Department Honors
Honors in Linguistics
Departmental Honors in Linguistics recognizes students who complete an undergraduate research project working closely with Faculty in Linguistics, and show excellence in their academic performance in the Linguistics major.
To be considered for the B.A. degree with Honors in Linguistics, a student must fulfill all the regular course requirements for the undergraduate major with a grade point average of at least 3.5 in Linguistics. A specific additional requirement for Honors is completion of Linguistics 496 (Honors Essay in Linguistics) with a grade of B or better. Normally, the student enrolls in Ling 496 (Fall semester of senior year) under the direction of one faculty member in the Linguistics Department. The Honors candidate will carry out original research and write up the results of the study in a form suitable for being kept on file in the departmental library. The course grade for LING 496 is determined by the supervising faculty member. Students considering going for Honors are encouraged to look at previous Honors Theses in the departmental library. A student who intends to work for Honors must file a Departmental Honors Intent Form with CLAS Student Academic Services. (No later than one semester before they graduate.)
When the Honors Thesis is approved by the supervising faculty advisor, the advisor in consultation with the candidate will convene an honors review panel with two additional Linguistics faculty members. The panel will include the supervising faculty member. The panel reviews the student’s Honors Thesis, and reports to the departmental Honors Coordinator whether honors shall be granted. The Honors Coordinator in turn checks the GPA requirement and reports the results to CLAS Student Academic Services at the appropriate time. The department also requires the Honors candidate to present their honors research to the Linguistics Department where other students and faculty may attend (usually at the end of the spring semester).
For more information about Departmental Honors in Linguistics, or to learn about other opportunities to engage in undergraduate research in Linguistics, please contact the Undergraduate Honors/Research Coordinator, Dr. Utako Minai or the Director of Undergraduate Students, Dr. John Gluckman.
