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The Honors ProgramThe department offers a special program for outstanding senior year students. The Honors Program is especially recommended for those students interested in pursuing graduate study in history or allied fields. It is also a particularly effective preparation for professional careers. Candidates for history honors are chosen during the spring quarter from among junior year students in history who have taken at least four upper-division courses in the department. Juniors with a 3.5 GPA in history (3.0 overall) are eligible to apply. Admission to the program is based on the students' academic work. Interested candidates should complete the application form (available in the Department of History office) prior to the middle of May.
What is the History Honors Program? The Honors Program is a three quarter sequence of courses for history majors, in which students focus on the theory and practice of historical research. Who Should Take the Honors Program? The Honors Program is designed for a limited number of students who have demonstrated excellence in the History Major. It is recommended for students who 1) have a strong interest in doing original research, 2) intend to pursue graduate study, in history or other professional fields, or 3) who intend to pursue work involving research. Many History Majors choose careers, from law to business to public administration, where the skills derived from conducting research are directly applicable. ELIGIBILITY The prerequisites for participation in the Honors Program are: 1) a GPA of 3.5 in the major (3.0 overall), 2) senior standing, and 3) the completion of AT LEAST four upper division history courses, including one colloquium (two are recommended). Students interested in the Honors Program who do not meet these requirements should consult with a faculty adviser. In some instances, one or more of the prerequisites may be waived. APPLICATION PROCESS Applications for the Honors Program should be submitted in the Spring Quarter for the following academic year. Forms are available in the Undergraduate Office, H&SS 5029. Complete applications must be submitted to the Undergraduate Coordinator by the 2nd Friday in May. Students will be formally notified of their admission into the Program by the end of the Spring Quarter. Students are expected to define a research topic and locate a faculty adviser before the beginning of the Fall Quarter. HONORS APPLICATION: To download a Word version, please click here To download a PDF version, please click here
STRUCTURE OF THE HONORS PROGRAM The History Major who chooses the Honors Program has a slightly different distribution of courses. Instead of seven courses in a major field, and five others, the Honors student takes six courses in a major field and three others. Three of these nine courses must be colloquia (normally numbered 160 and above). To satisfy one of the colloquia requirements, it is recommended that the Honors student take "History and the Historians," an introduction to historiographical approaches. In addition to the nine regular history courses, the Honors student will take the History Honors Seminar in the Fall Quarter (HITO 196). The Honors Seminar is taught by a different faculty member each year, and is designed for several purposes: 1) to provide a forum for the critique of research proposals and the exchange of ideas between all the Honors students; 2) to provide an introduction to research methods; 3) to provide an introduction to the study of history at a more advanced level. The other two courses in the Honors sequence are HITO 194 (History Honors), and HITO 195 (Honors Essay) usually taken in the Fall and Winter Quarters, but optional for Winter and Spring if necessary. (That is, HITO 194 and 196 are usually taken simultaneously.) This two quarter sequence represents the student's work on the Honors essay, the completion of which is the central goal of the Honors Program. Normally, the student will complete the research during the first quarter (HITO 194) and the writing during the second quarter (HITO 195), all under the supervision of a faculty adviser. To compete for the Rappaport Prize for best thesis, the Honors Essay must be completed by the end of the Winter Quarter. THE FACULTY ADVISER Locating an appropriate faculty adviser is one of the most important tasks of the Honors student. At the end of this brochure, there are short biographies of each of the faculty members, which provide a brief introduction to their research and teaching interests. All faculty are available to assist students in their Honors theses, but not every faculty member may be available every year. Thus, professors should be contacted as early as possible, preferably before the end of the Spring Quarter. If you know early on that you are likely to enroll in the Honors Program, try to establish a relationship with a likely adviser as soon as possible, for example by taking courses with them. Where appropriate, a student may seek an adviser in another department, but the selection must be approved by the Director of Undergraduate Studies and is only allowed when the project falls outside the purview of regular History faculty members. The role of the faculty adviser is to determine the feasibility of the project, to help locate sources, to suggest research methods, to read drafts of proposals and chapters, and to help with theoretical and conceptual problems. While the faculty adviser's job is to provide direction and feedback, the student is responsible for seeking out this feedback. Thus, it is up to the student to set up regular meetings with the adviser and to propose a timetable for submission of the prospectus, bibliographies, outlines and drafts of the thesis. If you are having problems with your adviser, you can discuss them with the Director of Undergraduate Studies. THE HONORS THESIS The Honors Thesis represents the most significant piece of work in the undergraduate program. It should be substantial in length (usually between 40 and 100 pages), and contain an original argument and conclusions based on the analysis and synthesis of the available materials on the subject. Primary research is encouraged where possible, but students are not expected to be able to read documents in a foreign language. The student is responsible for choosing a research topic, but its scope and feasibility should be approved by the faculty adviser. If possible, the student should begin conversations with the adviser during the Spring Quarter of the junior year. For appropriate models, students can consult the Honors theses, which can be checked out from the department's library (see the Undergraduate Coordinator). COMPLETING THE THESIS The thesis project, unlike most other history classes, is largely self-paced, requiring discipline and steady commitment. Students often find it helpful to break down the process into a series of stages, which allows for the steady development of the project and for regular feedback from the faculty adviser. The adviser should provide direction at each step, but once again, the student is responsible for turning in the work and for raising these issues. The following list provides a suggested sequence of stages for completing the thesis, but the exact order and structure can be worked out between the adviser and the student. 1) Prospectus: The first stage is to write a prospectus, which is a detailed description of your research project that includes a plan of action. The prospectus is meant to be a blueprint of and justification for your project. It should contain: a working title, a brief introduction of your topic, a presentation of your thesis (i.e., your argument, or the central questions you will attempt to answer), an explanation of the significance of the project, a brief discussion of what has been written about the topic, a tentative outline, and a preliminary bibliography. The student will also submit the prospectus to the HITO 196 Seminar, where it will be discussed by the class. 2) Annotated Bibliography: This is a more extensive bibliography that requires a brief review of the most important sources. Consult the librarians about search methods and bibliographical tools. Once you identify likely sources, you will evaluate the usefulness of each source to your project by conducting a cursory overview of each source and describing the ways the source will contribute to your research; that is, to annotate each source. 3) Formulate a Research Methodology: Describe your research design and methods. How will you conduct your research? What kinds of sources will you use? If primary sources are available, what are the problems or limitations with using them? Justify your research approach and how and why you chose your sources. Finally, discuss any potential methodology problems you foresee. 4) Write an Outline: Break down the thesis into chapters or parts, and organize the progression of your material and your argument. 5) Write Drafts of Chapters: For general formatting issues, such as footnote/endnote citations (full notes as opposed to parenthetical text citations are required), margins, the use of quotes, and so on, consult a style manual like the "Chicago Manual of Style". There is no required format, but each thesis must be internally consistent. 6) Submit a Rough Draft 7) Submit two copies of the Final Thesis, one to your adviser, and the second to the History Department, for the collection of Honors' Theses in the department's library. GRADING AND EVALUATION The three quarter Honors sequence is represented by three grades on the transcript: HITO 196 is an independent course, graded by the faculty member teaching the seminar. This grade counts in the student's record regardless of completion of or progress on the Honors thesis. The grade for HITO 194 will be a preliminary IP (in progress), which will be automatically changed at the end of the second quarter HITO 195 to the grade of the thesis. Thus, HITO 194 and 195 receive the same grade, awarded by the adviser at the completion of the thesis. Incompletes must be petitioned through the department. All Honors students who complete the thesis with a grade of "B" or better will graduate with honors. Those with a GPA in the major of: 3.5-3.79 will receive honors WITH DISTINCTION. 3.8-3.89 will receive honors WITH HIGH DISTINCTION. 3.9-4.0 will receive honors WITH HIGHEST DISTINCTION. Honors students are also encouraged to present their work at the UCSD Undergraduate Research Conference held in May. Students must be nominated by their faculty advisers in February, so interested students should notify their advisers. Although a public presentation of the thesis is not required, it is an excellent opportunity for developing oral skills that are essential in graduate study and many professional careers. All Honors students, along with their faculty advisers, will be invited to a luncheon celebrating their achievement at the end of the spring quarter. At the luncheon, the winner of the Rappaport Prize will be asked to do a short presentation on his/her thesis. THE RAPPAPORT PRIZE All Honors students are eligible to apply for the Rappaport Prize, an annual award of $100 given to the best history essay (usually an Honors thesis) written each year. The Rappaport Prize originated from a memorial fund established in 1983 for one of the founding members of the UCSD history department, Armin Rappaport. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Danielle Swenson
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