Departmental Honors
Departmental Honors
Political Science majors who have demonstrated superior competence in the field have the opportunity to graduate with departmental honors. There are three grades of honors: cum laude, magna cum laude, and summa cum laude. Honors are awarded by the University Honors Council on the basis of overall academic record, performance in the writing of an honors thesis, and performance in an oral exam.
Students who pursue honors are required to complete the honors seminar PSCI 4715, which is taught during the fall semester by the Honors Council representative. This course is designed to aid candidates in appropriately defining their thesis topic, refining the research question, developing hypotheses, designing the study, and implementing the research. The class is highly collaborative (mutually supportive) and demands active participation. Students then take PSCI 4725 (formerly PSCI 4008) in the spring semester. During this semester, students revise, complete, and defend their theses.
Students planning to graduate in December are advised to take the fall honors seminar and the thesis writing seminar the year before graduation. It is not possible for students to start, finish, and defend their thesis in one semester.
Students must choose and work closely with a faculty honors thesis advisor. This professor must be someone other than the Honors Council representative teaching the honors seminars. Only faculty who are rostered in the political science department may serve as honors thesis advisors. Students should consult with the department’s Honors Council representative in the spring of the junior year to identify a suitable advisor. The advisor need not be someone from whom the student has taken a class but should be someone who works in the subfield or general area identified for the thesis topic.
Students also must pass an oral defense of their thesis before a three-member faculty committee consisting of their thesis advisor, a member of the Political Science committee on honors, and at least one other professor who is rostered outside of political science. The defense typically occurs in March or April of the senior year.
Email the following information to the Honors Program director, Dr. Ken Bickers:
1. GPA to date (both overall and PSCI)
2. Paragraph summarizing the project as you conceptualize it now
3. Name of advisor (PSCI faculty) who has agreed to work with you (Please be sure to cc your advisor on the email you send.)
The program director will contact your advisor for a recommendation. This information will serve as your application for PSCI honors. For students interested in completing an honors thesis, please contact the program director during the registration period for current degree-seeking undergraduates (which is generally from late March to early June). We recommend that you email sooner rather than later. Students who reach out later will be considered depending on seat availability. https://www.colorado.edu/academics/academic-calendar
If you have more questions, email Dr. Ken Bickers (kenneth.bickers@colorado.edu) in the PSCI department.