Honors Program

A Midshipman's Guideline

POLITICAL SCIENCE HONORS THESIS PROJECTS

The honors program is an opportunity to carry out a major research project under the direct supervision of a faculty member.  As an honors candidate, you will be responsible to your faculty advisor who guides the design, research, and analysis of your subject of interest.  The honors program offers an opportunity for Midshipmen to work as individuals and shape their own education al experience.

Honors Paper Guidelines

REQUIREMENTS

• Honors candidates are by definition exceptional students.  To be considered for the program, you must possess a minimum of 3.0 cumulative grade point average (CQPR), a 3.4 CQPR in the major, a 2.7 in professional/technical courses and no D's or F's on the final transcript.
• By the time Political Science Department Honors students complete the honors program, they are required to have a CQPR of 3.0, a CQPR in major courses of 3.5, a CQPR in professional courses of 2.5 and no D or F grades on the final transcript.
• Honors candidates must be able to work independently, to draw on the material learned in the methods course (FP220) and in other courses (substantive field of interest) to produce first quality research and writing.  Since the equivalent of three courses are devoted to the project, it should amount to at least triple the work of a single course.
• Midshipmen cannot be an honors student and a VGEP student.

RESEARCH SCHEDULE

Second Class Year

First Semester: Midshipmen with competitive academic records (i.e., those with or close to a CQPR > 3.0, a Major QPR > 3.5 and a Professional Courses QPR > 2.7) are contacted by e-mail and invited to be in touch with the director(s) of the honors program to discuss interest in honors.  Midshipmen should begin to develop their thoughts on an area of research by talking to their professors and undertaking some preliminary research on topics in their courses.

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First Class Year
First Semester

At Registration

• Meet with your faculty advisor to agree on the research question, hypotheses, data, and methodology.
• Identify a second reader either from inside or outside the Academy.  It is recommended that a faculty member involved in FP220 instruction review the proposal for feedback.

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