

NOTE: Don’t get too flustered if you haven’t! Most scholars have their favorite authors and books and may bring one or more of them up, even if the person or book is only tangentially related to the topic at hand. Should you get this question, answer honestly and simply jot down the title or the author’s name for future reference. No one expects you to have read everything that’s out there.

• Why did you choose this particular case study to explore your topic?
• If you were to expand this project in graduate school, how would you do so?

Should you get some biting criticism of your work, try not to get defensive. Yes, this is a defense, but you’ll probably only fan the flames if you lose your cool. Keep in mind that all academic work has flaws or weaknesses, and you can be sure that your professors have received criticisms of their own work. It’s part of the academic enterprise. Accept criticism graciously and learn from it. If you receive criticism that is unfair, stand up for yourself confidently, but in a good spirit. Above all, try to have fun! A defense is a rare opportunity to have eminent scholars in your field focus on YOU and your ideas and work. And the defense marks the end of a long and arduous journey. You have every right to be proud of your accomplishments!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Atchity, Kenneth. 1986. A Writer’s Time: A Guide to the Creative Process from Vision Through Revision . New York: W.W. Norton.

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. 2012. The Modern Researcher , 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Elbow, Peter. 1998. Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process . New York: Oxford University Press.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. 2014. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing , 3rd ed. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.

Lamott, Anne. 1994. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life . New York: Pantheon.

Lasch, Christopher. 2002. Plain Style: A Guide to Written English. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Turabian, Kate. 2018. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, Dissertations , 9th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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All Honors Students end their program with an Honors Thesis: a sustained, independent research project in a student’s field of study. Your thesis must count for at least 4 credits (some majors require that the thesis be completed over 2 semesters, and some require more than 4 credits). The thesis is an opportunity to work on unique research under the guidance of a faculty advisor. It often provides a writing sample for graduate school, and is also something you can share with employers to show what kind of work you can do. 

What is an Honors thesis?

Most of your work in college involves learning information and ideas generated by other people. When you write a thesis, you are engaging with previous work, but also adding new knowledge to your field. That means you have to know what's already been done--what counts as established knowledge; what's the current state of research; what methods and kinds of evidence are acceptable; what debates are going on. (Usually, you'll recount that knowledge in a review of the literature.) Then, you need to form a research question that you can answer given your available skills, resources, and time  (so, not "What is love?" but "How are ideas about love different between college freshmen and seniors?"). With your advisor, you'll plan the method you will use to answer it, which might involve lab work, field work, surveys, interviews, secondary research, textual analysis, or something else--it will depend upon your question and your field. Once your research is carried out, you'll write a substantial paper (usually 20-50 pages) according to the standards of your field.

What do theses look like?

The exact structure will vary by discipline, and your thesis advisor should provide you with an outline. As a rough guideline, we would expect to see something like the following:

1. Introduction 2. Review of the literature 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Analysis 6. Conclusion 7. Bibliography or works cited

In 2012 we began digitally archiving Honors theses. Students are encouraged to peruse the Honors Thesis Repository to see what past students' work has looked like. Use the link below and type your major in the search field on the left to find relevant examples. Older Honors theses are available in the Special Collections & Archives department at Dimond Library. 

Browse Previous Theses

Will my thesis count as my capstone?

Most majors accept an Honors Thesis as fulfilling the Capstone requirement. However, there are exceptions. In some majors, the thesis counts as a major elective, and in a few, it is an elective that does not fulfill major requirements. Your major advisor and your Honors advisor can help you figure out how your thesis will count. Please note that while in many majors the thesis counts as the capstone, the converse does not necessarily apply. There are many capstone experiences that do not take the form of an Honors thesis. 

Can I do a poster and presentation for my thesis?

No. While you do need to present your thesis (see below), a poster and presentation are not a thesis. 

How do I choose my thesis advisor?

The best thesis advisor is an experienced researcher, familiar with disciplinary standards for research and writing, with expertise in your area of interest. You might connect with a thesis advisor during Honors-in-Major coursework, but Honors Liaisons  can assist students who are having trouble identifying an advisor. You should approach and confirm your thesis advisor before the semester in which your research will begin.

What if I need funds for my research?

The  Hamel Center for Undergraduate Research  offers research grants, including summer support. During the academic year, students registered in credit-bearing thesis courses may apply for an  Undergraduate Research Award for up to $600 in research expenses (no stipend).  Students who are not otherwise registered in a credit-bearing course for their thesis research may enroll in INCO 790: Advanced Research Experience, which offers up to $200 for research expenses.

What if I need research materials for a lengthy period?

No problem! Honors Students can access Extended Time borrowing privileges at Dimond Library, which are otherwise reserved for faculty and graduate students. Email [email protected] with note requesting “extended borrowing privileges” and we'll work with the Library to extend your privileges.

Can I get support to stay on track?

Absolutely! Thesis-writers have an opportunity to join a support group during the challenging and sometimes isolating period of writing a thesis. Learn more about thesis support here .

When should I complete my thesis?

Register for a Senior Honors Thesis course (often numbered 799) in the spring and/or fall of your Senior year.

This “course” is an independent study, overseen by your Thesis Advisor. Your advisor sets the standards, due dates, and grades for your project. It must earn at least a B in order to qualify for Honors.

What happens with my completed thesis?

Present your thesis.

All students must publicly present their research prior to graduation. Many present at the  Undergraduate Research Conference  in April; other departmentally-approved public events are also acceptable.

Publish your thesis:

Honors students are asked to make their thesis papers available on  scholars.unh.edu/honors/ . This creates a resource for future students and other researchers, and also helps students professionalize their online personas.

These theses are publicly available online. If a student or their advisor prefers not to make the work available, they may upload an abstract and/or excerpts from the work instead.

Students may also publish research in  Inquiry , UNH's undergraduate research journal.

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Honors Thesis Guide

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• Style and Formatting
• Submit Your Thesis
• Submit to the Digital Conservancy
• Honors Advising
• Honors Reporting Center
• Get Involved
• University Honors Student Association
• UHSA Executive Board
• Honors Multicultural Network
• Honors Mentor Program
• Honors Community & Housing
• Freshman Invitation
• Post-Freshman Admission
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Faculty Fellows
• Faculty Resources
• Honors Faculty Representatives
• Internal Honors Scholarships
• Office for National and International Scholarships
• Letters of Recommendation
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• Scholarship Information
• Honors Lecture Series
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• Make a Donation
• UHP Land Acknowledgment
• UHP Policies

An honors thesis is required of all students graduating with any level of Latin honors. It is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates to define and investigate a topic in depth, and to complete an extended written reflection of their results & understanding. The work leading to the thesis is excellent preparation for graduate & professional school or the workplace.

• Sample timeline
• Requirements and evaluation criteria
• Supervision and approval
• Style and formatting
• Submitting your thesis
• Submitting to the Digital Conservancy

Thesis Database

The thesis database is a searchable collection of over 6,000 theses, with direct access to more than 4,000 full-text theses in PDF format. The database—fully searchable by discipline, keyword, level of Latin Honors, and more—is available for student use in the UHP Office, 8am–4:30pm, Monday–Friday.

Thesis Forms & Documents

• Thesis Title Page template
• Thesis work is reported using the "Thesis Proposal" and "Thesis Completion"  WorkflowGen processes found in the Honors Reporting Center.
• Summer Research Opportunities
• Global Seminars and LAC Seminars
• Honors Research in London - Summer 2024

Getting started

Preparing for the honors thesis

What is the honors thesis?

The honors thesis is the culmination of Barrett students’ honors experience and their entire undergraduate education.

The honors thesis is an original piece of work developed by a student under the guidance of a thesis committee. It is an opportunity for students to work closely with faculty on important research questions and creative ideas. The honors thesis can have either a research or creative focus, and enables students to design, execute and present an intellectually rigorous project in their chosen field of study.

The first step in the honors thesis process is the completion of a thesis preparation workshop.

These workshops are places for you to brainstorm topics, learn about the honors thesis process, gain feedback on your ideas, ask questions, and create a to-do list for your honors thesis. Completion of a thesis preparation workshop is required before enrolling in thesis credits, and we encourage you to participate in a workshop by the first semester of your junior year.

There are two options for completing a thesis preparation workshop.

Enroll in the online self-paced workshop

Or, sign up to attend a live workshop offered in the fall or spring semester:

Mon, Feb 5th 10:30 - 11:30am  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP

Wed, Feb 7th 10:00am - 11:00am  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP 

Thu, Feb 8th 2:30pm - 3:30pm  Athena Conference Room UCB 201 (West Valley campus)  RSVP

Fri, Feb 9th 4pm - 5pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Thu, Feb 15th 4:30pm - 6pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Thu, Feb 29th 5pm - 6:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Fri, Mar 15th 4pm - 5:30pm  Hayden Library Room 236 (Tempe campus)  RSVP

Fri, Apr 5th 4pm - 5:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Thu, Apr 11th 5pm - 6:30pm  Virtual (Zoom)  RSVP

Ready to take the next step?

Following the completion of a thesis preparation workshop, Barrett students should schedule a thesis advising appointment with their Barrett Honors Advisor to discuss and review the guidebook, checklist and the due dates that correspond with the semester they intend to complete their undergraduate degree.

Honors Thesis Student Guidebook

Please explore the resources available to you within this guidebook to ensure your success. Refer to the checklist on page 13 to continue moving forward in the process.

View the Student Guidebook

Student Guidebook sections

What is the honors thesis.

The honors thesis project is an original piece of work by a student, in collaboration with their thesis director and committee. Most students complete an honors thesis within their major department but may choose a topic outside of the major. Each department may set its own standards for methodology (i.e., empirical, comparative, or descriptive), project length, and so on. Review the relevant Opportunities in the Major documents created by the Faculty Honors Advisors (FHAs)  here , and contact the FHAs in your area(s) of interest for additional information.

A thesis can be:

• A scholarly research project involving analysis that is presented in written form. Represents a commitment to research, critical thinking, and an informed viewpoint of the student.
• A creative project that combines scholarship and creative work in which the primary outcome consists of something other than a written document but includes a written document that supports the creative endeavor and involves scholarly research.
• A group project that brings together more than one Barrett student to work on a thesis collaboratively. Working in a group gives students valuable experience and enables them to take on larger, more complicated topics. Students may begin a group project with approval of a Thesis Director.

Selecting a Topic

Because the honors thesis is the culmination of undergraduate studies, begin thinking about a topic early. Many students base the honors thesis on an aspect of coursework, internship, or research. Once an area of interest is identified, take two or three courses that concentrate in that specific area.  Selecting a topic should ultimately be done under the guidance of faculty. The honors thesis is a joint effort between students and faculty.

Consider these tips and resources as you begin the process of selecting a topic: 

• Reflect on past experience to determine interests.
• Talk to faculty including Faculty Honors Advisors about topics that are interesting and relevant to coursework, major, career interests, or from ongoing faculty research.
• View past honors theses through the ASU Library Digital Repository .

Thesis Pathways

Honors Thesis Pathways are unique thesis opportunities, where students can be paired with faculty on interesting and engaging topics. The pathway options provide students a structured experience in completing their thesis, while researching a topic that interests them.

The committee consists of a Director, a Second Committee Member, and may include a Third Committee Member. Ultimately, your committee must approve your thesis/creative project, so work closely with them throughout the process.  Specific academic unit committee requirements can be found here .

• Any member of ASU faculty with professional expertise in the project area. (This excludes graduate students.)
• Includes lecturer and tenure-line faculty.
• Primary supervisor of the project.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, sets expectations, and presides over the defense.

*Emeritus faculty may serve as thesis directors as approved by the FHA from the department which the thesis is to be completed. Directors are expected to be physically present at the honors thesis defense. They may not be reimbursed for travel related to attending the defense.

Second Committee Member

• Individual whom you and your Director decide is appropriate to serve based on knowledge and experience with the thesis topic.
• Credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• Conducts regular meetings, provides feedback, and offers additional evaluation at the defense.

Third Committee Member (optional-varies by academic unit)

• Faculty member or qualified professional.
• If required, credentials will be determined by the Director and the criteria of that academic unit.
• External Examiners are Third Committee Members.
• Offer insight and expertise on the topic and provides additional evaluation at the defense.

The prospectus serves as an action plan for the honors thesis and provides a definitive list of goals, procedures, expectations, and an overall timeline including internal deadlines for your work. This will lay the groundwork for your project and serve as a reference point for you and your committee. You and your committee should work together to solidify a topic and create project goals. 

Submit your prospectus online

Registration and Grading

To register:

• Be enrolled in Barrett, The Honors College and in academic good standing. 
• Have the approval of the faculty member who serves as the Director. 
• In-person Barrett thesis workshop
• Online (via Blackboard) Barrett thesis workshop. Self-enroll- search words “Barrett Honors Thesis Online Workshop”
• Major specific thesis preparatory workshop or course may be available in limited academic units.

Register for the honors thesis through the department of the Director .   First, obtain override permission from the department of the Director during normal enrollment periods. 

Thesis Credits (up to 6 hours)

• 492 Honors Directed Study: taken in the first semester during research and creation of the project (not offered by all departments).
• 493 Honors Thesis: taken in the second semester for defense and completion of the project.  
• 492 and 493 are sequential and may not be taken in the same semester.  
• You must register for and successfully complete at least 493 (or its equivalent) to graduate from Barrett, The Honors College.

Grading the Honors Thesis

When the honors thesis is completed and approved by the committee, the Director assigns a course grade. Criteria and evaluation for grading are determined by the Director and the standards of that academic discipline.   

If you enroll in 492, the Director has the option of assigning a Z grade until the project is completed.

The assignment of a Z grade indicates that a project is in progress and delays placement of a final grade until completion. 

Defense and Final Steps

• Presentation and summary of the honors thesis. Format, content, and length are determined by the Director and standards of the content area. Plan to review the origins of the project, its scope, the methodology used, significant findings, and conclusions. 
• Submit final draft to the committee at least two weeks before the defense. Allow time for revisions leading up to the defense.
• Work with your committee to set a defense and report to Barrett using the Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. Once submitted, your Director will automatically be emailed an approval link on the date of your defense.
• All committee members must participate in the defense.
• Group projects: Each student is required to submit an individual Honors Defense and Thesis Approval form. All group members must participate in the defense. 
• Defenses are open to the ASU community and published to the Defense Calendar.
• Following the presentation, committee members will ask questions about issues raised in the work, choices made in the research, and any further outcomes.
• At the conclusion of the discussion, the committee will convene to provide an outcome that will determine next steps.

Thesis Outcomes

• Minor format/editorial corrections may be suggested.
• Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository.

Provisional Approval (Common outcome)

• More significant revisions required.
• Once revisions are complete, Director will report approval using the Final Thesis Approval link emailed to them on the defense date.
• Your next step is to upload your approved final project to the Barrett Digital Repository after revisions are approved.

Not approved (Least common outcome)

• Basic design and/or overall execution of the honors thesis is significantly flawed.
• The Director and committee may continue working with the student to make major revisions. You should discuss this with committee and Honors Advisor about implications on Barrett graduation.

Senior Honors Thesis

What is a Senior Honors Thesis?

The Senior Honors Thesis is a two-semester, 6 credit research commitment on a topic that you and your faculty mentor agree on. The result is an academic paper, often of publishable quality. Honors Thesis projects are most successful if a student contacts a faculty member he or she would like to work with at least one semester before he or she plans to start researching. Senior Honors Thesis courses can be taken in any semester, including over the summer.

Why write a Senior Honors Thesis?

There are a number of reasons to consider writing a thesis. For one, it is an opportunity to explore a topic that interests you. There may have been a topic in a class or a reading that caught your attention; the senior thesis will allow you to dive deeper into the topic. You will likely master your topic and develop an educated perspective. Secondly, the thesis experience will develop your reading, research and writing skills–skills that will prepare you well for graduate school and other careers. Finally, writing a thesis is required for most Honors in the Major programs. Please talk to your departmental advisor if you have questions about this requirement. Most students find the Senior Thesis a rewarding experience in which they develop new skills through independent work.

First Steps

See our pages on how to get started with the Senior Honors Thesis process!

• Choosing a topic and mentor

Disciplinary Standards

Some departments have web pages about standards for a Senior Honors Thesis; be sure to visit your department’s website and speak with your advisor for information on these standards. If you are interested in seeing a completed senior thesis paper, the Honors Program Office has bound copies of previous students’ thesis work in the Washburn Observatory library — feel free to stop by and browse through some research from your discipline!

Funding your Thesis

Theses can be funded in several ways. First, the Honors Program offers funding each year; please check out our pages on Senior Honors Thesis funding for more information. Hilldale and Holstrom Undergraduate Fellowships are also available to students with at least junior standing at the time of their application. Hilldale fellowships provide generous research support in all disciplines, while Holstrom fellowships are awarded for research on environmental studies. For more information on those awards, contact the Undergraduate Academic Awards Office . Many departments also have funding available for theses. Please talk to your departmental advisor about funding opportunities if your department. There may also be outside agencies that will support senior thesis research.

Registering for Thesis Credits

To register for Senior Honors Thesis credits, you need to contact your faculty advisor; he or she should then get in touch with the appropriate timetable representative or academic advisor who will in turn create a unique 5-digit code for the Departmental 681 course in your first semester and a second, unique code for Departmental 682 in your second semester. Your faculty advisor should be the faculty member listed for your Senior Honors Thesis experience.

Prior authorization is needed when students intend to complete either 681 or 682 while away from UW-Madison. Consult with the Associate Director for Academic Services if this is your intention.

Writing Your Thesis

Naturally, not all theses have the same format. Formats will depend largely on your topic and area of discipline. Most theses, however, have an introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction should motivate the reader to read the rest of the thesis and explain why the thesis question is important. Generally, the introduction should also explain the key vocabulary of the topic, state the thesis and hypotheses, and outline the remainder of the paper (Lipson, 2005). An effective way to organize the body of your thesis is to create subtopics under illustrative headings (2005, pg. 167). Transitions that connect the various subtopics together facilitate a cohesive thesis. The conclusion of your thesis should go beyond summarizing the main points; it should also connect the main findings to broader issues and suggest future research.

A senior thesis seems like a lot of work. Is it worth doing?

Doing a senior thesis is a lot of work and requires a 2-semester commitment to a research project. Whether it is a good choice for you depends on how motivated you are to complete a thesis. Think about your reasons for wanting to do the research. Are you interested in doing a thesis just to complete a requirement, or because you really want the experience of diving into a topic? Those who are motivated because of their interest in reading, writing and researching are less likely to see the thesis as chore. A thesis will likely seem more manageable if you work gradually over the course of the year. This will give you time to obtain all the necessary resources and materials, confront any roadblocks and write multiple drafts of the thesis.

Are there thesis topics that I should avoid?

Lipson (2005) points to a few topics you want to avoid. Many students run into problems when they attempt to write a thesis on too broad of a topic. In general, a narrow, precise research topic is easier to organize and will allow you to narrow your sources. Lipson suggests avoiding topics about the future because it is difficult to test alternative hypotheses for speculative research. Finally, he states that under most circumstances, you ought to avoid thesis questions that start with “should.” These questions are often judgments which cannot be answered by research.

What are some tips for staying organized while working on a senior thesis?

You will likely have lots of materials for your thesis which can make it difficult to stay organized. It is probably best to set up both a computer file for online and computer-generated documents and a folder or notebook for hard copy materials. It is a good idea to record resources and web pages as you use them because they will probably be much more difficult to find down the road. Appropriate labels and folders will help you find what you are looking for. Another tip for staying organized is to record what you worked on each day. This may help you locate materials and keep you on track. A running “to do list” will also keep you focused and organized about what to do next for the thesis (Lipson, 2005).

What should I cite in my thesis?

Virtually all resources used while researching and writing your thesis should be cited. If you are unsure whether you should cite something or not, it is probably better to cite the resource. Quotations, paraphrases and personal communications should all be cited, but established facts are generally not cited. (Lipson, 2005)

What should I do when I am done with my thesis?

First, congratulate yourself on finishing a thesis! It is a good idea to thank those who have helped your with your thesis either verbally or in writing soon after you complete your project. You may also want to talk to your mentor about any next steps related to your thesis. Do you want to try publishing your work? Do you hope to do further research on a related topic? Are you thinking about using your thesis as a writing sample for graduate school? Consider your goals for the thesis and talk these over with your mentor(s). You may also want to ask your mentor(s) for a recommendation letter. Many graduate schools and jobs require letters of recommendation from professors who you have worked with in college. A letter of recommendation might be easier for a mentor to write soon after you have completed the thesis, while you are still fresh in his or her memory. Finally, if you received a grant from the L&S Honors Program, we request a copy of your thesis to be bound and placed in our library. Please drop off a copy of your thesis at Washburn Observatory so we can showcase your work!

Works Cited:

Lipson, Charles. How to Write a BA Thesis: A Practical Guide from your First Ideas to your Finished Paper. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.

Senior Honors Thesis Pages:

• Submission Guidelines
• Dual Thesis Authorization
• Grading Senior Honors Thesis
• Senior Honors Thesis Links

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Honors Program

Thesis overview.

• Thesis Supervisor
• Online Submission Instructions
• Online Approval Instructions
• Thesis Extensions
• Publishing in Open Commons

For May 2024 graduates, approved theses are due by April 26th, in Quest. For August 2024 graduates, approved theses are due by August 31st, in Quest. For December 2024 graduates, approved theses are due by December 6th, in Quest.

Your Honors thesis represents the culmination of your Honors academic career. When you are finished, you will have produced something that is a unique contribution to your field. While you will work with multiple people who will support your efforts, your thesis is your own . For many students, the thesis is the first time they have attempted a project of this scale, so it should be viewed as a learning experience —no one starts out knowing how to do a thesis!

Depending on your major and your academic and professional plans, your thesis may consist of a traditional research project, piece of scholarship , or a creative product . The exact requirements (such as format or page length) are set by major departments and Honors advisors, and your thesis must include some written document that will be submitted to the Honors Program via the Quest system and must be approved by the thesis supervisor and Honors advisor.

Required thesis submission – All graduating Honors students are required to submit the final version of your Honors thesis/project , after all updates have been made, in the Quest system for approval from your thesis supervisor and Honors advisor.  Please allow time for approval of your thesis supervisor and Honors advisor by the deadline above based on your graduation date.

Other requirements

Graduation as an Honors Scholar requires at least 3 Honors credits toward your thesis. These credits may be through independent study or some other course in your major; you and your Honors advisor will designate your thesis credits on your Honors Scholar Preliminary and Final Plans of Study. Some departments require more than 3 thesis credits , typically in the form of a two-semester sequence. Check with your major Honors advisor on your thesis requirements.

You will designate a thesis supervisor to mentor you through your project. This information, along with your thesis title and abstract, will be included in your Honors Thesis Plan by your final semester, but you should establish this relationship much further in advance.

Thesis support

If you have questions about the thesis process, talk with your Honors advisor—they will have the most accurate information for your major. You can also contact Dr. Jaclyn Chancey , Enrichment Programs Director for Curriculum, Assessment, and Planning.

Department of Economics

Honors thesis.

• Undergraduate

Junior year is the time to start thinking about eligibility requirements, topics of interest, and potential advisors for an honors thesis.

An Honors Info Session is held each spring to answer junior’s questions about their senior year, and interested students must fill out the  honors thesis form  by the end of junior year.

We strongly encourage students to write an honors thesis. This is very valuable for students interested in graduate school or careers requiring independent research skills, as well as for students interested in tying together their academic experience with an in-depth investigation of one topic.

More than a good course paper

An honors thesis is more than a good course paper. It must represent a substantial effort in research and exposition. A thesis must be an original contribution to knowledge, beyond a simple replication exercise. The department does not specify page lengths, methods, or topics. Instead, an honors thesis candidate should establish his or her goals – and a timeline to meet those goals – in an understanding with the thesis advisor. To see the range of topics and methods prior students have pursued, take a look at  examples of past honor theses here  or by visiting the academic office in person. To find a faculty advisor who would be a good match for your topic of interest, see their research questions  here. 

Requirements

To graduate with honors, students must satisfy the following requirements  by the   end of junior year ,

• Complete at least 70% of the courses required for the concentration.
• Have earned a grade of “A” or “S with distinction” in at least 70% of grades earned in the economics concentration, or 50% in the joint concentrations in APMA-Econ, CS-Econ, and Math-Econ (excluding courses transferred to Brown without a grade, and those taken Spring 2020).
• Economics Concentrators  must find a faculty thesis advisor in the economics department.
• Joint Concentrators  must find a primary faculty thesis advisor in either economics or the partner department. CS-Econ concentrators must have a secondary reader in the other department by the fall of senior year. APMA-Econ and Math-Econ do not require a secondary reader, unless the primary advisor deems it necessary. Joint concentrators need to satisfy the honors requirements of the economics department if their thesis advisor is in the economics department; while they need to satisfy the honors requirements of the partner department if their thesis advisor is in the partner department.

During senior year , thesis writers must:

• Enroll in ECON 1960 in the fall & spring semesters (Note that 1960 does not count as a 1000-level elective for your concentration). A requirement of ECON 1960 will be attendance at one of two lab sessions each week. 
• Submit a thesis proposal to both your thesis advisor and the Undergraduate Programs Coordinator Kelsey Thorpe, [email protected]  (see below for due date).
• Submit their work in progress to their thesis advisor and Kelsey (see below for due date).
• Depending on the nature of the thesis work, the thesis adviser may require the student to successfully complete one or more courses from among the  data methods ,  mathematical economics  and/or  financial economics  course groups in the fall of senior year, if they have not already done so.
• Complete an honors thesis by the deadline agreed upon with their primary advisor and obtain the final approval of their advisor(s) (see below for due date).
• Thesis writers are encouraged, but not required, to participate in the departmental Honors Thesis Presentation session held in May, with a brief presentation of their work and findings.

For students graduating  Spring 2024 :

• Proposal - September 18, 2023
• Work in Progress - December 18, 2023
• Final Draft - April 19, 2024

For students graduating in  Fall 2024*:

• Proposal - February 2, 2024
• Work in Progress - April 25, 2024
• Final Draft - December 10, 2024

For students graduating  Spring 2025 :

• Proposal - September 16, 2024
• Work in Progress - December 16, 2024
• Final Draft - April 18, 2025

For students graduating  Fall 2025 *:

• Proposal - February 7, 2025
• Work in Progress - April 24, 2025
• Final Draft - December 9, 2025

*Note that for the Requirements listed above, "by end of senior year" means by the "end of Fall semester 2023" for Fall 2024 graduates and "end of Fall semester 2024" for Fall 2025 graduates.

More information

For students interested in finding out more, please attend the information session on honors theses that will be given in the middle of every spring semester. For students interested in undertaking research, but not wanting to pursue honors, the department offers  senior capstone options .

• About the Honors College
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Honors College

The what and why.

The culmination of the Honors Bachelors degree, the Honors Thesis is a significant undergraduate research project completed under the supervision of a faculty member approved by the Departmental Honors Liaison in the student’s major.

The culmination of the Honors Bachelors degree, the Honors Thesis is a significant undergraduate research project completed under the supervision of a faculty member approved by the Departmental Honors Liaison in the student’s major. Its purpose is to advance knowledge and understanding within the context of a research university and to further develop the student’s intellectual, professional and personal growth as a member of the Honors College. Thesis projects may take different forms in different majors – e.g. laboratory experiments, historical research or artistic creations, to name a few – but always demonstrate research expertise in the major field, a command of relevant scholarship and an effort to contribute to that scholarship.

Whether you’re committed to working in your major field, or keeping your options open, completing an Honors Thesis gives you the experience to help you get where you want to go.

Gain real research experience in your field and learn how to communicate it. Tackle and own a project that you’re passionate about. Stretch yourself intellectually through close work with a faculty expert. And the practical value of an Honors Thesis? Unlimited. An Honors Thesis helps you to:

Get accepted to grad school, medical school, law school Competitive programs greatly value research experience and the motivation, maturity, and depth of study required to complete a thesis. Find a job. Employers, in your field or outside it, seek candidates with the commitment and practical skills required to complete an independent project. Figure out your path. Do you even like research in your major? Or are you ready to try something else?

Each department defines the appropriate topics, parameters and standards of Honors thesis research. Faculty outside of the major may supervise thesis projects with the approval of the Departmental Honors Liaison in the student’s major. Topics might be developed out of faculty research, coursework, class projects, UROP projects, community engaged research or even internships. The required Thesis Proposal Form must be signed by both the Thesis Faculty Mentor and the Departmental Honors Liaison within the student’s major. Take a look at our general Thesis Guidelines.

There is no uniform required length for Honors theses, which vary widely across different fields and topics. However, a range of 30-40 pages is common. Departmental Honors Liaison in each major and the Faculty Supervisor will set specific expectations. See examples of theses from your major here.

DEVELOPING A THESIS

Think About Potential Thesis Topics While taking upper-level classes in your major, start thinking about what topics you like that are being discussed.  What interests you?  What sounds like a good project? Is there a paper, group project, or internship  you have completed and would like to continue or develop further? If you are in the sciences and are working in a research lab, is there a project you could start working on that might culminate in your thesis? Talk to your professors!  Based on your classes and other academic or research experiences, think about narrowing down to a more specific topic. See examples of theses in your major.

Second and third years typically see students refining their interests in their major, and starting to hone in on a research topic. Continue taking classes in your major, and paying attention to things like: topics that interest you; faculty whose research is interesting, and with whom you connect; questions you have that don't seem like they have good answers. These are all important data in developing your project! Make sure that you are a part of the Thesis Mentoring Community, and that you are consulting those modules and attending events that are of interest to you. And connect with other students in your major - though everyone types their own thesis, we never think in a vacuum and having a community of peers makes the process so much more fun. Also, be in touch with your Departmental Honors Liaison. You can determine who that is from the link below.

For many of you, this could be your first time working on a big research project. You might be excited, but you also might be nervous and feel unprepared. All of those things are normal! The Thesis Mentorship Community (TMC) is here to help with that. This community has a living-learning community (LLC) component but also is open to all students in the Honors College via the Canvas Course for the community. The TMC is open to students in their second year and beyond, and will help guide (mentor) you through the thesis process from preliminary planning, to research, and on to the writing of the thesis. Information on the Canvas course as well as programming organized through the Canvas course connects students to other honors students in their field of study as well as faculty in their home department and resources throughout the larger university that will assist in the thesis research and writing process.

Meet with your Departmental Honors Liaison to discuss potential topics and faculty members to serve as your Thesis Faculty Mentor. (If you are working in a research lab, usually the professor over the lab can be your thesis mentor.)

Meet with Thesis Faculty Mentor and Solidify Topic: Meet with your Faculty Mentor and confirm the topic and scope of your thesis.  Work together on creating a timeline for your thesis work, and establish how you will go through the revision and completion process. After you have finalized your thesis topic, submit a signed Honors Thesis Proposal form to the Honors College.

Meet with Your Departmental Honors Liaison

THESIS COMPLETION TIMELINE

You have your thesis topic and mentor, now the real work begins. Here are the steps you need to take to complete your Honors thesis.

*Note: Dates are for a Spring graduate, modify accordingly if you are graduating in a different semester

WRITE YOUR THESIS

Typically during your Third and/or Fourth Year

Turn in the Completed Thesis Proposal Form via the link in the pertinent announcement for your semester and year of graduation in the TMC. The soft turn-in date for this form is the third week of your semester before graduation (so fall for spring graduation, etc) to ensure you are on track.

If you are not yet a member of the TMC, you can join the Honors  Thesis Mentorship Community Canvas page  (where you will need to log in using your CIS credentials). At that point, please click 'Enroll in Course'"

Be sure to meet with your Faculty Mentor to agree on a schedule for reviewing your progress, submitting drafts, making final revisions, etc. Theses with approval signatures are due to the Honors College one week before grades are due to the Registrar's Office , the semester you plan to graduate.

Please use the Thesis Formatting Template for your final thesis.

Sign up for **** 4999 (Honors Thesis Course in your major)

4999 is a 3 credit hour class in your major, which indicates you are working independently with your supervisor on your thesis. Talk to your Departmental Honors Liaison or major academic advisor to receive a permission code.

Also make sure your major advisor has declared you for an Honors Bachelors Degree in your major (HBA, HBS, HBFA etc.)

PRESENT YOUR WORK

Honors students must present their thesis work at the annual  Undergraduate Research Symposium  at the U, at NCUR, or at discipline related research conferences

PUBLISH YOUR WORK

You can also publish in the U’s Undergraduate Research Journal. Submissions are accepted year-round for online publication each summer

Click here to submit – students must submit on their own behalf

FINAL SUBMISSION OF YOUR THESIS

Your final Honors Thesis will require electronic signatures from your Thesis Faculty Mentor, Departmental Honors Liaison, and Department Chair before you submit it to the Honors College. Approval signatures are due to the Honors College one week before grades are due to the Registrar's Office , the semester you plan to graduate. Please give yourself and Faculty Mentor at least three weeks to make final revisions and collect your three signatures.

Submit an electronic copy of your final Honors thesis with e-signature approvals from your Thesis Faculty Mentor, Departmental Honors Liaison, and the Department Chair. The Honors College will provide you with the upload link during your final semester.

Turn in a signed USpace Permission Form when you submit your thesis. USpace is the J. Willard Marriot Library’s institutional repository and provides permanent electronic storage for your work to be publicly available. If you have questions or concerns about making your thesis available through USpace, please contact the main Honors Office.

APPLY FOR GRADUATION

Spring Graduates (January 17th), Fall Graduates (September 4 th ), Summer Graduates (May 20 th )

Information on this process can be found through the Office of the Registrar

APPLY FOR UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLARS DESIGNATION (URSD)

Students who complete two semesters of research with a faculty mentor and present and publish their work (for example in the Undergraduate Research Symposium & Abstracts Journal) are eligible for this special transcript designation. Deadlines found here .

Carnegie Mellon University School of Computer Science

The honors undergraduate research thesis.

If you're thinking about graduate school, you should get involved in independent research as early as possible — typically no later than your junior year. One way to do this is through the SCS Honors Undergraduate Research Thesis Program. Any CMU undergraduate (including non-SCS students) can complete an honors thesis on any computational topic within SCS.

Explore past thesis projects.

About the Program

The SCS Honors Undergraduate Research Thesis Program introduces you to the tasks involved in independent research, including library work, problem formulation, experimentation and analysis and/or theoretical proofs of computational principles, technical writing, and public speaking. You'll begin by writing a summary of prior results that will become part of your final thesis. At the end of your first semester of research, you'll present a poster, short talk and progress report at an SCS research event held during finals. Finally, you'll present your results with a poster and an oral presentation in May at CMU's undergraduate research symposium, the Meeting of the Minds , and submit a written thesis for review by an SCS faculty panel.

You must select an advisor and develop a plan for your thesis. While your work must be advised by an SCS faculty member, you can also have a faculty co-advisor from elsewhere at CMU if you'd like to explore a multidisciplinary problem.

To propose and complete an honors thesis, you should be in good academic standing. There is no GPA requirement for proposing or completing an honors thesis — honors will be conferred solely on the merits of the work produced.

Once you've begun your honors thesis, you'll be enrolled in course 07-599 during two semesters and receive a letter grade based on activities assigned in the course and the recommendation from your research advisor. At the end of each semester, you will present your work to a panel from the SCS Undergraduate Review Committee (URC), which will first decide if you can continue to the second semester and then decide to confer honors.

We strongly suggest you complete a research independent study to prepare for your honors thesis. In some circumstances, students may have completed significant research that can form part of their thesis. In such a case, you should clearly indicate this work in your thesis proposal and have it approved by your thesis advisor. The associate dean can then award up to 12 units of independent study research toward the thesis and reduce the number of units required in each semester of the honors thesis course.

Getting Started

If you're planning to complete a thesis, you must assemble a thesis proposal containing the following information:

• The name of the research advisor (an SCS faculty member) as well as a co-advisor, if relevant.
• A short abstract (at most two paragraphs).
• A description of the problem to be worked on and its significance, along with a clear indication of your understanding of the problem’s background and impact.
• A bibliography of related work.
• the background reading to be carried out;
• any preliminary results based on prior research;
• the intended research contribution;
• the expected results of the research; and
• a reasonably detailed timeline for the thesis work.
• The signature of your research advisor(s), signifying endorsement of the project and willingness to provide the significant time investment required to supervise it.

You must submit your thesis proposal to the associate dean (or area head at CMU-Q) by the first day of classes in the semester in which you're starting your thesis. There will be a rolling review of thesis applications before this deadline. (That is, if you wish to start work on the project earlier than the, you're encouraged to submit the proposal earlier.) You should plan to meet with your planned research advisor well ahead of time to prepare the proposal.

Mid-Thesis Check-In

At the end of the first semester of 07-599, you'll deliver a poster presentation to your peers in the honors thesis course. You will also submit a written report that should contain:

• An overview of the problem being solved;
• An explanation of the work you have completed during the first semester;
• A justification for any directions you took that deviate from the original proposal; and
• A description of what work you will complete in the second semester to finish the thesis.

Written reports are due on the last day of classes. The URC will review them in consultation with the associate dean (or area head at CMU-Q) and your advisors to determine whether you are making satisfactory progress toward the thesis.

Exceptional Circumstances at Mid-Thesis Check-In

After one semester of 07-599, any students not making satisfactory progress will be converted to an independent study. There may also be extremely extraneous circumstances in which a student has made sufficient progress to complete the thesis in a single semester; in such a case, the student should complete the deliverables indicated in "Finishing the Thesis."

Finishing Your Thesis

At the end of the second semester of 07-599, you will complete three deliverables. First, you will present a poster of your work as part of the Meeting of the Minds celebration. Second, you should complete a final presentation of your thesis at the close of 07-599 via a slide presentation in a public setting. Your final thesis is due the week before the last day of classes. The URC will review the theses in consultation with the associate dean (or area head at CMU-Q) and your research advisors to decide whether to confer College Honors for your thesis, as well as to grant awards to superlative theses.

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Honors & latin honors.

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Honors & Latin Honors

The University, at graduation, grants honors to students whose work in the field of concentration has demonstrated superior quality and culminated in an honors thesis of distinction

The University, at graduation, grants honors to students whose work in the field of concentration has demonstrated superior quality and culminated in an honors thesis of distinction. One original thesis may be used to earn the honors distinction in only one concentration. The designation "Honors" is included on the student's transcript and diploma. No distinctions are made among quality levels of honors work. Students considering honors work should consult their departmental or independent concentration advisor.

Recommendations for honors are due in early May preceding Commencement. Only students who have completed all work before graduation may receive the honors distinction. Brown does not grant honors retroactively. Therefore, students who consider taking a grade of Incomplete in a thesis project should understand that they will not receive honors unless the thesis is completed in time to be evaluated by faculty readers and a recommendation submitted before graduation.

Latin Honors (magna cum laude)

Baccalaureate degrees may be awarded magna cum laude to the upper 20 percent (approximately) of the graduating class. The Committee on Academic Standing will draw up a list of those graduating seniors who are eligible to receive the bachelor's degree magna cum laude and it will be presented for Faculty Vote just prior to Commencement. This vote is final and binding as magna cum laude is not awarded retroactively for any late grades or grade changes that may come in after the fact.

Many students often wonder how magna cum laude is calculated since Brown does not compute a GPA (grade point average). What follows is the logic employed to determine magna cum laude honors at Brown University:

-Each student is assigned a normal load based on the number of tuition/enrollment units a student has in residence at Brown. For most students this normal load is 32.0 (4 courses x 8 semesters) if they are enrolled for 8 semesters in residence at Brown and do not take summer courses or study elsewhere, etc.

-Likewise, if a student did enroll in Brown summer courses these are added on a 1:1 basis to his/her normal load. So in the case of a student who enrolled for 8 semesters and also enrolled in two Brown summer courses the normal load would be 34.0 ((4.0 X 8) + 2). For students who came in as transfer students and/or took a semester abroad their normal load would be decreased by the number of semesters that were credited as a result of transfer credits (ex. 6 semesters in residence fulltime the normal load would be 24.0 (4 courses x 6)).

 -The second part of the calculation is to take all graduating students who are actually completing their requirements for commencement in May and take their total number of magna-eligible grades (grades of A or S with distinction [Note: S* on transcript means mandatory S/NC grade option not S with distinction. Distinction marks are not released outside the University as they are used strictly for magna calculation purposes]) and divide based on specific student's normal load to come up with a magna percentage.

    *Courses numbered over 3000 taken by PLME students, regardless of grade received, do not count towards total magna-eligible grades. In addition, for Brown-RISD Dual Degree candidates only courses taken within Brown in fall & spring semester will count towards magna calculation.

 -The third and final step is for the Committee on Academic Standing to vote just prior to commencement on what magna percentage comes closest to the overall top 20% of the graduating class. It is important to note that this magna percentage changes every academic year based on total number of graduates actually receiving a degree and that the total number of magna eligible grades needed also varies. For this reason and for the fact that senior grades still come in until just prior to the Faculty Vote for commencement, when Latin honors ultimately gets finalized, release of magna cum laude recipients cannot be released until the actual day of commencement where they are listed in the Commencement Bulletin.

SPRING semester 2020 accomodation:  Due to the unique disruption that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the spring 2020 semester, the CCC along with  the CAS and the Faculty Executive Committee approved an accomodation where magna will be calculated using two metrics in which all of the above will both include and exclude the spring semesters and the Committee on Academic Standing will be presented with two lists one for the approximate top 20% excluding spring 2020 and another including. This accomodation will be utilized each graduation cycle until all students who studied in the spring 2020 semester have completed their degrees. As such many students will be on both lists but there may be a few students on one list but not the other. Those students included on both top 20% lists will receive latin honors. 

In summary, Latin Honors (magna cum laude) at Brown is based strictly on the parameters listed above. Grades other than A or S with distinction are not held against students for the purposes of the calculation nor are students who come in as transfers or study abroad/away once matriculated are given any distinct advantage. Once the Faculty Vote just prior to Commencement occurs the awarding of magna cum laude is final and any subsequent grades that may come in after the vote are not considered as magna cum laude is not awarded retroactively to said vote. For students who receive magna cum laude, that distinction is made not only in the Commencement Bulletin, but the designation is also noted on the Official academic transcript and on the diploma.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs): Undergraduate Honors Theses

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The Institutional Repository at UF (the  IR@UF ) includes the Undergraduate Honors Theses collection . During their graduating term*, Honors students are invited to submit their their final Honors project for inclusion in this collection. This is a free service of the UF Libraries. After students who have completed their submission graduate with Honors, the Libraries will add their works to the IR@UF and email a permanent link to them that they can include in applications, résumés, social media, or share with friends, colleagues, and family.

Honors degree requirements vary by department , so be sure to check with your advisor and/or undergraduate coordinator to see whether your department requires you to submit your thesis or other project to the IR@UF.

*Students in the Medical Honors Program complete their theses during their third undergraduate year because they start their first year of medical school during their last year as undergraduates.

Guidelines vary by degree program

Be sure to talk to your thesis or project advisor and/or your department's Honors coordinator about department-specific guidelines and their deadline for submission. Departments can set their own deadlines for Libraries submissions and we can provide them with a list of successful submissions after the department's deadline passes.

Libraries' default submission deadlines

• Spring 2024 Graduates - April 26
• Summer 2024 Graduates - August 2

Important: If your department requires you to defend your thesis or project, your Libraries submission deadline might be different. Please contact your faculty advisor or Honors coordinator if you do not already know your department's deadline for Libraries submissions.

Graduation requirements

Libraries : Deadlines to submit to the Libraries will not affect your graduation unless your department requires a completed Libraries submission .

Department : Deadlines to submit your Honors thesis/project to your department might affect your graduation.

Submission assistance

Department : Contact your academic mentor and/or your department's undergrad coordinator.

Libraries : Contact the submissions team at [email protected] or 352-294-3785.

• Honors co-author grant of permission
• Permission to exceed fair use

Submitting to the Libraries

• Do I need to submit?
• What do I submit?
• How do I submit?
• Why should I submit?
• Your faculty advisor and/or your department’s undergrad coordinator can tell you whether you must submit a thesis or other terminal project.
• For preservation purposes, you need to submit the approved version of your Honors work to the Libraries.
• You also have several options for restricting access to your thesis or project; see the document linked below for details.
• If you unfortunately fail to graduate with Honors but your faculty advisor accepted your Honors thesis or project, we can include it in our Undergraduate Works collection. Please email [email protected] to let us know that you want to take advantage of this service.
• Restriction Options for Honors Theses and Projects

Thesis or project file(s):

• "Standard" here means a plain PDF saved from Microsoft Word or another word processor.
• Do not include any departmental or college forms in your thesis or project file(s).
• Do not scan a printed copy of your work to send to us.
• Media, dataset, and other types of submissions must conform to the acceptable formats list .

If necessary, please upload a signed letter (or letters) of permission to quote or reproduce copyrighted material for all copyrighted material included beyond fair use (i.e., entire graphics and large portions of text or data where someone else holds the copyright). If you cannot get the answer you need from the copyright guide, you can email your question(s) to [email protected].

• As the (an) author of the work, you do not need to submit a Permission to Quote form.
• You also do not need to upload a grant of permission form; the online form collects your permission agreement.
• If you have co-authors who are not UF employees or graduate students, you will need a signed  Honors Co-author Grant of Permissions from them.

NOTE : For our purposes, only list co-authors who contributed substantial writing (including code) to the work. Do not include research collaborators, reviewers, or editors. Use your acknowledgements or dedication to thank them.

Please do not submit your Honors thesis or project until you have final approval of your work from your department.

Write to us at [email protected] if you have any questions while you are preparing your Honors submission to the Libraries.

• IR Accepted Formats A list of the accepted format types for inclusion in the IR@UF
• Keep copies of your work and the form(s) that you submit to your department.
• Requirements vary by department . Be sure that you understand yours well before their deadline.
• Example: Alligator_Alberta_permission_to_exceed_fair_use_archive
• After you log in with your GatorLink credentials, complete the online form at  https://apps.uflib.ufl.edu/Honors/ to submit your work to the Libraries by our deadline (see the Basics box on the left for deadlines). If you are not using a campus computer , connect to the VPN.

Note: If you see an Honors level that seems wrong to you, or no Honors level at all, please do not be concerned. The form uses the Honors pre-certification data. Not all colleges/schools enter that data and the final Honors level is occasionally different from what colleges enter for pre-certification.

• If your project file is larger than 50 MB, you will not be able to upload it to the form. Please do not compress the file; instead, send a OneDrive link to [email protected] and we will assist you. There is effectively no file size limit and we want to archive the highest possible quality version of your work.
• Overview of the Online Submission Form
• Publishing your work in the IR@UF is a free service
• Enhance résumés and applications
• Show off to friends and family
• Support ongoing scholarship by enabling others to cite your work in their own
• Prospective students can see the variety and strength of undergraduate research opportunities at UF

Who should I list as co-authors?

Items in the Honors collection are treated similarly to graduate-level theses and dissertations, except that you can work with a co-author (co-creator). Unlike articles in scientific journals, you should only list people who contributed substantially to the writing. Use your acknowledgements section to list people who helped with the research itself.

What if my mentor/advisor is not in my college? All you need to enter for a mentor is their name and their primary organizational affiliation (department or school at UF or other academic institutions; unit of government; non-profit organization; or business). When do I need to upload a signed grant of permissions form? First, you do not need to sign and upload a form yourself. The online submission form collects your permission agreement. If you have a co-author who is not a UF employee or graduate student, you need a signed form from them. If you have included enough content copyrighted by someone else that you have exceeded fair use , you need a signed form from them. What do I do if my thesis/project file is too large for my web browser to upload? Although there is no size limit for your submission, many browsers time out trying to upload files larger than 10-15 MB. If your browser is failing to upload your file, please share it with OneDrive and send the link to [email protected] . You can upload a dummy file, text, Word, or PDF to complete the form. Feel free to include a note mentioning the large file transfer, or just leave the file empty. What problems should I check for before I submit my thesis/project file? Before you upload your thesis/project file, check to ensure that:

• It is the exact version that your advisor and/or department approved.
• It is in PDF format.
• You created the PDF directly from Word or another text tool and did not scan a printout.
• No tracked changes or comments are present.
• Your margins are at least .5" (make table pages portrait orientation if needed).
• References are single-spaced.
• Your name appears as it will on your diploma.
• Your UFID is not present.

Related Links

• Institutional Repository at the University of Florida (IR@UF)
• Graduate Editorial Office thesis and dissertation resources
• Graduate School ETD Formatting
• Making your work accessible
• UF LibGuide: Copyright
• UF LibGuide: Fair Use
• UF LibGuide: Open Access
• << Previous: Supplemental Materials and Data for ETDs
• Next: ETD Restrictions >>
• Last Updated: May 7, 2024 6:58 AM
• URL: https://guides.uflib.ufl.edu/etds

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Honors Thesis

Honors Thesis Week Fall 2023 Schedule

• Honors Thesis Proposal

Honors Thesis Defense

An Honors Thesis is a significant research project, and often serves as the culmination of months of sustained investigation into an area of a student’s academic interest. While required for all students in the Cursus Honorum and Presidential/Provost Scholars, an Honors Thesis is an option available to all honors students. The Honors Thesis also helps to prepare students for the rigors and expectations of graduate and professional school.

Theses may take different forms based on a student’s major, areas of interest, and professional aspirations; yet all honors theses must contain polished, scholarly, and original work. An Honors Thesis begins with a project proposal and results in both a written product and public presentation (termed “defense”).

Considering an Honors Thesis?

Hear Dr. Anastasia Elder and Dr. Holli Seitz answer some questions about what an Honors Thesis is and why you should consider doing one.

Wondering how to get started?

Hear Dr. Anastasia Elder and Dr. Holli Seitz explain the process of completing an Honors Thesis and offer tips on getting started.

Honors Thesis Handbook

Review the handbook to learn more about the process and expectations that are required. The handbook also contains helpful information for students at all stages of the thesis writing and defending process.

To gain a better understanding of what make a thesis an Honors Thesis, please see Context and Communication .

If you have any questions, please contact the Associate Dean of Shackouls Honors College and Director of Undergraduate Research, Dr. Anastasia Elder, at [email protected] or 662-325-8503.

Honors Thesis Proposal 

The Honors Thesis Proposal is the first step in the Honors Thesis process and must be completed by all students. Once your proposal is accepted, you will be enrolled into a non-credit producing Canvas course which will guide you through the steps necessary to successfully submit an Honors Thesis in a timely manner.  Students intending to defend their thesis during the spring semester should submit their thesis proposal by September 15th ; those intending to defend their thesis during the fall semester should submit their thesis proposal by February 15th.

Required Steps:

• Complete the Honors Thesis Proposal Form .
• Write 2-3 paragraphs describing your research project, being sure to indicate its significance and how you intend to go about the research process. Note: This project summary must be approved by your faculty mentor prior to submission.
• Submit both documents to the Associate Dean of Shackouls Honors College and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, Dr. Anastasia Elder, at [email protected] for final approval.

Students may opt to take a credit bearing course, HON 4093, while completing their honors thesis.  The HON 4093 course is created as a special section (per student) dedicated for the honors thesis and is handled like a DIS (directed individual study).  We leave the expectations and grading (it is graded with a letter grade) to the faculty advisor.  We recommend you meet weekly and have deadlines for writing but leave the specifics to the faculty advisor.

The Shackouls Honors College hosts an Honors Thesis Week every fall and spring semester during which students defend their thesis to their committee and a public audience.

For the Spring 2024 semester, Honors Thesis Week will be held from April 18th to May 1. Students can schedule their thesis defense using the link below. Please consider attending these thesis defenses and supporting students in their research and creative endeavors!

Schedule A Defense

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Honors Program

College honors.

Honors Programs are available to outstanding students in most, but not all, areas of concentration. Administered by a faculty Honors Committee, these programs enable students to do intensive work in a chosen area and therefore involve work that extends beyond ordinary course requirements and ordinary standards of performance.

Requirements

Although all students with a cumulative average of 3.70 at the end of their first three years are eligible for these programs, final selection of participants rests with the department concerned.

Exceptions to the 3.70 average requirement may be made by the Honors Committee in individual cases upon recommendation by the department concerned. Students who wish to petition must have at least a 3.45 cumulative GPA. See department or College Honors Program Administrator ( [email protected])  for more information on the GPA waiver petition process and requirements. All Emory grades are considered in the calculation of the cumulative GPA. For example, all Emory College of Arts and Sciences and Business School grades are considered in the calculation of the cumulative GPA for Business School students who pursue honors in a major in the College. In order to graduate with honors, students must meet the requirements as outlined below over two consecutive semesters (not including summer).

Students may pursue honors in only one major or joint major.

Requirements vary slightly from department to department. They generally include enrollment in a graduate seminar or graduate course, completion of a research project or paper that is the equivalent of a BA or BS thesis, and additional supervised reading or enrollment in a special honors course. Departments that accept projects outside of a traditional honors thesis must receive permission from the Honors Committee. Since credit for the graduate work and the reading program count toward the hours required for the major, the Honors Program usually entails an increase of about four hours of credit in the major requirements.

An examination, written and/or oral, covering the honors work, including the thesis and allied fields, is given upon completion of the program. Examiners recommend the degree of honors (honors, high honors, highest honors) to the Honors Committee, which certifies the list to the registrar for printing in the commencement program and on the students' diplomas. Fourrageres indicating the degree of honors are presented to successful candidates by the college and are worn at commencement.

Levels of Honors

Honors  represents satisfactory completion of the program, with an overall average of 3.70.

High Honors  represents completion of the program with outstanding performance, including an overall average of 3.70 and a thesis of quality sufficient for oral presentation to scholars in the candidate's field.

Highest Honors  represents completion of the program with exceptional performance, including an overall average of 3.70 and a thesis of a quality suitable for publication.

Thesis Guidelines

Guidelines and deadlines for submission of theses will be available to students who are currently enrolled in the Honors Program.

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College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Department of History

Honors thesis abstracts.

This thesis will delve into the legacy that the short-lived Liberal Republican Party and its leaders had on American politics, and more specifically, the end of Reconstruction. It will explore the reasons why it broke off from the Republican Party as well as the corresponding platform it and its nominee Horace Greeley proposed in the 1872 election against Ulysses Grant. The thesis will seek to explain how, despite the party’s defeat in the election, it would have an immediate impact on the American political landscape. It will seek to explain how the ideas espoused by the Liberal Republicans became mainstream in American politics as issues of labor and the political economy superseded those of Reconstruction and civil rights for the federal government as well as for the American populace more generally. The thesis will conclude discussing the 1876 election and the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 as events which encapsulate the complete transition from the Reconstruction Era to the Gilded Age.

In 1936 the seeds of fascism were planted in Spain. Nationalist forces led by General Fransisco Franco looked to overthrow the democratically elected government of Spain. A bloody civil war lasting three years would ensue. The democratically elected government would not fight this war alone though. Thousands of leftists from across the world would come to Spain in the form of International Brigades. The American brigadistas came to be known as the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Unfortunately, the loyalist government suffered defeat at the hands of fascist forces and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade returned to the United States of America. Upon their arrival home, they found themselves facing discrimination by the FBI, the United States Armed Forces, and their fellow Americans. My project discusses anti-communism in America and its evolution over time. I also delve into what incentivized the Abraham Lincoln Brigade to leave their homes and take up arms in Spain. In my project, I conclude that the security apparatus of the United States of America historically exists largely to quell leftist thought. Furthermore, despite anti-communist sentiment’s prevalence being largely associated with the Red Scare and the era of McCarthyism it was still abundant in the United States between these eras as showcased by the events surrounding the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

Nicholas Ricciardi

The Oracle of Delphi often appears in ancient Greek history due to its prominent place as a cult site and also for its association with colonization. Since both Delphi and the migrations of Greeks in the Mediterranean were so important in the Archaic and Classical periods, the intersection of the two has been the interest of historical scholarship since the late 19th century. Many primary sources such as Pindar, Herodotus, Thucydides, Diodorus, and Plutarch have been consulted in order to get a grasp on where Delphi fits into the broader colonial narratives contained therein. Modern scholars often use different methods in order to answer this question of prehistoric foundations, including positivist historical methods, as well as “cultural poetics” of analyzing motifs and story structure. Both of these ways of thinking are used here to parse the foundation stories in order to find what role Delphi had in the process.This thesis argues for a limited role for Delphi in legitimizing ancient Greek colonial foundations, particularly those associated with the Dorian peoples. The above methods were used to find that Delphi tended to appear quite rarely in colonial foundation stories, but where it was present, it played an active and sometimes lasting role of giving divine sanction in the narratives. Particularly curious was the finding that the majority of the plausible foundation oracles were sought by founders coming from the Peloponnese, with Delphi being noticeably absent in the foundation stories of other Greeks.

Amanda Rutha, “What’s in a Name? The Decline of the one-China Policy in America” 

In 1979, the United States officially switched diplomatic ties from the Republic of China to the People’s Republic of China. This switch would establish the one-China Policy, in which the US recognized that the PRC was the sole representative government of China and acknowledged China’s stance that Taiwan was a part of China. However, the once mighty one-Chinapolicy has steadily lost influence since its official inception under Carter. Starting with the Carter administration and ending with Obama, this thesis utilizes US policies and American media to investigate how and why the one-China policy has weakened. Specifically, this paper argues that the policy has declined in power in three stages. Originally, the policy weakened when the Soviet Union fell, then when Taiwan established itself as a democracy, and finally when Presidents preferred to stick to the “status quo” above all else. Overall, the one-China policy holds a fraction of the power and recognition it held 45 years ago.

Christopher Tyburski

The construction of the Interstate Highway system in the United States of America displaced a significant number of individuals. Many of the displaced were low-income or minority. Hartford, Connecticut is at the intersection of Interstate 84 and Interstate 91. This paper uncovers the history behind the planning and construction of Interstate 84 in Hartford. Through a historical narrative and OLS regression analysis, I argue that the highway was planned on economic grounds, adversely impacted racial segregation in Hartford when combined with urban renewal, and did not create a Freeway Revolt in the city. However, West Hartford’s activism in opposition to the highway was ahead of its time and may provide an early example of organized Interstate resistance. This paper is an example of multi-disciplinary scholarship and contributes to the study of urban highways’ economic and social impacts.

Elisabeth Bienvenue, “ La Vie en Chant: The Role of Songbooks in Twentieth Century Franco-American Survivance” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Nancy Shoemaker

The Chants Populaires des Franco-Américains were a collection of songbooks published by the Union Saint-Jean-Baptiste d’Amérique in Woonsocket, Rhode Island from 1929-1962. These songbooks should be considered as part of “ la survivance ” (“the survival”), a mindset in which the Franco-Americans of New England sought to preserve the French language, Catholic faith, and cultural ties to Quebec and Acadia in future generations. This paper argues that survivance was both a political and cultural phenomenon and that while the politicized survivance movement fell out of favor after the divisive reform effort known as the Sentinelle Affair ended in 1928, the cultural aspects of survivance endured for several more decades. While the songbooks serve as a powerful example of the importance of music and culture among Franco-Americans of the twentieth century, the songbooks themselves did not survive in mass distribution, but they successfully contributed to the movement to create a cultural legacy among New Englanders of Franco-American descent.

Michael Fox, ““A Strange Thing for the Foot to Guide the Head”:Freedom of Speech in Elizabethan Parliaments Thesis Advisor: Dr. Meredith Rusoff

Freedom of speech is a right that many in the United States, and the Western world, take for granted as something that is critical for any modern democratic society to function. However, this has not been the case for the vast majority of Western, and human, history. It is during the early-modern period, specifically the Enlightenment, that concepts such as freedom of speech were developed, and eventually became fully encoded in law. Britain, more specifically England, led the way in the development of freedom of speech within its Parliament, and the practice of common law. Similar to how the government itself evolved in England, so too did its concept of what rights and liberties could be exercised.

Michael Francomano, “The Influence of the United States on Nuclear Laws” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Alexis Dudden

The United States government has influenced the laws surrounding the use of nuclear weapons from the moment of their first use against a civilian population in 1945. These efforts include countless measures taken to absolve the United States from responsibility for their actions. This is especially seen in the Marshall Islands where US government efforts to abjure legal responsibility to help those directly impacted by radioactive fallout resulting from weapons testing between 1945 and 1962 abound as do efforts to attend the natives that were completely displaced from their home islands destroyed in the name of nuclear testing. These actions span to current day warfare. In so doing, the United States government defies international laws prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons in war in the form of armor piercing rounds of munitions made out of depleted uranium (used as recently as 2015 in Syria). The legality of these weapons is something that remains a gray area in international law, and a major contributor to that is the fact that the United States has used its power and history with nuclear weapons to influence the creation of new precedents and disregard the laws that have already been in place.

Jenifer Gaitan, “ Salir Adelante : Exploring the Systems of Support of First-Generation Latinx College Students in Their Pursuit of Higher Education” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Ariel Mae Lambe

This thesis explores both the obstacles and systems of support of first-generation Latinx college students as they complete their undergraduate education. The history of the Latinx community in the US and their fight for education is detailed. An analysis is provided of the impact of social, cultural, and economic conditions and the role of immigration in the lives of this student demographic. Finally, this thesis contributes to this area of study through the analysis of ten qualitative interviews that were conducted of first-generation Latinx college students in the last year. Several obstacles that students faced were related to finances, gendered expectations, serving as the middleperson between their families and U.S. institutions. Students identified both formal and informal sources of support, which came from student organizations, mentors, their peers, as well as workshops and presentations. These student’s experiences illustrate the importance of having culturally competent resources and material support available in the form of scholarships, computers, and textbooks to ease financial and other burdens.

Arieta Jakaj, “Cosmic Harmony and the Death of Music: Florentine Music Theory and Its Influences During the Late 16 th Century (1573-1587)” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Ken Gouwens

The leaders of Florence’s late Renaissance musical scene — the Florentine Camerata or Camerata de’ Bardi (1573-1587) — believed that music in their own time was dying. To help remedy this, they wanted to bring back Ancient Greek musical forms and theories. Did the Renaissance music masters of late-16th Century Florence know that they could never truly replicate the legendary musical past of Ancient Greece? It is clear from the writings of theorists in Cinquecento Italy that they were very aware of their limitations; Ancient Greek music could never be fully replicated. However, the members of the Florentine Camerata still reflected on Ancient times and sought to pull the past to their present. The Camerata’s focus on the past seemed to represent an ever-present need, a longing, for the past to be real and palpable sonically in Cinquecento Italy. Out of this arose a more formidable question: With little music documentation and notation left from Ancient Greece, separated by a span of over a millennium and a half, why did these musicians of the Italian Renaissance decide to revitalize Ancient forms, knowing they could never achieve exactly what the surviving literature promised? During my investigation, I intend to explore the key Greek musical thought that survived from Ancient times and which aspects of this thought appealed to the Camerata. Furthermore, I shall analyze the debates that ruled the Camerata’s discussion and the results of their attempts to recapture the sound of Ancient Greece. It is my intention to evaluate the validity of the conclusion that I have come to during my research, which is that the intellectuals of the Florentine Camerata were concerned with the power of music to develop the soul and wanted to imitate the Ancient Greeks to capture the power of that influence, all while still experimenting and testing the boundaries of Renaissance music.

Madison May, “Persecution Reaps Freedom: the Impact of the War Against Nazi Germany on the American Civil Rights Movement” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Charles Lansing

This senior honors thesis examines the experience of African Americans during World War II, abroad and on the home front. The guiding questions for this study include: what was the relationship between the Second World War and the Civil Rights Movement?; What did Black soldiers and journalists, at home and abroad, think about the fight against Nazism?; Did the existence of the atrocities committed during World War II accelerate social change? Finally, what connections did Black Americans make with Jewish persecution? Although work has already been done on this topic, this thesis is original in its source content and builds upon the past work of others. Sources for this thesis include a mixture of books, articles, monographs, oral histories, and newspaper articles. There are twenty-two interviews by Black World War Two veterans and twenty-five articles from African American newspapers used as research, spanning from 1933, when the Nazis came to power, to 1946, a year after the war ended. It has been concluded from the research that African American experience during World War II did in fact serve as a spark for the Civil Rights Movement, and social change in general.

Abigail Meliso, “Greek Women and the Theatre: An Analysis of the Presence and Participation of Women in Ancient Greek Theater” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Joseph McAlhany

Western drama can trace its lineage back thousands of years to classical Greece. We see the impact of classical playwrights still in modern theater, as well as various other areas of our society. Even now, students are assigned Antigone in high school and Oedipus has had his troubles immortalized in psychiatric jargon. However, as ubiquitous and easily accessible as it is now, scholarship throughout the years has debated how inclusive classical Greek theater was, particularly in regards to whether women were permitted to participate in or even observe performances. While it has proven popular to deny this possibility, given the occasional raunchiness of the plays and the limited autonomy of women at the time, some evidence suggests that, not only were women present in the audience of theatrical festivals, but sometimes a few select women would perform publicly.

Nicole Mooradd, “’Just Be Glad’: Fiction for Girls during the Progressive Era, 1897-1920” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Peter Baldwin

Prior to the early twentieth century, most children’s books were written for boys and focused on a specifically masculine set of characteristics. Following the release of Little Women in the mid-nineteenth century and the emergence of first-wave feminism, the Progressive Era brought about a new time for literature to thrive, specifically books written explicitly for female children. Many of these books written for girls were by female authors and focused on domestic stories of girls going through an average and expected life. These stories reflect the distinct gender roles expected for female children to adhere to as they grow older and enter into adulthood. This essay argues that these stories use “goodness” and its influence on the concept of feminine duty to highlight typical feminine gender roles that the authors want young readers to emulate as they grow older. Although the women’s place was changing in society, there were still a continuing emphasis of domesticity, womanhood, and childhood that females could not escape. I will focus on three domestic fiction stories, Kate Douglas Wiggins Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm , Eleanor H Porter’s Pollyanna , and Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables to explore these themes. These stories were staples of literature that were popular for young American girls during the Progressive Era and continue to be incredibly famous stories that influence society in the present.

Shankara Narayanan, Knowing China, Losing China: Discourse and Power in U.S.-China Relations Thesis Advisor: Dr. Alexis Dudden

The U.S. government’s 2017 National Security Strategy claimed, “China and Russia challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.” 1 Three years later, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the U.S. foreign policy community’s discursive shift towards Realist competition with China, with officials from the past three presidential administrations coming to view China as a threat to democratic governance and America’s security posture in Asia. The discourse underpinning the U.S.-China relationship, however, remains understudied. During key moments in the relationship, U.S. policymakers’ Realist intellectual frameworks failed to account for Chinese nationalism, suggesting a problem embedded within America’s strategic discourse. This manuscript uses discourse analysis to analyze why and how American officials failed to create a strong, united, and democratic China during the Marshall Mission (1945-1947), arguing that the use of Realist constructs, great-power frameworks, and theories of geopolitical realism prevented them from accounting for Mao Zedong’s postcolonial nationalism, leading to the Mission’s failure. ___________________

1 “National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” The White House, December  2017,  https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/NSS-Final-12-18-2017-0905.pdf

Kasey Schempf, “Unveiling the Feminist Character of Vivien Kellems” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Peter Baldwin

Vivien Kellems was undoubtedly a crusader for tax equality, inspiring many later movements. The Connecticut businesswoman openly despised the Federal Income Tax, among other taxes. She certainly wasn’t afraid to share her opinion, even if it wouldn’t make her any friends. However, in the late 1960s, Kellems began to appeal to a new demographic: young, unmarried women. She moved away from her radical, conservative language and assumed the role of the “spinster,” advocating for younger women. She aligned herself with the movement against the Singles Penalty, or the notion that single tax filers were “penalized” for remaining single. As a result, Kellems is typically praised by scholars as a feminist leader and supporter of Second-Wave Feminism.

This paper aims to examine the transformation of Vivien Kellems from a radical political character to a common household name as she strategically campaigned for single tax filers. Moreover, this study will highlight the activist efforts of Kellems and investigate the possibility of a “feminist rebranding” to secure more supporters for her true motive: to overhaul the American tax system.

Renee Semple, “Preferred Narratives and Their Impact on Historical Memory: An Examination Through Comparison of Twentieth Century Pandemics” Thesis Advisor: Dr. Shirley Roe

Societal response to a crisis and the narratives that emerge from the event(s) often vary and oppose one another. A narrative can be considered a point of view or a lens that is often cultivated through experiences and carries its own tone while telling events. This thesis compares the narratives that emerged from both the 1918 and 1957 influenza pandemics. Examining the 1918 influenza pandemic reveals both a public and a private narrative, in which the public narrative is the preferred out of the two. Filled with optimism, the preferred public narrative focused on moving forward and furthering scientific research—a modernist view that overshadowed the private narrative. This pattern is discovered in the influenza pandemic of 1957; the two narratives emerge, with the public one as the preferred narrative. By comparing these two pandemics within fifty years of one another, it is clear that a pattern of societal response and preferred narratives emerges out of these public health crises. The narratives created during the pandemics persisted afterwards by influencing the cultural memory and perpetuating instances of historical erasure.

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Home > CAPSTONE > HONORSTHESES > 461

Honors Theses

Anarchism, dreaming, and technology as cures to sexual violence in ursula k. le guin’s the dispossessed and the word for world is forest.

Anastasia Fowler , Bates College Follow

Department or Program

This thesis explores the depiction of sexual violence in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Hainish Cycle, which includes The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), The Word for World is Forest (1972), and The Dispossessed (1974). Viewed through the perspective of Second Wave Feminism, which emerged in the 1970s and saw heightened attention to rape, these texts provide valuable insights into how science fiction explores sexual violence and where Le Guin situates herself within the feminist discourse. Chapter One examines an understudied scene in The Dispossessed that illustrates, with sensual language, protagonist Shevek’s sexual assault of a woman. I contribute to the limited literary discourse, including writer Samuel Delaney, that processes and attributes meaning to this scene. I also address and contemplate the novel's swift transition from the scene. I argue that Le Guin casts her hero in a new light–or darkness–to accentuate her ambiguous utopia to the degree that it is vague. As Le Guin paves her protagonist’s downfall, she simultaneously presents a redemption for his sexual assault: the collectivity of anarchism. In this chapter, I turn to Le Guin’s androgyny experiment, The Left Hand of Darkness, which offers her proclivity towards gender essentialism. Her perspective on gender elucidates Shevek’s capacity for masculine violence. His eventual embrace of anarchism signifies a shift towards androgyny. I assess the novel’s delicate and tender treatment of sex and love as a foil to the worlds of The Dispossessed–Urras and Anarresti. Chapter Two tackles The Word of the World is Forest, which offers an examination of inter-group violence originated by acts of rape. Does rape cause the Althsheans’ metamorphosis into violent individuals? World is Forest, I argue, suggests that sexual violence is an innate male trait that requires another cure: dreaming and technology. Le Guin’s texts demonstrate how science fiction operates as an outlet to portray the pernicious consequences of sexual violence. At the time and years later, critics struggled to assess or interpret Le Guin’s feminism. A focus on sexual violence helps to understand how her detailed utopias interact with contemporary science fiction and 2nd Wave Feminism.

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Restricted: Campus/Bates Community Only Access

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Dillon, Steven

Date of Graduation

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Bachelor of Arts

Recommended Citation

Fowler, Anastasia, "Anarchism, Dreaming, and Technology as Cures to Sexual Violence in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and The Word for World is Forest" (2024). Honors Theses . 461. https://scarab.bates.edu/honorstheses/461

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Since May 03, 2024

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University of Notre Dame

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BFA/BA Honors Thesis Exhibition

Time: Sun May 12, 2024, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm (part of a series)

Location: AAHD Galleries, 214/216 Riley Hall (View on map )

View the annual exhibition of the culminating thesis projects created by the students graduating with a BFA or BA Honors​ degree from the University of Notre Dame, Department of Art, Art History & Design. An opening reception will occur on May 1 from 5 pm to 7 pm . The show will run from May 1–19, 2024 .

BFA Candidates Julia Cutajar Katherine Gaylord Mae Harkins Christina Sayut Luis Sosa Manubes Jessica Stehlik

BA Honors Candidates Payton Oliver CJ Rodgers Mary Votava Emma Kirner

Originally published at artdept.nd.edu .

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Congratulations to our 2023–24 honors graduates.

May 14, 2024

Art Management student Samantha Oleschuk at her thesis defense

The Art Department supported a total of 18 students in their journeys to graduate with honors in the 2023-2024 academic year. The students, from majors across the department, did outstanding work in their honors coursework and on their honors theses: independent research and creative projects developed and implemented under the support of two faculty members.

In Fall 2023, Addie Clark (Art Management) and Sofie Salcedo (BFA Studio) defended their theses and graduated with University Honors. Grace Moffitt (Commercial Photography) and Hannah Little (BFA Studio) graduated with Honors in Art. Emma Rose Hanley and Shannon Casey (both BFA Art Education) and Zaria Gray (Graphic Communications Management) also defended their honors theses and will graduate with Honors in Art in 2024.

Emma Hanley

Of her thesis project and related exhibition, Emma Hanley wrote, “This thesis show was an exploration into different methods of learning through doing, learning through exploring, and learning by listening to art making processes…. I learned how the art classroom becomes a place where students learn to be, and is one of the few opportunities we get in school for free expression. Giving students the opportunity to figure out methods and materials, and problem solve their way through making, has become an invariable method of my own teaching, and allows students a pathway to learn critical thinking.”

Zaria Gray is the first Graphic Communications Management student to graduate with departmental honors. The logo she created for the Southern Regional Honors Council , a professional organization for Honors colleges and programs in the Southeast, won first place in their design contest. She traveled to the conference in April to accept her award.

Lanie Sorrow

In Spring 2024, Samantha Oleschuk (Art Management) will graduate with both Honors in Art and University Honors. Lanie Sorrow and Gabi Ramirez Ramirez (both BFA Graphic Design) will graduate with University Honors. Em Player, a Psychology major with a minor in Studio Art, also completed University Honors with an interdisciplinary thesis under the direction of an Art Department faculty member.

Of her Honors experience, Samantha Oleschuk wrote, “My Honors experience was nothing short of influential. I was exposed to a variety of different perspectives and academic subjects that taught me how to employ an interdisciplinary approach in all my work. Equipped with this knowledge, I was able to conduct interdisciplinary research for my Honors Thesis project focused on creative aging programs that investigated critical intersections between arts, aging, public health, and policy. Such an emphasis on all things interdisciplinary over the last four years has shown me that our work in one sector of our society–in my case, the arts–is inherently connected to work in all others.”

Em Player explained, “Within my thesis project, I created an organization that will still stand once I leave Boone, created a body of artwork I'm incredibly proud of, and curated an art show within the queer community that I am even more proud of. Overall, this experience allowed me to highlight the power of art and connection to create catharsis in the queer community, especially as this community relates to institutionalized religion.”

The following students also defended their theses in Spring 2024 to receive Honors in Art: Hailey Jordan, Camille Kerner, and Gideon Chasey (all BFA Studio majors); Katie Randall (BFA Graphic Design); Olivia Hoagland (BA Art Management); Lydia Smith (BA Studio); and Camden McManamy (BA Art History).

Hailey Jordan

For her thesis project, Hailey Jordan created a body of work and held a solo exhibition at the campus Looking Glass Gallery . Of her honors experience she wrote, “Creating a solo show for the first time was a wonderful experience and having such an amazing team of people to help guide me in that process made a world of a difference. Jeana, Phyllis, and the Looking Glass Gallery team cared about me and my work so greatly and I am eternally appreciative of their support. It has definitely set me up for success as I continue my art career and apply to galleries for future shows, and shown me that I am capable of creating a cohesive body of work and sharing it with the world.”

The Art Department and the Honors College are grateful to the many Art Department faculty who supervised or served as second readers on honors theses: Prof. Jeana Klein, Prof. Erin Ethridge, Prof. Lisa Stinson, Prof. Jody Servon, Prof. Stephen Parks, Prof. April Flanders, Prof. Travis Donovan, Dr. Jim Toub, Dr. Erin Peters, Prof. Mark Nystrom, Prof. Phyllis Kloda, Dr. Lorraine Affourtit, Prof. Tim Ford, Prof. Jessica Greenfield, Dr. Kate Wurtzel, Dr. Mira Waits, Prof. Andrèa Connell, Dr. Kevin Howell, Prof. Tome Reeves, Prof. Andrew Caldwell, and Prof. Anna Buckner.

From outside the department, Dr. Anna Cremaldi (Philosophy and Religion) directed one thesis, and Dr. Krista Lewis (Anthropology), Dr. Randall Reed (Philosophy and Religion), Dr. Gini Grandi (Theatre and Dance), Prof. Ginger Hansen (Communication), Dr. Andrea Burns (History), shauna caldwell (Turchin Center for the Visual Arts), and community member Shivonne Quintero served as second readers.

The Art Department Honors Program is directed by Dr. Mira Waits, with Dr. Heather Waldroup serving as Interim Director in Spring 2024 while Dr. Waits is on research leave.

School of Criminology

In memory of Robert M. Gordon

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The School of Criminology is deeply saddened to announce the passing of professor emeritus Robert Gordon on April 25, 2024. Rob was a key figure in shaping the School as it is today and his contributions will be felt for years to come.

Known affectionally by some as “the captain”, Rob held several pivotal roles during his time at Simon Fraser University, including a six-year stint as associate dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS), and 15 years as the director of the School of Criminology . He was also a founding director of the International Cybercrime Research Centre , co-founder of the Centre for Restorative Justice, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Forensic Research.

As associate dean, Rob was instrumental in the start-up of the FASS One program for first-year students and shepherded the creation of the Department of World Languages and Literatures . He also designed, implemented and directed the University’s highly-renowned Master of Arts in Applied Legal Studies program.

Outside SFU, Rob was a consultant to different levels of government in Canada and beyond, serving on advisory boards and panels dealing with a range of legal and criminal issues, such as adult guardianship, adult protection, and mental health law. Rob worked tirelessly for many years in drafting legislation in B.C., Yukon, and other Canadian jurisdictions, as well as working on similar reforms in Eastern Europe on behalf of the Council of Europe. In 2013, the Governor General of Canada awarded him the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for his work on these issues.

He was also a prolific writer, having authored numerous books, book chapters, journal articles, and official reports on youth crime and youth gangs, adult guardianship law, adult protection law, health law, the abuse and neglect of the elderly, and restorative justice. He was a member of several professional associations including the American Society of Criminology and the Western Society of Criminology .

Well-known as British Columbia’s go-to expert for analysis on crime and policing, Rob became a sought-after voice for all major Canadian and international news outlets over the years. Whether he was out on his tractor or taking a well-deserved vacation, Rob was always quick to pick up the phone or return an email when a reporter contacted him. With more than 1,500 media mentions, he received his first SFU Newsmaker Award in 2007 and a Lifetime Achievement Award later in 2023 .

Although he will be deeply missed, Rob Gordon's contributions to the School of Criminology and Simon Fraser University will keep his spirit alive. We extend our thoughts and heartfelt condolences to professor Gordon's family and friends during this difficult time.

Tribute messages

The memory of Robert Gordon will be cherished by those who knew him, including his colleagues, students, and friends. If you wish to share a message of condolence, please send an email to  [email protected]

It is with deep and heartfelt sadness that I learned of the passing of Dr. Rob Gordon. While Rob was a great scholar, commentator and a person who provided great service to SFU, what I will remember most about Rob was the great down-to-earth human being he was. Rob was a great friend to me and the SFU Surrey campus. In meetings and gatherings, he would make us laugh, he would hold us accountable and he would pat you on the back when he saw a job well done. Rob may be gone but his legacy and influence will forever be with me.

Steve Dooley, Executive Director, SFU Surrey.

Though I only knew Professor Gordon superficially, his kindness, warmth and sincerity were immediately palpable. His vocational and allied accomplishments speak for themselves. Certainly, his rich legacy and proactive ambitions live on in those many students and colleagues whose studies and work he helped shape and enrich.

Gary Brown, former SFU Distance Education student

I had the good fortune of knowing Rob when we were fledgeling graduate students in sociology at the University of British Columbia in the early 1980s. I was amazed that he could fit his frame into a tiny midget MG sports car!  There was more amazement to follow. 

Rob demonstrated his leadership skills throughout the program, whether representing the departmental graduate students’ association, standing on principle for students, staff and students alike, encouraging us by example, and generous sharing of his time and skills.  He and I were office mates, drawing on one another’s humour, problem-solving, and shared commitment to seeing this doctoral program through.

We had a good fortune of securing tenure-track positions at SFU, thereby continuing our close friendship as colleagues from any decades. Once again, Rob stepped up as a leader in many roles, most significantly IMHO as a longtime Director of the School of Criminology. Devoted husband, father, colleague and friend, he has left a formidable legacy for the School and many other sectors. I will miss his friendship and comradeship. 

Brian Burtch, professor emeritus, Criminology, and former associate member, Gender, Sexuality, and Women Studies, SFU 

Rob Gordon was a force to be reckoned with in so many ways. In addition to being a dedicated teacher, prolific scholar and omnipresent media commentator, he was a major contributor to the life of SFU in his multiple roles as an academic administrator, member of the Senate and other bodies, and institutional sage. As President, I could always count on Rob for insight and advice which he dispensed with good humour and generosity. And while he took it upon himself to jokingly refer to me as “boss,” I never doubted who in the university truly merited the right to be called “captain.” 

Andrew Petter, CM, OBC, KC, president emeritus, professor emeritus, School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University

I send my condolences to Rob’s family, friends and colleagues. I worked with him for many years when I was dean and vice-president academic, and he contributed so much to SFU. Beyond his research and teaching he gave his time selflessly to collegial governance of the School of Criminology and FASS, as well as his work in Senate. He was very influential in developing and administering policy in areas of student discipline. Rob exemplified SFU’s commitment to the broader community and it sometimes seemed that he was CBC’s resident broadcaster on crime.

Rob was a wonderful person to work with. He was thoughtful and thorough and tried to see all sides of an issue. His kindness shone through his rather gruff exterior. He had a great sense of humour and approached running a university with a twinkle in his eye and a kindly mockery of the foibles of senior administrators.

Jon Driver, professor emeritus, Department of Archaeology

I am so sorry to hear of Rob Gordon’s passing, and my heartful condolences go out to his family, friends, colleagues and all those whose lives he touched. Over the years I relied on Rob’s wise counsel, and I was fortunate enough to work on the foundation he laid across so many programs and activities in FASS. Rob had a way of cutting to the heart of an issue (there is NO space), but always with humour and never unkindly. Rob was also a leader in my hometown, New Westminster, where his legacy lives on various civic and charitable organizations. Cheers Rob, and thank you.

Peter Hall, vice-provost and associate vice-president, academic, professor of urban studies, SFU

As the director of the then-World Literature Program and the founding Chair of WLL, I benefited from Associate Dean Gordon’s support over several years. Without his ongoing help in merging the Language Training Institute and the World Literature Program, we wouldn’t have the lovely department we have today. His support was invaluable to the department, and to me personally, and I’ll never forget it.

Melek Ortabasi, associate dean, undergraduate programs, teaching and learning, and student experience, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Such a loss. I can only fathom the amount of students and colleagues that feel this. I can still remember his voice so clearly and the accompanying eyebrow lift. He trusted my abilities, my intelligence and my commitment to the school. For that, I am forever grateful. Condolences to family and friends. His light will never dim and his voice echoing wisdom and confidence never waiver.

Jacqueline Faubert, PhD Crim

I was very saddened and shocked to learn of Rob Gordon's death. The notion of a world without Rob in it had never occurred to me, to be honest.

Always larger than life, Rob made a big impression when we first met at one of the annual gatherings of the Western deans' group. We had many memorable conversations over the years, particularly around the never-dull topic of academic integrity.

My condolences to Rob's friends and family. I had not seen him in a while and now I'm really going to miss him.

Julia Denholm, dean, Lifelong Learning, Simon Fraser University 

Rob Gordon was a true character. You sensed his presence when he entered a room. Larger than life, with piercing eyes, Rob was a man of great impression. During meetings and discussions, Rob was candid and pragmatic yet respectful and personable. Some individuals were ruffled by his no-nonsense, honest approach. When placed in command, he was an outstanding "Captain" navigating many stormy seas and troubled waters with ease. The School of Criminology was very fortunate to have him at the helm for so many years.

He gave so much of his time and energy into fostering positive change.  Rob really put his heart into the organization and.....into people. He cared. His influence was great and I know he will missed by many.

Rick Parent, police officer and associate professor (ret.), School of Criminology

I am saddened to hear of Rob Gordon’s passing. I first met him while I was a visiting professor of criminology at SFU in the early 1980s. He asked me to supervise a reading course in the Sociology of Law for his Ph.D. program. I happily did and realized that a student with his intelligence, wit, great social skills and ambition would do very well in his subsequent career.  He hit the ball out of the park in his career as a scholar, leader and someone concerned about connecting academics with real-world change and social justice. Over the decades I have had the good fortune to get together with him and it was always a delight.  He will be sorely missed by many.

Chuck Reasons, professor emeritus, Law and Justice, Central Washington University

Rob and I met when we were 16 years old and joined the Metropolitan Police cadets in London, UK, an educational and apprentice program for policing. We trained together and, at 19 years old, we became constables on the streets of London. He was stationed in North London, and I was in the centre of town.  We met frequently to chat about our lives as young constables dealing with the rigours of London in the 60s.

After a few years, I decided to move to Vancouver and joined the Vancouver Police Department. Robert departed the UK to join the Hong Kong Police. Discretion, and self-preservation, being the better part of valour, he moved on to Australia and joined the Melbourne Police. Our discussions of policing now broadened to an international perspective.

Our lives continued a parallel course. Rob left the police and attended Monash University in Melbourne and I moved on to UBC, Cambridge, and Sheffield Universities.

On one of our international chats, he spoke of the desire to move. I described the many attractions of Vancouver and the then-somewhat-new Simon Fraser University with its Criminology Department. He applied and was accepted. 

Rob and I spent many hours hiking in the North Shore mountains. Our frequent stops were because of laughter rather than the gruelling terrain. They were fun times.

These were the early days of police research and governance of police. Our more cerebral moments were spent on discussion of how policing could be enhanced; how the police could be made part of the weft and weave of the community, to support public safety.   

I would like to think that these early discussions as young constables in London and, decades later, as we hiked, laid the foundation for Rob’s stellar academic career.  His collegial approach and his observations and insights on policing issues will be missed.

Keith Taylor

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An introduction to Fourier decoupling theory

Tuesday, 21-May-2024 

Fourier decoupling theory was first introduced by Thomas Wolff in 2000. Since the proof of decoupling for the paraboloid by Bourgain and Demeter in 2014, decoupling has had a wide range of applications in analytic number theory, geometric measure theory, and PDE. For example, in 2015, the long standing main conjecture in Vinogradov's Mean Value Theorem, a conjecture about the number of integer solutions to a particular system of equations, was proven by Bourgain, Demeter, and Guth as a corollary of Fourier decoupling for the moment curve. In this talk, I will try to explain important features that make decoupling effective and explain various tools and techniques used when trying to prove and think about decoupling estimates.

Pure Mathematics

North Carolina State University

Tuesday 21 May 2024, 12:05 pm

Room 4082, Anita B. Lawrence