Honors Program

Director of the Honors Program: Darcy Buerkle (2007-08)

                                                Jennifer Guglielmo (2008-09)

History 430d Thesis

8 credits

Full-year course; Offered each year

History 431 Thesis

8 credits

Offered Fall semester each year

Requirements of the Honors Program:

The Departmental Honors program is a one-year program taken during the senior year. Admission requires a grade-point average of 3.5 inside and outside the major. Students who plan to enter Honors should present a thesis project, in consultation with an adviser, during of the spring semester of their junior year. Students must apply no later than the second week of classes of the fall semester of their senior year.

The central feature of the History Honors program is the writing of a senior thesis. Each Honors candidate defends her thesis at an oral examination in which she relates her thesis topic to a broader field of historical inquiry, defined with the approval of the Director of Honors. A fall-semester thesis is due the first day of the spring semester, with the oral defense normally falling before spring break. A year-long thesis is due the Monday after spring break, with the oral defense normally following about three weeks later.

The History Honors major comprises eleven semester courses, at least six of which shall normally be taken at Smith, distributed as follows.

1. Field of concentration: four semester courses, at least one of which

is a Smith History department seminar. Two of these may be

historically oriented courses at the 200-level or above in other

disciplines, approved by the student's adviser.

2. The thesis counting for two courses (8 credits).

3. Five History courses or seminars, of which four are outside

the field of concentration.

4. No more than two courses taken at the 100-level may count toward

the major.

5. Geographic breadth: among the 11 semester courses counting

towards the major there must be at least one course each in three of

the following geographic regions.

Africa

East Asia and Central Asia

Europe

Latin America

Middle East and South Asia

North America

          Courses in the field of concentration and outside the

          field of concentration may be used to satisfy this

          requirement. AP credits may not be used to satisfy

          this requirement.

Courses cross-listed in the History Department section of the catalogue count as History courses toward all requirements.

A student may count one (but only one) Advanced Placement examination in United States , European, or World history with a grade of 4 or 5 as the equivalent of a course for 4 credits toward the major.

The S/U grading option is not allowed for courses counting toward the History Honors major.

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