Honors
Honors Thesis in Anthropology
Students planning to enter MA/Ph.D. programs in Anthropology may want to consider conducting an honors thesis. To qualify, majors must have a minimum overall GPA of 3.3. A two semester sequence of weekly meetings with a faculty advisor is required.
Step 1: Pick a faculty advisor. Student must find a faculty advisor appropriate to their interests well before the semester in which they wish to begin the two course sequence for the honors thesis (Anth 4870 and Anth 4880). The faculty member and student will discuss possible options for conducting research with respect to a particular interest.
Step 2: Visit the Honors Program. The University Honors Program staff will assist you on a drop-in basis and will provide the proposal form for conducting an honors thesis. They can also provide guidance about the process.
Step 3: Write a summary of the proposed research. This summary must be approved by the faculty advisor, the chair of the department and the Honors Program. The summary should include what the student wishes to investigate, how it will be conducted, what the student expects to find, the significance of the research to anthropology and a list of references. Proposals for honors theses must be approved half a semester before the student expects to begin the two course sequence (Anth 4870 and Anth 4880).
Step 4: Enroll in Anth 4870. During the first semester, students read publications and collect data. The faculty advisor may ask for an annotated bibliography, evidence of data collection or other means to evaluate the student. The evaluation criteria must be established by the faculty advisor at the beginning of the semester.
Step 5: Enroll in Anth 4880: During the second semester, students conduct analysis and write the thesis. The final thesis is the usual requirement for evaluating students for the second semester. Drafts of the chapters are normally given to the faculty advisor who provides critique and suggestions for improvement. The final draft must be signed by the faculty advisor and delivered to the Honors Program generally 3-4 weeks before the end of the semester to allow enough time for the director of the Honors Program to evaluate the thesis.
