Senior Honors Program (New Curriculum)

Undergraduate Program: Senior Honors Program (in the "New" 2006 Curriculum)

(This description is for students who enter UNC as first-year students in or after fall 2006, as sophomores in or after fall 2007, or as juniors in or after fall 2008)

Director: Jerma Jackson

The history honors program culminates in the writing of a Senior Honors Essay, a mature and polished piece of historical research and argument ranging from fifty to seventy pages.

Each year, at the beginning of the spring semester, the department invites the application of rising seniors who have an overall academic average of 3.3 or better, who (under normal circumstances) have an average of 3.4 or better in history courses, and who will have successfully completed at least one Undergraduate Seminar in History, 391-397.

The basic structure for the senior honors program is provided by History 691H and 692H, an intense year-long research and writing seminar conducted by the department's honors director. In addition to weekly seminar meetings with approximately fifteen students, each honors candidate holds regular meetings with an honors adviser, a faculty member with knowledge of the given field. During the fall semester (691H), students concentrate on defining a theme of research and interpretation, while simultaneously exploring the varieties of inquiry, research strategies, and writing styles common to the field. The objective of this semester is to complete a substantial portion of the honors thesis in draft form.

The spring semester (692H) is occupied with the completion of the final parts of the research essay. Following submission of the essay in late March, a period of evaluation begins. Each essay is initially read by the student's adviser and a second reader, before whom the student orally defends the work. This committee of two certifies the attainment of Honors and, in exceptional cases, recommends a work for consideration for Highest Honors. An honors prize committee makes the final determinations for Highest Honors and awards the Frank Ryan Prize to the best essay of the year. Awards are normally announced at a year-ending honors lunch celebrating the achievements of the department's distinguished undergraduates.

Applications should include:

• a one-page proposal, including a one-paragraph description of your topic, several questions you are asking about the topic (i.e., what you want to discover or learn), and a short list of sources, especially primary sources;
• the name of a history professor who has agreed to be your adviser and with whom you have discussed your topic;
• a sample of your writing in a history course (preferably, but not necessarily, a paper completed in an Undergraduate Seminar in History, History 391-397).

Applications are due by the end of February of the junior year. You will be notified about your acceptance into the honors program within a few weeks.