Emory College Honors Program: An In-Depth Overview

The Emory College Honors Program offers outstanding students the opportunity to engage in intensive research and scholarly activities, culminating in a thesis project. This program is designed to foster intellectual growth, independent thinking, and a deeper understanding of a chosen field of study. By extending beyond ordinary course requirements and performance standards, the Honors Program provides a unique and challenging academic experience.

Program Overview

The Honors Program is available to exceptional students in most areas of concentration. Administered by a faculty Honors Committee, these programs enable students to do intensive work in a chosen area and therefore involve work that extends beyond ordinary course requirements and ordinary standards of performance. The program encourages students to develop their research skills, work closely with faculty mentors, and contribute original scholarship to their respective disciplines. The Honors Program at Emory & Henry strives to build an unparalleled environment for individuals who want to challenge themselves and the world around them.

Honors Recognitions

Emory College bestows honors upon graduates through two different recognitions: departmental research honors and honors in course. Students are eligible to receive both forms of honors, which are listed on the transcript after graduation once the College certifies that students have earned these recognitions.

Admission and Eligibility

Admission to the Emory College Honors Program typically requires a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or above. However, students with a GPA of at least 3.45 may be eligible to petition for admission. To petition, students need the support of their departmental honors coordinator and a potential thesis advisor. Students admitted by petition must maintain the GPA with which they entered the program throughout their participation. Only Emory grades (including Emory-sponsored study abroad programs and courses offered at Emory but outside the College, such as those offered by the Goizueta Business School) are calculated as part of a student’s Emory GPA.

Program Requirements

To successfully complete the Honors Program, students must meet several requirements:

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Maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.7 (or the GPA at which they petitioned).
Be enrolled at Emory for both semesters of their senior year while pursuing honors.
Be in residence and enrolled in at least one hour of honors research during their final semester.
Complete mandatory orientation in Canvas and any other required trainings.
Write and defend an honors thesis.
Submit all required honors forms and complete the ETD submission process.

Many departments have additional requirements for honors students, so it is essential to consult with the Departmental Honors Coordinator.

Honors Thesis

A cornerstone of the Honors Program is the completion of an original research thesis. The thesis allows students to delve deeply into a topic of their choice, conduct independent research, and contribute new knowledge to their field.

Thesis Committee

Each student works under the guidance of a faculty advisor and a thesis committee. The committee must consist of at least three core members who are regular Emory University faculty members from any school or unit. One member must be from the student’s honors major and at least one member must be from Emory College. The advisor counts as one of the three core members. Additional core committee members may be added from the faculty of Emory University. Non-core committee members from other universities may also serve, but only core committee members vote on the level of honors. Adjunct, visiting, emeritus, and post-doctoral fellows must petition the Honors Committee to serve as core committee members.

Thesis Process

The thesis process typically spans the student's senior year. In the fall semester, students focus on developing knowledge of the relevant bibliography, gaining IRB approval (if necessary), and collecting data. They meet regularly with their faculty advisor to discuss the project and related research issues. Throughout the spring semester, students continue their research, analyze and interpret data, compose the thesis, and prepare for an oral defense.

Oral Defense

The culmination of the Honors Program is the oral defense of the thesis before the designated faculty committee. During the defense, the student presents their research, answers questions from the committee members, and demonstrates their understanding of the topic.

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Linguistics Honors Program: A Specific Example

For students interested in linguistics, the Emory College Honors Program offers a specialized track. This program is designed to provide extensive research experience in the study of human language.

Project Requirements

Students in the Linguistics Honors Program are responsible for defining a project, selecting a faculty advisor, and conducting an independent research project. The project may involve an experimental/observational study of language or a linguistic analysis of archived transcripts, recordings, or language corpora.

Thesis Components

In collaboration with a faculty advisor, the student will:

Collect, analyze, and interpret data.
Compose a thesis based on the data.
Show an understanding of the relevant bibliography.
Defend the thesis in front of a committee of three faculty members.

Two committee members must be from the Linguistics Program faculty, one of whom is the advisor. The third member must be faculty from outside of the Linguistics Program.

Course Load

The normal course load for participating in Honors Programs is four hours each semester of the senior year. Only 4 credit hours of Honors work may be counted towards the major requirements. Linguistics 495A: Honors Directed Research or a relevant graduate seminar is required for the fall semester, and Linguistics 495B: Honors Research for the spring semester.

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Joint Major Honors

Students completing a degree in a joint major can choose to participate in the Linguistics Honors program or the Honors program of the joint department.

Film and Media Studies Honors Program: A Specific Example

The faculty in the Department of Film and Media invites hard-working film and media majors, passionate about the field, to apply to their Honors Program. Students must be committed to the thorough process of exploring the still and moving image in its many forms, whether the research area is film and media studies, film production, or screenwriting. Completing a thesis requires a significant commitment of time and energy, and it is incumbent upon the student to independently complete the work of the honors project.

Requirements

To graduate with Honors in Film and Media, students must:

Be a major in Film and Media
Have a 3.7 cumulative GPA, or petition with a GPA of 3.45 or higher
Enroll in FILM 495A: Honors Methods Seminar (4 credits with a set class time and screening) in Fall semester of your senior year-counts as XA (Experience and Application) GER; also counts as 400-level course for the major
Enroll in FILM 495BW: Honors Thesis (1-4 variable credits; no set class time) in Spring semester of your senior year-counts as W (Writing/Continuing Communication) GER
Complete and defend a research or production-based thesis, due in early April of your senior year
Fulfill any other requirements of the College of Arts and Sciences Honors program (trainings, meetings, etc.)

Because the Honors Program is a full single academic year, students graduating in the fall semester are not eligible.

Thesis "Tracks"

Film and Media Studies Thesis: Students create a substantial body of original work of at least 60 pages that investigates a singular concept or theme in film and media studies. The project is expected to engage extensively with existing research on their topic and make an original contribution to the scholarly discussion.
Film Production Thesis: Culminating in a finished visual project, with 20+ page support paper. The honors thesis in film production is meant for students who have focused on film production in their coursework at Emory and have achieved technical competence before their senior year.
Photography Thesis: Culminating in a photography project with 20+ page support paper.
Screenwriting Thesis: Culminating in a screenplay with a 10+ page support paper.

Creative Writing and Playwriting Honors Program: A Specific Example

Students applying for honors must have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.7. A one-page (single-spaced) synopsis of your project should include enough detail to demonstrate your current thinking about the project: its genre, the form (e.g., a novella), and what you know now about its possible content. A sample of work in the genre in which you plan to do the thesis should include 15-25 double-spaced pages of fiction or nonfiction, a substantial group of poems, or 10-25 pages of a screenplay or play (in the standard format for those genres).

Acceptance

If you propose a project in a genre of writing in which you have already taken workshops, and in which your writing sample demonstrates real proficiency, you increase your chances of acceptance into the Creative Writing Honors Program. If you are accepted into Honors in Creative Writing, you will be assigned a faculty member to direct your project.

Cumulative GPA

If your cumulative GPA is below the required 3.7 and does not rise to 3.7 by the end of Spring or Summer 2025, but you have a GPA of at least 3.45, an exceptional record in the Program, and strong support from Creative Writing faculty, you may submit a petition for a waiver of the required GPA to the Emory College Honors Program by a deadline in August that will be announced later this Spring.

Grading and Honors Levels

The Honors Committee determines the level of honors based on the student's overall performance and the quality of their thesis.

The levels of Departmental Research Honors are:

Honors: Represents satisfactory completion of the program, with an overall average of 3.70.
High Honors: Represents completion of the program with outstanding performance, including an overall average of 3.70 and a thesis of quality sufficient for oral presentation to scholars in the candidate's field.
Highest Honors: Represents completion of the program with exceptional performance, including an overall average of 3.70 and a thesis of a quality suitable for publication.

Embargos and Petitions

Current students in the program can set an embargo for 6-month, 1 year or 2 years when submitting their thesis. An extension longer than 2 years requires review and approval from the Honors Committee, including a letter explaining the project, the reason for the extended embargo, and the requested length.

Students with a GPA of at least 3.45 can petition into the program with the support of their departmental honors coordinator and potential thesis advisor. Students admitted by petition must maintain at least the cumulative GPA with which they entered the Honors Program.

Honors in Course

Honors in Course is a GPA-based graduation distinction that recognizes academic achievement based on a student’s cumulative GPA and rank in the graduating class. This recognition denotes academic excellence by awarding standard Latin designations on the transcripts of students who finish in the top 30% among Emory College graduates.

The standard Latin designations are determined as follows:

Cum laude: top 15.01-30.00% of the class
Magna cum laude: top 5.01-15.00% of the class
Summa cum laude: top 5.00% of the class

Additional Opportunities

The Honors Program can be pursued on an alternative timeline with permission from the department and in coordination with the College Honors Program Administrator, but must be pursued for two consecutive semesters (not including summer semester). Students enrolled in a 4+1 Program, which allows current students to pursue a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years, must complete the Honors Program before the end of the bachelor portion of their program (i.e., their senior year in the College). Students can participate in the Honors Ceremony when they graduate and receive both degrees.

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