Honors in Writing & Rhetoric
Departmental Thesis Advisor
Your first step is to meet with the Honors departmental thesis advisor so they can help you in the initial stages of the project, especially in terms of connecting you with the most appropriate thesis advisor, if you don’t already have one in mind. Currently, the Honors departmental thesis advisor is Dr. Maureen Mathison. You can contact her via email.
Thesis
Thinking about your Thesis
The thesis represents the culmination of your Honors Degree. It may seem daunting to begin, but you are not alone. We are here to support you. A good rule of thumb is to start early and make an appointment with the Honors departmental thesis advisor for the Department of Writing and Rhetoric Studies.
Ideally, you will meet with the Honors departmental thesis advisor two semesters before you complete the thesis and graduate. This provides enough time to help you explore what you want to do and to direct you to a faculty advisor who will work closely with you to mentor you through the process. Your schedule and working relationship will be decided between the two of you. How often will you meet? When will you provide drafts for feedback? Etc.
Once you have connected with your faculty advisor, the two of you can further develop your ideas and determine the genre and style of your document. Theses in our department tend to run between 30- 80 pages. The length and content should be appropriate for your goals. Your project may also be multimodal, engaging visual, sonic, or include other elements of rhetoric. The scope of the project is to be decided with your faculty advisor. The quality of your thesis is based on whether or not you have achieved your purpose given the project.
The final thesis is approved by your faculty advisor, the Honors departmental thesis advisor, and the chair of the department. The Honors College deadline is toward the end of each semester, so be sure to note that several people will be reading your final document and signing off on it.
PLEASE NOTE that a J. Willard Marriott Library Award is given each year. If you wish to be considered for this award, your thesis deadline will be approximately April 1st.
Otherwise, your final thesis is due to the Honors College on the last day of classes of the semester you complete it.