Honors Concentration in English
To graduate with honors in English, students must complete a total of 12 credit hours of English honor courses of which 6 should be English 398 and English 498.
Freshman and Sophomore Honors Courses
For students who qualify, the Department offers specially designed courses at all undergraduate levels.
- English 118 (Honors English Composition) is an advanced version of English 101.
- English 207 and 208 (Honors British Literature I and II) and English 237 and 238 (Honors American Literature I and II) are honors versions of the sophomore survey courses in British and American literature.
For further information on Honors Freshman Composition, see our Freshman Honors page. In order to enroll in the sophomore survey honors courses, students must have a GPA of 3.25 or higher.
Junior-Senior Honors Program
The English Department Honors Program provides an opportunity for highly-motivated majors to study a literary topic together within an intensive seminar environment. In addition, it provides an opportunity for students to crown their careers as English majors by defining an individual project and writing a substantial scholarly or creative thesis. Because it involves advanced research, analytic, organization, and writing skills, participation in the honors program is an excellent preparation for graduate, law, or other professional school.
English 398 (Junior-Senior Honors Seminar)is given every fall by a distinguished member of the faculty in an area of her or his expertise. Enrollment is limited to 15 students. Seminars in the past few years have been offered on "Literature, Culture, and the Cold War," "Postmodern Women Writers," "Interracial American Literature," and "The Modernist Novel: An International Perspective." The Fall 2009 honors seminar, taught by Dr. Bill Hardwig is entitled “Science, Race, & American Literature, 1876-1940."
Application for English 398 takes place during Spring semester; application forms can be obtained in 311 McClung or by clicking on the link below.
Applications for Fall 2009 Junior-Senior Honors Seminar are due Wednesday, April 8. After this date students will be admitted on an individual basis until the course is filled. Students wishing more information about the seminar should contact the Office of Undergraduate Studies.
Students who receive a grade of A or B in English 398 are eligible to enroll in English 498 (Senior Honors Thesis). The senior honors thesis allows a student in the honors program to work on an independent creative or research project under the guidance of two members of the faculty. In addition to a thesis on a literary topic, students may elect to write a creative thesis involving poetry, fiction, or drama. Students in the past have also proposed and completed honors theses in rhetoric and technical communications. In order to receive the designation "Honors" in English on their transcripts, a student must have a 3.0 GPA or better, a 3.5 or better GPA in English courses, and grades of A or B in English 398 and 498.