Earn Honors in Philosophy
Students majoring in philosophy have the opportunity to graduate with honors in the major. In order to be admitted to the departmental honors program, a student must have taken and passed three courses required for the philosophy major. In order to graduate with honors in the philosophy major, a student must:
- Complete the regular requirements for the major with a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.40 in philosophy courses
- Write an honors thesis under the direction of a faculty member
The honors thesis is a more in-depth research paper than one you might write as a final paper for a course or seminar, and the topic and advisor depend on your philosophical interests. Your first step in preparing to write the thesis is to consider the area or topic and possible advisor for your thesis, and to talk with that faculty member. Typically the student will settle on the advisor and topic sometime in their junior year and will often be working on it over the summer before senior year after discussion with the advisor on a research and writing plan. Our faculty have a broad range of backgrounds that can accommodate almost any student’s interests.
To earn thesis-related credit while working on the thesis, the student registers for PHIL:3950 Readings in Philosophy, choosing their honors thesis advisor as the Instructor for the course. This is for 3 credits and typically will be taken twice. Often this is both semesters in senior year or occasionally second semester junior/first semester senior year.
The department also requires that the student defend the honors thesis before a committee. This should be discussed with the advisor in terms of committee membership and a target time interval for scheduling the defense.
Note that honors in the major is distinct from university honors. You can do either one independently, or both. However, the honors thesis counts towards university honors as writing the thesis satisfies the 12 “experiential learning” credits required for university honors.
Honors in Ethics and Public Policy
Students have the opportunity to graduate with honors in the major. Honors students must maintain a grade-point average (GPA) of at least 3.50 in work for the major and a cumulative University of Iowa GPA of at least 3.33; the UI cumulative GPA requirement is set by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. In order to graduate with honors in the major, students must complete all work for the major and write an acceptable honors thesis on a significant topic related to the major. Students who write their honors thesis in philosophy should consider preparing for the thesis by taking PHIL:3950 Readings in Philosophy; students who write in economics should consult the coordinator of the Ethics and Public Policy Program for an appropriate course. Students who write in political science should take either POLI:4600 Honors Research Project or POLI:4601 Honors Senior Thesis. Students who write in sociology and criminology should consider taking SOC:4997 Honors Seminar. Contact the coordinator of the Ethics and Public Policy Program for more information.
Students who choose to write an honors thesis are required to schedule an oral discussion of their completed honors thesis, mainly to enrich the intellectual experience of its author. A student discusses the thesis with a faculty committee including the thesis director and the department's honors director or a faculty member designated by that official. The committee may withhold approval of fundamentally inadequate theses, but directors are to schedule theses for discussion only when they are ready. The discussion typically concentrates on exploring thesis ideas from several perspectives rather than whether to approve a thesis.
It is expected that students wishing to pursue the honors thesis (POLI:4601 Honors Senior Thesis) begin discussing the thesis with their thesis director one full semester prior to the semester in which they want to write the thesis. Students should consider enrolling in POLI:4700 Independent Study for 1 s.h. the semester before enrolling in the thesis seminar.
Questions?
David Cunning
University of Iowa Honors Program
In addition to honors in the major, students may pursue honors study and activities through membership in the University of Iowa Honors Program. University honors students must maintain a 3.33 grade-point average, complete 12 semester hours of coursework designated as honors courses, and complete 12 semester hours of an experiential learning project. Visit Honors at Iowa to learn about the university's honors program.
NOTE: Membership in the UI Honors Program is not required to earn honors in the major.