Program Overview

Senior Honors Thesis

The Senior Honors Thesis is a program offered by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Department of English and Comparative Literature.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Senior Honors Thesis, students must have and maintain a 3.3 overall GPA and a 3.6 in their major. If a student's overall or major GPA falls slightly under these cut-offs, they may petition to apply for the honors thesis with the proviso that both the overall and major GPA will meet these limits by the end of autumn term in the senior year. Transfer students who are junior transfer students qualify to write the honors thesis if they meet the overall GPA minimum (3.3) and have earned an A-minus grade or above in at least two classes in their major.

Application Information

The application process for the Senior Honors Thesis involves the following steps:

1. Fill out an application to pursue an honors thesis and schedule a meeting with the Director to have the application approved.
2. Choose an advisor, recommended to be a faculty member who has taught the student in a class and whose research or teaching interests intersect with the student's project.
3. Complete an Honors Thesis Learning Contract, which establishes an agreement between the student and their advisor concerning the frequency of meetings and a list of readings to be undertaken.

Registration and Grades

Once the application and contract are approved, students will be instructed to register for 691/692H. Students who have satisfactorily completed the first semester of a two-semester honors thesis will be given a temporary grade of 'S' (satisfactory) for their work. Once the thesis is completed, the advisor will submit a letter grade for each of the two semesters that the student is enrolled in the thesis.

Writing the Honors Thesis

The recommended timeline for writing the thesis includes:

• Spring before enrollment in 691H: Choose an advisor, fill out the application, and compile a bibliography or plans for summer reading.
• Summer before enrollment: Pursue some provisional or exploratory work on the thesis.
• Autumn thesis term: Weekly meetings with the advisor to discuss readings and plan the thesis, with the goal of beginning to write small portions of the thesis by mid-November.
• Spring thesis term: Writing and revising the thesis, with weekly meetings with the advisor to discuss writing and revision, and the goal of completing a full rough draft of the thesis by the end of February.

Submission and Defense

The anticipated due date for the spring is a close-to-final draft due the first Friday after spring break. This draft will be read by two outside faculty members serving on the student's oral defense. After the oral defense, the student will make any final corrections to the thesis and resubmit it.

F.A.Q.s

• How do I pick a topic?: Begin by considering what work you've most enjoyed doing in your major, and narrow the topic from there with the help of your advisor.
• How long should the thesis be?: In most cases, senior honors theses in English and Comparative Literature range between 35-80 pages, with guidelines tailored to the project by the advisor.
• An oral defense?: A productive, supportive conversation about your research, lasting about an hour, with faculty assigned based on their interests.
• Note: Students can 'opt out' of the second semester of the thesis by writing a 15-20 page paper to their advisor and earning credit for 691H as a stand-alone course.