Political Science Senior Honors Program

Students have much to gain from the experience of writing a thesis, beyond the possibility of graduating with departmental honors.

• First, the courses tied to the Senior Honors Seminar – POLI 191A (Fall) and POLI 191B (Winter) – can be used to count for the Political Science major requirements in the Elective category as long as students earn a C- or better.
• Second, the seminar provides a rare opportunity for students to define and develop an independent research project. Students begin in the fall with a research question or thesis which they refine in collaboration with a faculty advisor. The seminar coordinators and other members of the faculty are available to help students with suggestions on bibliography and case selection or data banks. 
• Third, the seminar allows students to work closely with a faculty member. Students meet regularly with the thesis advisor in mini-tutorial sessions. These meetings encourage students to pursue theoretical and empirical questions further than is possible in lecture courses. 
• Finally, students who hope to go on to graduate school often acquire essential research and writing skills and self-disciplined work habits which are an enormous advantage in graduate school. Many past participants in the seminar have found that writing a thesis was very useful in helping them to evaluate graduate school options.

If you will qualify to enroll in the seminar in the Fall, we encourage you to consider this opportunity carefully. The program is a demanding challenge, but worth the effort it requires from students. Think about a thesis topic and a possible advisor. Try to define a topic that builds on your interests, strengths, and course background. Discuss your topic with several faculty people from whom you have taken courses to assess the feasibility of the topic, the availability of sources, and the interest of faculty in advising such a thesis.

To be considered for the honors seminar, students must submit a substantial piece of writing to a member of the faculty. The department defines "substantial" as a paper in which the student has carefully developed an argument and systematically mustered evidence in support of it. This written work is intended to give students practice so that the 40-100-page thesis does not loom as an intimidating prospect. These papers may develop out of any of our upper-division courses that require papers, any departmental seminar, or in conjunction with coursework completed on EAP or OAP.

If the faculty member feels that the student is adequately prepared for the seminar, they will sign the Senior Honors Seminar Recommendation Form  stating they are willing to advise the student during the course of the seminar. When submitting the recommendation form and piece of writing to the faculty member, students must provide a copy of their academic history from TritonLink. For ease of reading, select the "sort by subject" link when printing the academic history to print in subject order rather than quarter by quarter.

Each thesis will be read by two members of the department faculty; both of whom will assign the thesis a point score. The standard of evaluation will be that normally used by each faculty member to grade seminar papers of graduating seniors. Grades, point scores, and their honors equivalent are as follows:

If the point scores assigned by two readers differ by more than two tenths of a point (e.g., 3.5 versus 3.8), the thesis will be read by a third reader. Beginning 2013/14, in the honors calculation involving a third reader, the median score will be used.

To graduate with honors in political science, a student must have received an average point score of 3.5 or higher on the honors thesis and maintained a GPA of 3.5 or above in the major through the end of the second quarter of the honors seminar.

The award of honors level (Honors, High Honors, or Highest Honors) is by vote of the political science faculty. The award of honors will be based on the average of (1) the student's departmental grade point average at the end of the second quarter of the honors seminar (50%), and (2) the point score assigned the honors thesis by the readers (50%) .

Pre-Senior Year:

Meet with the Department's Undergraduate Advisor to determine if the Senior Honors Seminar Program is a good fit for you academically:

• Verify eligibility requirements
• Review application materials needed for program eligibility
• Review your POLI GPA
• Review remaining courses needed for your Political Science Major

Academic Year Before Desired Participation: 

Fall Quarter through Summer Session II: Students continue to take courses needed to be eligible for the Senior Honors Seminar Program. The Political Science GPA is determined AFTER Summer Session II grades have been posted. 

Winter Quarter through end of Spring Quarter: Students planning to apply for the program should be seeking out and confirming their Faculty Advisor. The Faculty Advisor MUST be a current Core Faculty member in the Department of Political Science.

Spring Quarter through Summer Session II: Students can begin to submit all required application materials to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor. 

Monday prior to Week 0 of Fall Quarter: Deadline for the submission of all application materials.

Week prior to Week 0 of Fall Quarter: Application materials and student eligibility are reviewed; students accepted to the Senior Honors Seminar Program are notified via email and VAC, and they are preauthorized to enroll in POLI 191A for Fall Quarter.

Fall Quarter

Week 0 - Friday of Week 2: Student accepted to the Senior Honors Seminar Program enroll in POLI 191A before the add deadline.

Finals Week: Faculty Advisors are contacted by the Department's Undergraduate Advisor regarding student's grades in POLI 191A. 

Post-Finals Week: Department's Undergraduate Advisor preauthorizes eligible students to enroll in POLI 191B for Winter Quarter.

Winter Quarter

Week 0 - Friday of Week 2: Student eligible to continue with the Senior Honors Seminar Program enroll in POLI 191B before the add deadline.

Finals Week: Faculty Advisors are contacted by the Department's Undergraduate Advisor regarding student's grades in POLI 191B. 

Post-Finals Week/Spring Break: Students begin to submit their completed thesis online and three (3) bound, hard copies of their completed thesis to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor.

Spring Quarter

Monday of Week 1 by 2:00pm: Deadline for students to submit their completed thesis online and three (3) bound, hard copies of their completed thesis to the Department's Undergraduate Advisor.

Early April - Early May: Department of Political Science Faculty read and evaluate theses. Decisions are made regarding level of honors for each student. 

Mid-May: Results of honors are sent to students via email. Those who have earned a level of honors are invited to attend the Senior Honors Reception in mid-June.