Honors Program

Description: Candidacy for honors in French Studies assumes an excellent academic record (particularly in the major field) and the ability to work independently. Ordinarily, a candidate will have received no grade lower than an "A" in her/his concentration program. (Any exceptions to this policy must be approved by the Department.) Any of the three concentration programs (Civilization, Language, Literature) may be expanded into an Honors Concentration with these differences: the student will take a minimum of ten courses including, along with the standard requirements, FR-1980 (Senior Thesis). While normally taken only in the seventh semester, FR-1980 may be taken during the last semester as well, in which case eleven courses are required. The Honors Concentration program in French language is the same as the standard concentration program with these differences: a minimum of ten courses will be taken, with 1980 required; 600 -level proficiency in other commonly-taught foreign languages (Spanish, German, etc.) can count as one course toward the course requirements; lower proficiency in languages offering insight into different symbolic systems (Chinese, Hebrew) can be accredited in the same fashion.

The candidate will apply for admission to the Honors Program by the end of the third week of classes in her/his seventh semester. For the application (available from the Department office), the student will provide a brief description of the thesis topic, the name and signature of the first reader, and two recommendations from French Studies faculty. Upon admission, the student will also choose a second reader. Theses are written in French and ordinarily range from 40 to 80 pages, depending on the topic and the treatment necessary. The student is expected to work in close consultation with the first reader and to respect deadlines for completion of the outline, drafts, and the final version of the thesis, which at the latest must be submitted by the end of the week after Spring Recess.

Application Procedure: Students desiring to apply for admission to the Honors Program must submit a completed application by September 24. Recommendation forms are to be filled out by members of the French Studies faculty who have close knowledge of the student's work, preferably through a course taken by the student during her/his sophomore or junior year . Please submit these forms to your recommenders no later than September 24, 2007 . They will then be forwarded to the Honors Advisor who, after reviewing the complete application along with the student's transcript(s), will make a determination about admission to the Honors Program.

NB. If accepted, this application grants permission to pursue the Honors Thesis Project. Honors is officially granted only when the student's two readers approve the completed thesis.

Calendar of Deadlines:

Submission of Applications to Honors Program - - September 24, 2007>>Download the application (Word doc)
Rough outline of the thesis (suggestion) -- November 2
First portion of written work submitted (suggestion) - - December, first day of reading period.
Submission of the rough draft - - March 3
Final draft submitted to both readers - - April 7

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