English Departmental Honors

• A&S Departmental Honors Guidelines and Helpful Hints
• A&S Thesis or Project Approval Process, Deadlines and Forms

Guidelines for English Department Honors

• Purpose and Goals
• Acceptable Projects
• Funding for Projects
• Application and Eligibility
• Criteria for the Awarding of Departmental Honors
• Incomplete Projects
• Contact Information

Purpose and Goals

The Departmental Honors Program enables English majors with an exceptional record of academic achievement to design and conduct an advanced research/writing project under the direction of a full-time faculty member of their choice. Participation in this program will allow students to engage in the intensive study of language and literature, enhance their writing skills, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the discipline of English. The intellectual rigor of the Departmental Honors Program makes it especially valuable for those majors planning to do graduate work in English, or apply to law or other professional schools.

Acceptable Projects

Completion of an honors project is necessary for achieving Departmental Honors. Acceptable projects might include:

• A research paper of at least 50 pages, exclusive of notes and bibliography, on a literary topic. You may choose to focus on a particular period, writer, text, genre, or theme.
• A substantial selection of original poems, essays, short stories, or a short novel (usually 25 pages of poetry or 50 pages of prose), prefaced by at least 12-15 pages of research on both the literary tradition and the touchpoints of writing craft from which your creative thesis emerges.
• A creative or analytical project different from those outlined above that has been approved by your advisor and the Departmental Honors Coordinator.

Funding for Projects

Limited departmental funds may be available for students engaged in Departmental Honors projects. Legitimate requests for funds might involve expenses incurred through necessary travel to special collections libraries, or fees incurred through borrowing necessary materials unavailable in Alden Library. Students are strongly encouraged to apply for funding through the Provost's Undergraduate Research Fund (PURF), Student Engagement Fund or other undergraduate research-related initiatives. 

Application and Eligibility

Admission to the Departmental Honors Program involves obtaining the approval of the Departmental Honors Coordinator.  Eligibility requirements are as follows: 

• Students must have both an overall and major grade point average of 3.5.
• Students must identify a full-time faculty member who will consent to serve as an advisor for the project. This advisor's area of expertise should be relevant to the topic of the proposed project.
• By April 20^th of the student’s junior year, or at such time as to allow the student a minimum of two semesters, not including summers, to complete the program, the student must submit a prospectus, reviewed and signed by the advisor, to the Departmental Honors Coordinator.  The guidelines for the prospectus are described below.
• In their senior year, students must enroll in English 4990H for Fall and Spring Semesters for a total of up to 6 credit hours (3 hours per semester).
• Enrollment for fewer than 6 hours must be approved by the Departmental Honors Coordinator and the student’s thesis advisor.

Prospectus Guidelines

The goal of the prospectus is to provide an overview of your thesis topic and a potential roadmap for how the final project might be organized.  It must be at least  7-10 pages long, double-spaced, standard margins and 10- or 12-point font and include an annotated bibliography. The prospectus should include a tentative project title, a description of the project (e.g., its potential intended focus and a preliminary argument rooted in an ongoing scholarly conversation about this topic). The thesis prospectus should also provide a brief description of what potential project chapters might be. 

Students should aim to complete their prospectus by Week Five of the first semester of ENG 4990H enrollment.

Research Projects: The prospectus should list the primary text(s) that your thesis will discuss and the questions that your thesis will seek to answer.  It should also include an overview of the subtopics to be covered in each chapter, a preliminary bibliography of secondary sources to be consulted, and a timeline for the completion of your thesis. 

Creative Projects: The prospectus should describe the proposed contents of your thesis: roughly, how many poems/ stories/ essays will it include?  What will be the guiding themes or motifs?  What is the subject matter or source of inspiration?  The prospectus should also include a brief description and preliminary bibliography for the critical component of your thesis, as well as a timeline for its completion. 

Criteria for the Awarding of Departmental Honors

Departmental Honors will be awarded if students accepted for admission into the program meet the following criteria:

• Continue to maintain a 3.5 grade point average overall and in the major.
• Complete the schedule of research/drafting/writing/revision agreed upon by the student and the faculty advisor. Faculty advisors will submit evaluations of the student's progress at the end of each academic quarter; students will not be permitted to continue in the Departmental Honors Program if the evaluations of 4990H do not indicate satisfactory progress or performance on the project.
• Complete a Departmental Honors project that demonstrates an outstanding level of proficiency in research and analytical/creative writing. Evaluation of the project will be performed by the faculty advisor and the Departmental Honors Coordinator; their judgment on the matter of quality is not subject to appeal.
• Complete a Thesis/Project Submission Form with signatures from the faculty advisor and Departmental Honors Coordinator; this form must be sent to the Office of the Dean along with the thesis/project itself.
• The project must be completed and submitted to the faculty advisor and Departmental Honors Coordinator one week before the deadline for submission to the Dean's Office of the College of Arts and Sciences. Students wishing to have their name published in the commencement program as Departmental Honors graduates must deliver the signed thesis/project submission forms, along with the actual thesis or project, to the Office of the Dean by their deadline.

Students should also review the college guidelines for honors.

Incomplete Projects

Students who withdraw from the program will be given credit for the sections of 4990H that they have successfully completed; however, students failing to complete their thesis work satisfactorily and according to schedule will be removed from the program, and will be made ineligible for Departmental Honors.

Contact Information

All questions about Departmental Honors should be addressed to the Ohio University English Department Undergraduate Director:

Dr. Elizabeth Koonce.

Department of English

Ellis Hall 

Ohio University 

Athens, OH 45701 

kooncee@ohio.edu