The philosophy departmental honors major offers an opportunity for motivated and capable students to engage in more extensive interaction with faculty and to complete challenging individual research projects that will further their personal and professional goals.
Application to the major: To be accepted to the program, students must have a cumulative and major/program grade point average of 3.5. Students must be recommended to the program by a philosophy faculty member who will take responsibility for directing that student’s honors thesis, and they must be granted permission to participate in the program by the department chairperson. Interested students should apply in spring quarter of the junior year or fall quarter of the senior year. Upon acceptance, a Change of Major, Degree or Specialization form is submitted to the Office of the Registrar.
Completion of the major: During senior year, departmental honors students will take a minimum of 10 credits of designated department honors courses (PHIL 4770 Philosophy Honors Directed Reading, PHIL 4780 Philosophy Honors Directed Study, and PHIL 4790 Philosophy Honors Thesis Supervision). Students in the departmental honors program complete 10 credits of course work above the norm for philosophy majors (for a total of 70 credits in philosophy) and write a 25-40 page thesis under the direction of a faculty member. The thesis will be presented publicly at a defense before members of the faculty. In order to complete the requirements for departmental honors and receive a notation to that effect on their transcripts, students must also maintain a cumulative and major/program grade point average of 3.50. In addition, the grade received for PHIL 4790 Philosophy Honors Thesis Supervision, must be an A or A-. In addition to the Philosophy, BA requirements, the honors major also includes: