Honors Programs

We offer an honors program in each of our nine undergraduate majors: Linguistics, Linguistics & Computer Science, Linguistics & Philosophy, Linguistics & Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Linguistics & African Languages, French & Linguistics, Italian & Linguistics, Japanese & Linguistics, and Spanish & Linguistics. Further details are provided below.

Honors in Linguistics requires 14 (as opposed to 12) courses, to be completed with a GPA of at least 3.7. A student may apply to the program between the end of sophomore year and the beginning of the spring semester of junior year. For admission, students must have completed at least 3 of the 4 core courses, and obtained a GPA of at least 3.65 in all CAS courses (and 3.7 in all CAS LX courses) taken as of the time of application. To apply, complete the application form (see  Undergraduate Resources) and submit it by email to the Department Administrator. Students who successfully complete the program with a GPA of 3.7 in the 14 major courses (and a grade of at least A- on the honors project, if relevant) will graduate “with honors in Linguistics”.

Students enrolled in the BA/MA in Linguistics are not eligible to pursue Honors in Linguistics via the standard track; they must pursue the honors thesis track.

A proposal for the honors thesis must be submitted and approved by February 15  of the junior year. The thesis proposal application (see Undergraduate Resources), along with the proposal summary and bibliography, should be emailed to the Department Administrator.

Honors in Linguistics & Computer Science requires 1 additional advanced course in Linguistics (400+ level), Computer Science, or Computational Linguistics/Natural Language Processing, chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor, plus 1 semester of Senior Honors Research. Students with a sufficient GPA overall (3.65+) and in the major (3.7+) and who have already completed at least 2 of the required Linguistics courses and at least 2 of the required courses in Computer Science, can submit an application to the Honors program (see Undergraduate Resources ) between the end of sophomore year and the beginning of the spring semester of the junior year.

Students are expected to begin discussions with faculty advisors about the Honors Research project by March of their junior year, and are required to submit an approved proposal by May 15 of their junior year. Students who successfully complete the program with a GPA of 3.7 in the 15 major courses and a grade of at least A- on the honors project will graduate “with honors in Linguistics & Computer Science”.

Honors in Linguistics & Philosophy requires 15 (as opposed to 13) courses in all, including 1 additional advanced course in formal syntax, semantics, or pragmatics (e.g., CAS LX 422, 423, 432, 433); 1 additional advanced course in philosophy (e.g., CAS PH 460, 461, 462, 465, 467, 468, 486); and, instead of a third elective, 1 semester of directed research to complete a senior honors project. A student may apply to the program between the end of sophomore year and the beginning of the spring semester of junior year. For admission into the program, students must have completed CAS LX 331 Semantics and one of the four core Philosophy courses (CAS PH 310, 360, 422, 443, 463), and obtained a GPA of least 3.65 in all CAS courses—and a minimum GPA of 3.7 in the set of courses satisfying requirements for the major—that the student has taken as of the time of application. To apply, complete the application form (see  Undergraduate Resources) and submit it by email to the Department Administrator. 

The senior honors project will be co-advised by two faculty members, one in Linguistics and one in Philosophy. Students who successfully complete the program with an average GPA of 3.7 in the courses satisfying requirements for the major as well as a minimum grade of A- on the honors project will graduate “with honors in Linguistics & Philosophy”. 

Honors in Linguistics & SLHS requires, beyond the 13 courses required for the standard major, 8 additional credits, including 2 semesters of independent Honors research (for a total of 4 or 8 credits) and up to 4 additional elective credits (a CAS LX course at 400+ level or a SAR SH course at 500+ level) chosen in consultation with the student’s academic advisor.

The required Honors research is normally undertaken in the senior year. The mentor for the research can be any faculty member affiliated with this intercollegiate program (either in CAS or SAR). Students are expected to begin discussions with faculty advisors about the honors project by March of their junior year, and are required to submit an approved proposal along with their application to the honors program (see Undergraduate Resources) by May 15 of their junior year. A thesis outline with annotated bibliography is due by October 15 of the senior year; a written progress report on first-semester activities on the thesis is due by the last day of the fall semester. By January 1, a decision on continuation of the research will be conveyed to the student by the mentor. If permitted to continue, a first draft of the written thesis is due to the mentor by March 1; a final version of the thesis is due by the last day of classes in the spring semester; and an oral presentation of the research will take place in late April or early May (exact date TBD by the student and mentor).

For admission into the honors program, students must have an overall GPA of 3.65+, and a GPA of 3.7+ in the set of courses satisfying requirements for the major, that the student has taken at the time of application. Student who successfully complete the program with a GPA of 3.7 in the major and a grade of at least A- on the honors project will graduate “with honors in Linguistics & Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences”.

Honors in Linguistics & African Languages requires 1 additional advanced course in linguistics (400+ level) and 1 additional advanced course in African studies, both chosen in consultation with the student’s advisor.

For admission into the honors program, students must have an overall GPA of 3.65+ and a GPA in the major of 3.7+, and have already completed at least 4 of the 7 required courses (CAS LX 250, 301, 321, 331, 391; CAS AN 521, 524). Students can apply to participate between the end of sophomore year and the beginning of the second semester of the junior year. Student who successfully complete the program with a GPA of at least 3.7 in the 15 major courses will graduate “with Honors in Linguistics & African Languages”.

For each of these joint majors, Honors requires a total of 15 (as opposed to 13) courses, i.e. 2 additional courses beyond those required for the standard joint major: 1 additional linguistics course (CAS LX 400+ level) and 1 additional language course (CAS LF 500+ level for French & Linguistics, CAS LI 500+ level for Italian & Linguistics, CAS LJ 400+ level for Japanese & Linguistics, CAS LS 500+ level for Spanish & Linguistics).

One or both additional courses may instead be an Honors independent study undertaken under the direction of faculty in the relevant programs. Honors students will be encouraged to engage in research that deals with the linguistic properties of the language of their specialization, thereby providing an experience in their senior year that allows for a synthesis of the work they have done in the two disciplines. Detailed proposals for Honors independent study work must be submitted and approved no later than six months prior to the anticipated beginning of the project.

For admission into the honors program, students must have completed CAS LX 250, at least one of the three core linguistics courses (CAS LX 301, 321, 331), and two of the required language courses (necessarily including CAS LF 350 for French & Linguistics, CAS LS 350 for Spanish & Linguistics, and CAS LI 350 or 351 for Italian & Linguistics). To be admitted, students must typically have attained an overall GPA of 3.65+ in all CAS courses and a GPA of 3.7 in courses that satisfy requirements for the joint major that the student has taken at the time of application. 

A student may apply to the honors program between the end of the sophomore year and the beginning of the spring semester of junior year by submitting the appropriate application form (see  Undergraduate Resources) to the Department Administrator. Students who successfully complete the program with a GPA of at least 3.7 in the 15 required courses (and a grade of at least A- on the honors project, if relevant) will graduate “with Honors in [the major]”.

Director of Undergraduate Studies