Honors
The honors thesis is a year long project in which a senior in the Literature Program works, together with a departmental advisor, on a topic designed by the student. An honors thesis is usually around 75 pages long. The project begins in the junior year, during which the honors candidate and the advisor discuss the topic, assemble a reading list, and devise a work schedule. Most honors students use the summer after their junior year to begin in earnest their work on the thesis. There are regular meetings between student and advisor during the year; the student submits chapters, edits, and revises before handing in the thesis, normally around the end of February. The student and the advisor put together a committee to read the thesis. The process culminates with an oral exam in April, during which the committee questions the candidate.