Honors Program in English
Thinking about graduate school application materials? Want to demonstrate your persistence, organizational skills and intellectual focus to future employers? Wishing you had a chance to work more closely with a professor whose work you admire? The distinctive Honors in English or Honors in Creative Writing Program might be what you’re looking for!
The program offers motivated seniors the opportunity to write a thesis of 20-25 pages on a subject of their own choosing, under the guidance of a faculty member who is an expert in that field.
Honors in English
Application Requirements
- A minimum 3.75 GPA in English courses
- A list of English courses taken so far and the grades received. A similar list of relevant courses may be included as well
- A short statement of interest and the names of two or three faculty you would like to work with
- A copy of a strong English paper, graded, with the professor's comments
How to Apply
The instructions are emailed in March to all juniors registered on the English major email list. Physical copies of these instructions will be available on request from the English Department office. Please note the deadline indicated in the instructions (April 11 for 2025)! Accepted students will be notified by the end of the term (May 2 for 2025).
1. Begin your application with your name and a short, descriptive title. Write a short paragraph (about 250 words) describing what issues you wish to explore, the kinds of texts you will study, and the names of two or three professors with whom you'd like to work. Be as specific as possible about theorists, authors, titles, and conversations you wish to engage with.
2. List the English classes taken so far with the grades earned (and other relevant classes and grades earned).
3. List the name of an English faculty member who knows your work.
4. Add a copy of a graded English paper of any length, including the comments, in PDF or WORD format, including your name and a short title.
If interested, you may discuss your ideas with any English faculty member or email the English Department or DUS with questions.
Accepted English Honors Students
You must register in fall 2025 for Engl. 4360, Independent Study (3 credits, graded A-F) and in the spring of 2026 for Engl. 4250, Honors Thesis (3 credits, graded A-F). Each semester may be counted as an elective for the English major. If a petition is necessary for DegreeMap, please contact the DUS.
If possible, meet with your Honors advisor prior to the summer and agree on a short reading list for the summer.
Honors candidates enroll begin researching and drafting their project early in the fall of their senior year and complete the thesis in the spring, under the supervision of their advisor.
BA/MA Program and Honors
Note: The BA/MA program is separate from the honors program. Admission to the Honors program guarantees admission the BA/MA program. However, the BA/MA program requires you to take one graduate seminar per semester during your senior year in the BA program. The English Department will work to keep places open in Fall 2025 graduate courses for Honors students entering the BA/MA program. You are welcome to consult the DUS or another faculty member for guidance in planning for this transition.
Honors in Creative Writing
The Honors in Creative Writing Program offers exceptionally motivated majors a yearlong opportunity to draft, revise and complete a creative writing thesis under the mentorship of a two-person committee. The program is designed for students considering future graduate study in creative writing and for those interested in a challenging culmination to their creative writing coursework. The program also welcomes students looking for an intensive self-directed learning experience and students committed to imaginatively exploring a question, a story and/or an aesthetic practice.
Application Requirements
- Minimum 3.25 GPA
How to Apply
Interested students should apply directly to the director of creative writing the year before they plan to graduate, typically in the spring semester of their junior year.
Accepted Creative Writing Honors Students
Accepted students will be assigned an adviser and second reader, to whom they will propose a project and then together develop a writing schedule for the thesis year. In addition to their creative thesis work, students will write a prefatory critical essay of up to 10 pages and enroll in Creative Writing Senior Thesis (ENGL 4220).
Past creative writing theses have included novels, poetry chapbooks, short story collections, linked essays and hybrid works.
Honors Program Students: Class of 2023
Connor Christopher
Connor Christopher's thesis explores the power of Filth in transgressive cinematic experiments by John Waters and Harmony Korine, touching on themes of queerness, “bad” taste, anti-capitalism, failure, utopia, and more.
Bella Sayegh
Bella Sayegh's thesis explores the visual culture and theme of surveillance in Charlotte Brontë’s work, regarding the figures of the ghost and the governess.
Rayner Reinhardt
Rayner Reinhardt's thesis employs psychoanalytic theory to explore the implications of mother-daughter relationships on feminine trauma and subjectivity within the works of Toni Morrison.
Guadalupe Rosa
Guadalupe Rosa's thesis focuses on elements that built 19th Century British identity while analyzing how it came at the expense of the dehumanization, stigmatization, and deconstruction of other communities.
Elliot Culin
Elliot Culin's thesis explores portrayals of "horrific motherhood" in the horror genre, examining how horror stories reveal intimate and societal fears about motherhood.