Honors Program
The Honors Program of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program is designed for highly qualified majors, who have earned an overall GPA of 3.3, with an average of 3.5 on work in WGSS.
Students interested in completing the honors program should first meet with Dr. Kristina Gupta, Honors Program Director, in the spring of their junior year. Students will then need to contact a WGSS faculty member to request supervision as a thesis adviser. Once an adviser has agreed to work with them, it is the student’s responsibility to establish a schedule for completion of the honors program work in consultation with the adviser. A project prospectus must be approved by both Dr. Gupta and the student’s adviser. Interested students should complete the WGSS Honors Declaration Form.
Students can complete their honors project in their senior year after they have successfully completed WGS 399 – Research Seminar in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and their public engagement requirement. Students are encouraged to take WGS 399 in the fall of their senior year and then complete their honors project in the spring of their senior year. However, if they take WGS 399 prior to their senior year, they may complete their honors project in either the fall or spring of their senior year. During the semester in which they complete their honors project, they may enroll in 1.5 credit hours of WGS 395 – Honors in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.
While enrolled in WGS 395, the student must complete a significant research or activist/creative project under the direction of a faculty advisor. The student must identify a secondary faculty reader for their project as well. Both the advisor and secondary reader must be approved by the director of the honors program. In most cases, students will build on the research project they have begun in WGS 399 or the activist project they have begun while fulfilling the public engagement requirement. If the student’s honors project will build on the project they complete for WGS 399, and if the student’s intended honors project advisor is not their instructor for WGS 399, the student is encouraged to work with their intended honors project advisor as well as their instructor when completing their research project for WGS 399. If the student’s honors project will build on the project they complete for public engagement, and if the student’s intended honors project advisor is not their instructor/advisor for public engagement, the student is encouraged to work with their intended honors project advisor as well as their instructor/advisor when completing their public engagement requirement. The guidelines for the honors project are as follows:
Research or Thesis Paper:
The student must complete a significant research or thesis paper relevant to the field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The research or thesis paper must include original research and/or analysis, meaningful engagement with scholarly literature, and proper citations. The paper must be at least 30 pages in length.
Activist or Creative Project:
The student must complete a significant activist or creative project relevant to the field of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, representing at least 50 hours of work. The faculty member and student will determine how best to track the hours. In addition to the activist or creative project, the student must submit a 10-page reflective paper, which engages with relevant scholarly literature and includes proper citations.
When their advisor sees that a student’s Honors Project meets the expectations and standards for honors quality work, the student submits their project to their advisor and secondary reader. The project must be submitted to the faculty committee no later than April 1 (or November 1 for December graduation). Students then complete an Oral Defense of their Honors Project. All defenses must be completed no later than April 15 (or November 15 for December graduation).
After their Oral Defense, students submit the signed Honors Defense Form to the WGSS department, together with a final copy of the honors project that incorporates any and all changes. Students also submit a 250 word abstract of their project for posting on the department website.
Students may complete collaborative honors projects. In these cases, when applying for the honors program, student collaborators should submit an additional paragraph explaining the justification for a collaborative paper or project along with a clear delineation of responsibilities between the student collaborators. It is expected that each student will engage in the collaborative project will write an individual paper/reflection on the project. Collaborative projects are subject to the approval of the director of the WGSS honors program.
*For more information, please contact Dr. Kristina Gupta at guptaka@wfu.edu