Honors Program

The ASCL Honors Program consists of a two-course sequence comprised of ASCL 90 and ASCL 91. For students accepted into the Honors Program, ASCL 90 replaces the ASCL 80 Advanced Seminar requirement and counts as the Department's culminating experience. ASCL 91 is an extra course added on to the ten-course ASCL major.

Students with a College GPA average of 3.0 and a Department GPA average of 3.5 are eligible to apply to the Honors Program.

Applicants to the Honors Program require the support of an ASCL faculty member who has agreed to supervise the research and writing of the applicant's honors thesis. Students are strongly encouraged to initiate discussion with a potential faculty adviser as early as possible in the junior year. Applications require a thesis proposal developed in consultation with the student's thesis advisor.

Honors thesis proposals should include the following:

1. Thesis title.
2. The name of the faculty advisor.
3. A clear statement of the research questions the student intends to address in their thesis.
4. A review of existing scholarship related to the research project.
5. A discussion of principal methods and sources the student plans to utilize when addressing the research questions. (Note: research involving human subjects must have prior approval from Dartmouth's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects).
6. A work schedule organized like a course syllabus with weekly readings, writing assignments, and meetings with faculty advisors. The work schedule should include both courses of the honors sequence and any research conducted abroad during the winter or spring breaks.
7. A description of the student's curricular or other preparation for the project.
8. A bibliography of proposed readings organized to reflect various facets of the project.

Students may elect to complete their two term honors thesis in either fall-winter or winter-spring.

Deadlines for submissions of thesis proposals are the end of the seventh week of an applicant’s junior spring term for those undertaking a fall-winter thesis, and the end of the seventh week of an applicant’s senior fall term for those undertaking a winter-spring thesis.

Proposals should be submitted to the ASCL chair. Admission to the Honors Program will be determined by a vote of the ASCL Steering Committee.

Students in the Honors Program must maintain a B+ average in their course work and in ASCL 90, otherwise, their project will be terminated. In such cases ASCL 90 would count as the student's culminating experience.

An oral presentation to ASCL faculty and students is a required component of the thesis. Presentations are usually held during the second or third week of May.

An electronic copy of the thesis must be submitted for evaluation by the end of the seventh week of the final term of the two-course sequence. A bound copy of the thesis must be turned in to the ASCL office no later than the last day of spring term classes.

Completion of the thesis is a requirement for, but not a guarantee of, Honors or High Honors in the ASCL major.