Program Overview
The Honors Program
The department offers this special program for outstanding students. The Honors Program is especially recommended for those students interested in pursuing graduate study in history or allied fields and is a particularly effective preparation for professional careers.
About the Program
The Honors Program is a two-quarter sequence of courses for history majors, in which students focus on the theory and practice of historical research. Honors program students have a slightly modified set of major requirements and are eligible to receive the Rappaport Prize.
Who Should Apply to the Honors Program
It is designed for a limited number of students who have demonstrated excellence in the History Major. It is recommended for students who:
- have a strong interest in doing original research
- intend to pursue graduate study, in history or other professional fields
- intend to pursue work involving research (law, business, public administration, and the like)
Honors Major Requirements (as of FA21)
Candidates for history honors should organize their upper-division coursework as follows:
Lower Division Requirement (3 courses)
- HILD or MMW or HUM
- HILD or MMW or HUM
- HILD or MMW or HUM
Upper Division (12 courses)
- HITO 100
Field Emphasis
- Upper Division Field Course
- Upper Division Field Course
- Upper Division Field Course
Non-Field Emphasis
- Upper Division Non-Field Course
- Upper Division Non-Field Course
- Upper Division Non-Field Course
Elective
- Upper Division Elective History Course
- Upper Division Elective History Course
Honors Courses
- HITO 196 Honors Colloquium (Fall)
- HITO 194 History Honors (Fall)
- HITO 195 History Essay (Winter) Note: Until the thesis is submitted and graded, the student's grade for HITO 194 will appear as IP (in progress). A letter grade will be assigned for both HITO 194 and HITO 195 once the thesis is submitted and graded by the advisor. If a student drops from the honors program after having completed HITO 194 but without submitting a thesis, they will be assigned a C- for HITO 194.
Pre-1800
At least 3 of the 12 upper division courses must be focused on the period before 1800.
- Upper Division Field or Non-Field Course
- Upper Division Field or Non-Field Course
- Upper Division Field or Non-Field Course
Colloquium
Honors students must complete three colloquia (courses numbered between 160-180) in total, two in addition to HITO 196.
- HITO 196 Honors Colloquium
- Upper Division Field or Non-Field Course
- Upper Division Field or Non-Field Course
Honors Program Admission
Requirements
Candidates for History Honors are chosen during the spring quarter. The Honor's Program is intended for students in their last year at UC San Diego. Admission to the program is based on the student's academic work. Students interested in applying must meet the following criteria:
- Junior standing
- A GPA of 3.5 in history upper-division courses (3.0 overall)
- the completion of AT LEAST four upper-division history courses, including one colloquium (two are recommended).
Honors Program Timeline
Honors Program Within the Four Year Plan
| Fall | Winter | Spring
---|---|---|---
YR 1 | | |
YR 2 | | |
YR 3 | | | Apply to Honors Program
YR 4 | HITO 196 - Honors Seminar
HITO 194 - Honors History | HITO 195 - Honors Essay | Rappaport Prize
Spring Quarter
(before your last year at UC San Diego)
Apply for the Honors Program
Applications for the Honors Program are due the Second Friday of May.
Summer
Enroll in HITO 196 and 194
Fall Quarter
HITO 196 - Honors Seminar
HITO 194 - History Honors
Winter Quarter
HITO 195 - The Honors Essay
A final draft of your thesis is due to your advisor during finals week.
The Honors Thesis
The Honors Thesis represents the most significant work in the undergraduate program. It should be an article length paper (30-50 pages, double-spaced) and contain an original argument and conclusions based on the analysis and synthesis of the available materials on the subjects.
The Faculty Advisor
Locating an appropriate faculty advisor is one of the most important tasks of the Honors student.
Faculty Advisor's Role
The role of the faculty advisor is to determine the project's feasibility, help locate sources, suggest research methods, read drafts of proposals and chapters, and help with theoretical and conceptual problems.
Grading and Evaluation
The three-quarter Honors sequence is represented by three grades on the transcript: HITO 196 is an independent course taken during the fall term, graded by the faculty member teaching the seminar. The grade for HITO 194 will be a preliminary IP (in progress) after the fall term. Until the thesis is submitted and graded, the student's grade for HITO 194 will appear as IP. A letter grade will be assigned for both HITO 194 and HITO 195 once the thesis is submitted and graded by the advisor.
Armin Rappaport Prize & Winning Theses
About the Prize
Established in 1983, the Armin Rappaport Memorial Fund endows an annual prize for the graduating history major whose scholarship is outstanding. Honors students must submit their revised thesis to the committee by the second Friday in April. All Honors students are considered for the prize.
Past Recipients
- Benjamin Carson, War of Words: Wabanaki Legal Diplomacy in the Dawnland
- Mia Elliott, 'Dressing Up the Movement': The Uniforms of the Black Panthers, Brown Berets, and Young Lords
- Spencer Cheng, Harmonizing the Divine: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Eleusinian Mysteries through Music, Dance, and Entheogens
- Kasey Flowers, Colonial Yucat an: Indigenous Experiences and the Persistence of Tradition in Conversion and Conquest
- Ryan Dilworth, Understanding Holocaust 'Singularity': The Memory Sought vs. the Memory Achieved between the Historikerstreit and the 'Catechism' within the German Federal Republic
- Natalie Novella, Tale as Old as Time: Three Brazen Empresses, One Fateful Apple, and The Resulting Woes of Men
- Liam McKee, Slaves To A Myth: Irish Indentured Servitude, African Slavery, and the Politics of White Nationalism
- Yuwei Zhou, The Spatial and Social Organization of Bronze Production System in Anyang
- Hannah von Heidegger, Galloping onto the Throne: Queen Elizabeth I and the Symbolism of the Horse
- David Dawson, Inviolable Motherhood: The Far-Right and The Battle Against The Conscription of Women During The Second World War
- Christian Hillman, A Crust of Bread, For the Love of God! The Ottoman Homefront in World War I
- Luke A. Mitchell, The Crescent and the Eagle: The"Turk" as Political Rhetoric in Newspapers of the Early American Republic
- Cameron Towne, From One Mighty Movement to 100% Americanism: David Lasser and the Co-Optation of the Worker's Alliance of America
- Amanda Gardner, Scientific Temperance and Scientific Men: Physiology as an Unbiased Solution to the Liquor Problem
- Ryan Gingeras, British Press Coverage of the Illinden Uprising of 1903 and the Conceptualization of the Balkans