Independent Work for Departmental Honors
Students pursuing Departmental Honors in English must establish a record of excellence in English coursework and have the skills, initiative, and commitment to write a sustained independent research paper.
Requirements beginning in Fall 2025
Application will be available shortly
Beginning in Fall 2025, Departmental Honors in English requires the following:
- To be eligible, students at the end of their junior year must have completed six English courses (including transfer courses that have been awarded English transfer equivalency credit) and have a minimum 3.7 GPA in their BU English courses. Total courses and GPA will be calculated after the grade submission deadline for spring semester of the junior year. Exceptions to the minimum GPA can be granted with approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies and a faculty member willing to supervise the Honors Project.
- To apply for Departmental Honors, students must send a completed Honors Application Form (see application link above) to the English Department’s Senior Program Coordinator between April 1st of their junior year and June 1st prior to the start of senior year.
- By the time of graduation, students must complete 8 additional credits of 500+ English coursework above the English major requirements. Of the 8 additional credits, 2 credits must be from “EN580 (offered in fall) and 2 credits must be from EN581”(offered in spring). EN 580 and EN 581 (“Senior Honors Thesis 1” and “Senior Honors Thesis 2”) are faculty-led seminars for students pursuing Honors that meet for 1.5 hours each week. The faculty member teaching EN 580 and EN 581 will serve as each student’s Honors Project supervisor.
- Students must complete an Honors Project, typically a research paper of at least 6,000 words.
- Students must also pass an oral defense of the Honors Project. The defense lasts approximately one hour and is conducted with the project supervisor and one additional faculty member from the English Department. The completed Honors Project must be distributed to readers at least seven days prior to the defense. The defense must take place before the last day of classes in the spring semester of the student’s senior year. Defense committees will be jointly arranged by the student and Honors Project supervisor.
- Note that students may still take a Directed Study course (EN 401) related to the Honors Project theme, but work for EN 401 may not overlap with the work for EN 580 or EN 581.
- Note that for BA/MA students, additional 500+ courses completed above the requirements for the English major can count toward Departmental Honors or the MA degree but not both.
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