Departmental Honors

Application for Independent Work for Departmental Honors

Independent Work for Departmental Honors is an opportunity for English majors to conduct in-depth research in an area that interests them during the two semesters of their senior year. A stimulating and rigorous undertaking, IWDH is recommended for students considering graduate school in English.

The student begins by consulting with a faculty project advisor, who is usually a professor with whom the student has already studied. Together they design a reading and writing schedule as well as complete the IWDH application, due on May 15 of the student’s junior year.

To graduate with Departmental Honors, students must complete a thesis, which will be presented to a committee of English Department faculty at the end of the academic year. The committee will consider both the thesis and the result of the oral examination to determine whether the student will receive Honors in the major. A grade of B+ or better in each semester is required to receive Departmental Honors.

Beginning in Fall 2025, Departmental Honors in English requires the following:

1.  To be eligible, students at the start of their senior year must have completed six English courses and have a minimum 3.7 GPA in their BU English courses. 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.
2. Students must establish their eligibility for Departmental Honors by the first week of fall semester classes in their senior year. To establish eligibility, please email an up-to-date transcript to the Director of Undergraduate Studies (Maurice Lee, molee@bu.edu).
3. By the time of graduation, students must complete two additional 500+ English courses above the English major requirements.
4. Students must complete an Honors Project, typically a research paper of at least 6,000 words (roughly 25 double-spaced pages) to be completed at least 21 days prior to the last day of spring semester classes.
5. An oral defense lasting roughly one hour with the Honors Project supervisor and two additional faculty members of the English Department. The defense must be held at least 14 days prior to the last day of classes in spring semester of the student’s senior year. Defense committees will be jointly arranged by the student and Honor Project supervisor.

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Honors Projects can be supervised in one of two ways:

OPTION 1
Typically, the Honors Project is written as part of a 500+ English course and replaces at least some of the course’s normal assignments. Within the first week of the course, the student and faculty member should establish expectations in written form, including:

• Confirmation that the student is eligible to pursue Departmental Honors
• The requirements of the Honors Project (including length, format, research components, and subject or range of possible subjects)
• A timeline (including structured deadlines and a schedule of individual meetings)
• Which assignments the Honors Project will replace in the course and how much it will weigh toward the final course grade

OPTION 2
If a faculty member agrees to supervise a student’s Honors Project as part of a Directed Study (EN 401), that Directed Study can substitute for one of the two additional 500+ English courses. Before beginning the Directed Study, the student and faculty member should establish expectations in written form, including:

• The requirements of the Honors Project (including length, format, research components, and subject)
• A timeline (including structured deadlines and a schedule of individual meetings)
• The basis on which the Directed Study course will be graded

* Note that for BA/MA students, additional courses completed above the requirements for the English major can count toward Departmental Honors or the MA degree but not both.