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Honors Guidelines

  1. Students who have a GPA of 3.4 or higher in the major and who wish to work for Honors will enroll during Fall Quarter senior year in GSS 396 and/or, if the course is offered, in the GSS 398 honors thesis seminar. In the Winter Quarter, they will enroll in a GSS 399 Independent Study with their faculty advisor and/or, if the course is offered, in the GSS 398 honors thesis seminar. Because course schedules and staffing will change each year, be sure to consult with the GSS Program Director and/or Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) before Fall Quarter to arrange your yearlong schedule.
  2. Each prospective Honors student will draft a 2-3 page proposal for their planned thesis in Spring of junior year. They will share that document with the GSS Director of Undergraduate Studies and with their planned faculty advisor, who in most cases will be core or affiliate faculty in GSS. Thesis advisors well-versed in the topic, the relevant critical literature, and/or the methodology driving the thesis are of course ideal.
  3. Students will work independently in consultation with their faculty advisor, who is expected to be available on a regular basis for meetings: often every two weeks during the Fall and every week during the Winter, though these schedules can be adjusted to whatever works best. These meetings should flesh out the intellectual claims of the thesis; the plan for responding to existing research and for adding original insights; and a year-long plan for data collection, scholarly reading, outlining, drafting, and revising. The students may also meet periodically with the GSS Director, the DUS, or (in years when this role can be staffed) the Research Seminar instructor, who may have more contexts for how past GSS theses have been conceived and executed.
  4. The thesis should be 35-50 pages long. It will be judged on the basis of the quality and the originality of the research undertaken; the persuasiveness of the arguments presented; the overall organization and presentation of the material; and the contribution to the field of study.
  5. The student will turn in the final version to the GSS Program Administrator (at gender@northwestern.edu), the DUS (at gss-undergraduate@northwestern.edu), and to their individual faculty advisor in the middle of Spring Quarter. This year’s date is Fri, May 2, 2025.
  6. The thesis will be read and evaluated by the faculty advisor; by the DUS, Director, or Research Seminar instructor; and by at least one other faculty member unconnected with the student's project.
  7. If students work on a team project, the individual contribution of the student to the research question, the project design, the execution, and the final presentation must be clearly specified in order to be evaluated by the faculty advisor and by the other evaluators.
  8. In its deliberations the Honors committee will take a separate and recorded vote on whether to recommend Honors for each student.
  9. Honors will be recommended for those students who receive an "A" grade on the thesis from the faculty advisor, with the approbation of the other evaluators; and who have maintained the requisite grade point average (a minimum of 3.4 in the major).
  10. Students who are not granted Honors will receive credit for the two quarters of work done, so long as the advisor can confirm a reasonable, sustained effort to complete the thesis, meeting the mandate specifications for research, revision, length, etc.