Honors Thesis Guidelines

Completing an Honors Thesis in History

What is Expected of an History Honors Thesis?

An Honors thesis is a significant scholarly project at the undergraduate level. The thesis should make a contribution to existing scholarly literature in your chosen area, although that contribution will generally be less substantial than is required for a graduate thesis. Nevertheless, your thesis should be the most significant research effort of your undergraduate career.
There is no set length or content for your thesis. Your thesis advisor will have the ultimate say about when your thesis is complete and ready to defend formally. A thesis should reflect the standards of professional historical scholarship. An original article-length paper of publishable quality could qualify as could an expanded departmental capstone paper. The thesis might be related to a student’s capstone project but it should be an original interpretation offering fresh insight and not simply a revised 490 paper.

How Do You Choose an Advisor?

            Choosing your thesis advisor is one of the most important decisions you face in writing your thesis. The best strategy is to take upper-division History courses as soon as possible so you can get to know possible advisors and their areas of interest. A good thesis often builds on things that you learned about in an upper-division class. Conversely, it is nearly impossible to write a strong thesis in an area where you have had no course work. How can you expect to write an Honors thesis on some aspect of Chinese history, for example, if you have not already taken a course in this area? Many professors could and should refuse to serve as your thesis advisor if they have not already taught you in an upper-division course on a similar topic.
            Advisors for History honors theses must be full-time permanent faculty in History. Part-time, visiting, or regular faculty from other departments may not serve as advisors but may serve as thesis referees: see below. Also, because you will be working on your thesis for at least a year, you should make sure your advisor will be in residence at BYU during that entire time period.
            The department’s Honors Coordinator can help you identify possible thesis advisors given your interests. It is a good idea to schedule a meeting with the coordinator early in your junior year (or even late in your sophomore year, if possible) to help you identify possible advisors. This will allow you to choose courses during your junior year that will prepare you for your thesis. Remember also that any potential advisor has a wide variety of responsibilities that may keep him or her from working with you: it is wise to consider more than one possible advisor.

What is the Role of the Referee?

The thesis referee is the second reader for your project. Typically, he or she is chosen to provide complementary expertise to that of your advisor. The referee will have the most direct input at the thesis prospectus stage (when he or she must approve the design of your project) and at the thesis defense (when he or she will participate in questioning you about your project and deciding if it is sufficient). Many referees will be willing to provide feedback more frequently. You should think of the referee as a useful additional resource for your thesis work and involve him or her whenever appropriate.
Can You Do Part of Your Honors Thesis on the Same Topic as Your Capstone Paper?

            Because the History Department already requires all of its majors to complete a significant scholarly research project in a capstone seminar, it is often possible to combine a capstone paper with your Honors project. Working with your capstone instructor and your thesis advisor, you may be able to design a capstone project that fits within the scope of your larger Honors project. Completing your capstone paper might even help you accomplish as much as half the work necessary for your thesis. The deadlines and intermediate projects of a capstone course are also a good way to make sure your Honors thesis gets done in a timely fashion.
            You should be aware that this will not work in every case. Capstone course topics are often chosen by individual faculty and there is no guarantee that a capstone course on the topic you want will be offered when you want it. Nor are capstone instructors under any obligation to stretch their paper requirements to fit your thesis topic. A thesis on the Silk Road may or may not fit within the confines of a course on slavery; the capstone instructor has full discretion.
            Instead of simply writing a longer capstone paper, students should consider the possibility of writing an original article-length paper of publishable quality, which would also satisfy the requirement. The thesis might be related to a student’s capstone project but it should be an original interpretation offering fresh insight and not simply a revised 490 paper.
            Students who are unable to combine a capstone with their particular project may instead receive 3 hours of History 495R (Directed Research in History) credit for working on the thesis. You should sign up through the department Curriculum coordinator. We do not allow students to “double count” their work by receiving both capstone and History 495R credit for a thesis.

What is Expected of a Thesis Prospectus?

A prospectus is a statement summarizing the research you intend to do for your thesis. You might think of it as a “beefed up” History 200 or 490 proposal. Be aware that the History Department takes the thesis prospectus very seriously because we see it as the prerequisite to a strong thesis. A weak or vague prospectus usually leads to a weak or muddled thesis. Extra effort at the prospectus stage can prevent later mistakes and misunderstandings that waste your time and try your advisor’s patience. It is to your advantage to start your journey with a strong prospectus.
Once you, your advisor, and your referee have all agreed to the form of your thesis prospectus, you should fill out the Thesis Proposal form (available from the Honors Program), obtain the signature of your advisor, and submit the form and the prospectus to the department’s Honors Coordinator for review. Detailed instructions and samples are available from the Honors Program (or on their website), but a strong prospectus always includes:

a. Purpose: this has two parts:

General Problem Area: a brief statement of the general topic you will study and why it is worth studying.
Research Question: a specific question (or closely related set of questions) you intend to investigate.

b.         Literature Review (or Background and Significance): a survey of the existing scholarly literature or historiography surrounding your question and an explanation of how your topic fits into, and contributes to, that literature.
c.         Research Methods: a specific description of the procedures you expect to follow to answer your question; this typically includes discussion of primary and secondary sources, methods of inquiry, and historical questions you plan to address, etc.
d.         Qualifications: explain your qualifications to complete the thesis, illustrate how your advisor is qualified to direct your research project, and provide a schedule for completion.
e.         Outline: an outline helps ensure that you and your advisor have the same vision of what your project will entail. (Can your outline change before you submit your final thesis? Of course. If you’ve learned anything along the way, it almost always will.)
f.          Sources/Annotated Bibliography: list the sources you have already consulted, how they relate to your research topic, and other sources that will be helpful in your research.

Review your prospectus with your advisor and make the necessary revisions. High-quality scholarly projects (whether by students or by faculty) rarely emerge at the first draft. Your advisor and the Honors coordinator will help prepare you to do your best work.

What are the Deadlines?

Strong Honors theses begin with good planning in your sophomore and junior years. As mentioned above, you should already be thinking about your thesis topic and potential advisors by the beginning of your junior year, so that you can begin more specific course work and planning before your senior year. The Honors Program requires that your prospectus be completed roughly 11 months before your planned graduation: May 15th for April graduation, September 15th for August graduation, January 15th for December graduation. These deadlines are not set in stone and both the History Department and the Honors Program are occasionally willing to extend those deadlines for well-designed projects. The History Honors coordinator will not sign off on a project after those deadlines if he or she believes the project cannot be completed during the time remaining before graduation. If circumstances have kept you from completing a prospectus with enough time until graduation, you may have to extend your graduation date to allow more time to complete a strong thesis.
The Honors Program deadline for completing your thesis is roughly 2½ months before your graduation: February 1st for April graduation, June 1st for August graduation, October 1st for December graduation. This deadline is applied by the Honors Program and they have a thesis submission form your advisor must sign indicating that your thesis is complete and ready to defend. In practice, this means you should have a completed draft of the entire thesis to your advisor at least one month before the Honors deadline (by January 1st, May 1st, or September 1st, respectively), so that he or she can make comments and suggest necessary revisions. Do not expect that you can turn in a first draft right before the Honors deadline and have your advisor “rubber stamp” your incomplete thesis: he or she will more likely suggest that you delay your graduation to give you time to reach the standards of an Honors thesis.

How Do You Write a Strong Thesis?

If you have completed a strong prospectus by the beginning of your senior year, you are already well on your way to writing an excellent thesis. The most important additional step you can take is to start giving your advisor written drafts of thesis materials as soon as possible. Some students make the mistake of spending months and months in the library without ever going to their advisor for feedback. The thesis is then hurriedly written in a single draft and submitted to the advisor without enough time for substantial revisions.
A successful Honors thesis cannot be written in the last weeks before the deadline. Like any scholarly project, it often requires a repeated cycle of reading, thinking, writing, receiving feedback, and then more reading, thinking, and revising. Some students submit their entire thesis to the advisor for comments. Others choose to break their thesis up into smaller components and submit each piece to their advisor as it is completed. While they wait for their advisor’s comments, they move ahead with the next portion. This allows their advisor to provide feedback at early stages that can save time and effort. By the time they approach the deadline, students should have made substantial revisions to earlier drafts and the student and advisor should have agreed on the bulk of the thesis. All that the student has left to do is to bring all the components of the thesis together into a single, seamless package.

What Happens at the Thesis Defense?

Once you and your advisor have notified the Honors Program that your thesis is ready to defend, you will help coordinate a time when you can meet with your advisor, your referee, and a representative of the Honors Program. The Department Honors coordinator is often invited as well, but it is not necessary that he or she attend the defense.
If you have worked with your advisor to write and revise your thesis in a timely fashion, your thesis defense will be straightforward. The form of the defense varies somewhat but you will probably be asked to provide an oral synopsis of your project and then be prepared to answer a wide range of questions about your research, your findings, and their relevance to the historiography. Feel free to ask your advisor beforehand what kind of questions he or she sees as most likely in your case. Finally, you will also be asked about your broader Honors experience at the university–course work, portfolio, etc. Once questioning is completed you will be asked to leave the room while the panel members discuss your project and preparation. Immediately after they have finished their discussion they will inform you of their decision.

What is the Role of the Department Honors Coordinator?

The History Honors coordinator’s role is to help you successfully navigate the route to an excellent Honors thesis. The coordinator helps you identify possible advisors and referees, and may even be able to help you brainstorm about thesis topics. While the Honors Program office is the best source of advice about official Honors requirements and procedures, the History Honors coordinator is available at any point on your journey to answer questions and give advice about your thesis. Good luck!