The Undergraduate Honors Program in Political Science

Political Science Honors Program and Distinction in the Major

The Political Science Honors Program is designed to give highly motivated Political Science students the opportunity to take academically rigorous honors seminars with other honors students, and to acquire the skills necessary to undertake in-depth independent research on topics of interest. The Department’s Honors Program is excellent preparation for graduate school, and deepens the information literacy goals of the General Education requirement.

Political Science majors who have completed their sophomore year with a 3.6 GPA or above are eligible to be a member of the Departmental Honors Program in Political Science.  Departmental Honors students are allowed to take the junior (POLI 3996) and senior (POLI 4996) capstone.  Students who pass both capstones with a B or better will graduate with Distinction in the Major.  In addition, POLI 3996 counts as an upper-level elective and writing intensive course and POLI 4996 counts as the senior capstone requirement. 

Admission into the Departmental Honors Program
Eligible students will be contacted via email in the spring semester.  Students who believe they are eligible for the program but who were not contacted are encouraged to contact the Political Science Honors Director.  

Political Science Honors Director: Dr. Kevin Arceneaux kevin.arceneaux@temple.edu

 


University Honors Program

Students accepted into the University Honors Scholar Program may select Political Science as their field of concentration, thus becoming a member of the Political Science Honors Program.  University Honors students who are interested in earning distinction in the major should take the junior and senior honors capstone course, as described above.  University Honors students who do not wish to pursue distinction in the major should, nonetheless, sign up for POLI 4996 as their capstone. 

University Honors Scholar Track
University Honors students may become Honors Scholars by choosing to develop and complete an Honors Project in the form of a thesis. Political science University Honors students who complete the University Honors Program’s course requirements plus an honors thesis graduate with an Honors Scholardesignation on their transcript. Those who do not complete an honors thesis, but satisfy all honors requirements graduate with an Honors Certificate designation on their transcript.

The thesis proposal is submitted to the University Honors Program, preferably by the beginning of the second semester of the junior year. All proposals are due by the end of junior year, and are reviewed by the Honors Director and the student’s faculty advisor. Thesis topics may emerge from coursework (i.e. the capstone), an independent study, or curiosity about some other facet of the study of politics. The completed thesis must be at least 8,000 words exclusive of footnotes and bibliography. The thesis can serve as the core of a student’s dossier as she or he applies for graduate school.

The University Honors program maintains a set of minimal progress standards that every honors student must satisfy in order to continue in the program. Students failing to make satisfactory progress are placed on probation and may ultimately be dismissed from the program.  Students who are interested in learning more about joining the University Honors Program are encouraged to contact the University Honors Director.

University Honors Director:  Dr. Ruth Ost rost@temple.edu

Funding and Support
Funds are available in the Diamond Research Scholars program.
Honors students are also encouraged to submit their completed thesis to the Library Prize for Undergraduate Research.