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Students with an average of 3.5 in English department courses are eligible to apply to pursue an honors project.
This is normally done in the fall term of a student’s senior year, although students occasionally begin this process during the spring term of their junior year.
An informational meeting is held in early September to discuss, in general, the department’s expectations for honors, the honors process, and significant deadlines. However, the privilege to work toward honors is granted at the discretion of individual faculty and involves a multi-step process, as outlined below.
First, the student selects a topic, which customarily emerges from a paper prepared in a 300- or 400-level course.
Then the student must submit a formal, written prospectus with a short reading list, which is approved by the faculty supervisor and the director of the honors program. (In some cases the faculty supervisor may engage a second faculty reader. In this instance, both faculty members and the director of honors must approve the prospectus.) The deadline for submission of the prospectus is normally in mid-October.
Second, the student enrolls in ENGL 490 — an honors seminar — during the spring term of the senior year. The seminar must be taken in addition to the required 400-level seminar and to the minimum eight courses required for the major.
Also, ENGL 490 is considered to be a formal course, and must be completed successfully in order for the student to remain in the honors program. ENGL 490 is designed to work in tandem with the writing of the thesis. Among other things, students write drafts of the thesis and share them both with their thesis supervisor(s) and with students in the honors seminar.
During the final stage of honors work, the student submits a completed version of the thesis on a date specified by the department. If the thesis is provisionally approved by the supervisor, the student then discusses the thesis at an oral presentation normally scheduled during finals week.
The quality of the project, as judged by the work completed in both the honors seminar and the completed paper, determines whether the student receives honors or not.
If the project passes approval, the student receives a grade in ENGL 490 and is awarded a degree with honors, depending upon the student’s final departmental GPA. A degree in English with honors is conferred upon a student who has maintained at least a 3.5 average in departmental courses.
Students whose departmental average is 3.7 or higher are awarded degrees in English with high honors. If a student withdraws from the program, or the written paper is judged unworthy of honors, then ENGL 490 is converted to ENGL 491, Independent Study, and a grade is assigned by the thesis supervisor.
Students with further questions should contact the director of honors in the English Department.
Awards
The Allen Prizes in English Composition — established by the Rev. Dr. George K. Allen, a member of the class of 1870, in memory of his wife, Hattie Boyd Allen — two prizes in English composition.
The Phillip K. Dorn Memorial Prize — established in memory of Phillip K. Dorn by Norstar Trust Company. The award is given to a graduating senior English major who is distinguished in the study of English and who plans, on graduation, to pursue further professional training or begin a career in medicine, business, finance, or law. When possible, the award is given to a student with an interest in poetry.
The Jonathan H. Kistler Memorial Curricular Innovation Fund in English — established in 1996 by Harry F. Lee ’57 to support and nurture new curricular and pedagogical ideas within the English Department.
The Lasher Prize — established as an award to a member of the junior class in recognition of outstanding talent.
The Lasher Prize for Distinction in English Composition — established by the Rev. Dr. George W. Lasher, a member of the class of 1857, and awarded for distinction in the various types of writing.
The Howard W. and Anne T. Pike Memorial Prize — established in 1993 by William R. and Gloria Pike in memory of Howard W. and Anne T. Pike. Awarded annually to a graduating senior for outstanding achievement and contribution to the University Theater Program.
The Scott Saunders Prize for Excellence in Literature — established in memory of Scott Saunders ’89, and awarded annually to a senior major in English who participated in the Colgate English Department study group to London, in recognition of work done in London which is distinguished in its own right or which contributed to the completion of a distinguished project.