General Requirements
History Honors Majors are required to take two courses: H380/H4934 (History Honors Research Methods); H397/H4997 (History Honors Thesis Seminar). It is highly recommended that students take H380 and H397 in sequence; students may take the two courses concurrently. Professors from each of the three major fields in the department (American; European; African, Asian, Latin America) will alternate in teaching the seminar. Please be assured that students can develop the thesis topic of their choice regardless of the field of the instructing professor. The option of the faculty thesis advisor makes this choice possible.
Students are also required to submit a History Honors Thesis on the topic of their own choice which must be a minimum of 8,000 words exclusive of footnotes and bibliography by March 15 of their senior year or six weeks before graduation date.
In addition students must take four other Honors courses. These courses may be selected from History Honors courses or Temple Honors courses in other departments as long as you are careful to fulfill the distribution requirements for the History major.
We also highly recommend that students take H385/H4982 (History Honors Independent Study) with their faculty thesis advisor as one of these four electives.
*PLEASE NOTE: H4997 was formerly numbered W397, H397, and H4935. The course counts towards the writing-intensive requirement.
The Required Courses: What to expect
The History Honors Research Methods course (H380/H4934) is designed to model three chief processes of historical inquiry: 1) how do historians conceptualize meaningful research problems by engaging in critical arguments with historiography and theory? 2) what kinds of basic tools do historians use to carry out their research in archives (locating archival sources, evaluating sources, taking notes)? 3) how do historians use rhetorical tools to write a sustained argument (drafting, revising, polishing)?
There will be two outcomes in the History Honors Research Methods Course:
1) a prospectus describing the general problem and sources to be used in the History Honors Thesis suitable for submission in a grant application to the Temple Undergraduate Research Incentive Fund.
2) the selection of a faculty thesis advisor most relevant to the students thesis topic. Students will select this advisor with the guidance of the professor teaching the History Honors Research Methods course. They may choose the instructing professor as their thesis advisor, but are not limited to that choice.
In the History Honors Thesis Course (H397/H4997) students work in consultation with the course professor and their faculty thesis advisor to produce a complete first draft of their History Honors Thesis. The History Department strongly encourages students to use History Honors Independent Study (H385/H4982) in the fall semester of their senior year to rework this initial draft into a polished historical article.
Recommended Time-Line for Completion of the History Honors Major (NOTE: credit hours are given as rough guidelines)
Sophomore Year (60 credit hours)-Spring Semester
March
Apply to TEMPLE HONORS PROGRAM http://www.temple.edu/honrs/scholarapp.htm.
Set up appointment with HISTORY HONORS DIRECTOR and submit hard-copy of Temple Honors Program application for discussion at that appointment
Register in H380/H4934-HISTORY HONORS RESEARCH METHODS SEMINAR (required) for -Autumn Semester of Junior Year
Register in one HISTORY HONORS elective course to fulfill one of four Honors electives
Junior Year (60-75 credit hours)-Fall Semester
History 380/H4934 supports students in developing the skills to formulate and to write a History Honors Thesis. Students will develop a general prospectus for your History Honors Thesis with their instructing professor and write up that prospectus as an exemplar for a grant proposal to the Temple Undergraduate Research Fund. Students will also select their faculty thesis advisor at the end of this course.
October
Register in H397/H4997 HISTORY HONORS THESIS SEMINAR for Spring Semester
Register in one HONORS course elective (this may be chosen from History or from Temple Honors, provided that you are on target for fulfilling History major distribution requirements)
December
In consultation with the professor of H380/H4394, students will choose their faculty thesis advisor
Students will submit a letter of agreement with the faculty thesis advisor to the Director of History Honors Program by finals week
Students must maintain a 3.4 GPA overall and a 3.4 GPA in the History Major to continue in the History Honors Program
Junior Year (75-90 credit hours)-Spring Semester
History 397/H4997 HISTORY HONORS THESIS SEMINAR- students aim to finish first draft of their HISTORY HONORS THESIS
March 15
Submit the revised abstract of History Honors Thesis, signed by the faculty thesis advisor, to the Director of the History Honors Program
March (registration period)
In consultation with the faculty thesis advisor, students decide if they wish to enroll in H385/H4982 (HONORS INDEPENDENT STUDY) in order to polish their History Honors Thesis with your their faculty adviser in the Fall of Senior Year
Depending on that choice students will need to register in one or two History Honors course electives during the final year
Senior Year (90-105 credit hours)-Fall Semester
Students will refine the draft of the History Honors Thesis in HONORS INDEPENDENT STUDY with their faculty thesis advisor.
October
Students will register in the final History Honors elective, if they need to do so
Senior Year (105-123 credit hours)-Spring Semester
March 15
the latest date for submission of the History Honors Thesis-students are encouraged to submit earlier
Submit two copies of the HISTORY HONORS THESIS, signed by the faculty thesis advisor, to the Director of the History Honors Program. The thesis will be read and graded by the faculty thesis advisor and one other member of the History Honors faculty. The two grades will be averaged for the final grade on the project.
Submit the final version of the the abstract of the History Honors Thesis for posting on the History Honors Web site
Submit a short ‘student testimonial’ for the History Honors Web Site
Late April (date to be announced)
-HISTORY HONORS SYMPOSIUM-students will be required to give a 10-minute précis of the thesis project to the History Honors students and to History faculty |
