Honors in English at
Bridgewater State College
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Pursue Honors? > Applying/Forms
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Bridgewater State College provides motivated, gifted students with many
opportunities to challenge themselves and achieve in areas of greatest
interest to them. Through the Adrian Tinsley Program (ATP), students may apply for funding for
their own scholarly research conducted under the guidance of a faculty
member. Shea Scholarships, funded through the Bridgewater Alumni
Association, provide similar avenues for independent work.
The Honors Program in
English is a vital part of these efforts at Bridgewater to advance
original, independent undergraduate research.
By pursuing Honors, inspired students can reach their highest
potential through critical thinking, scholarship, and inquiry. Close
student-faculty relations and intensive research provide for the vigorous
and thorough exchange of ideas, and offer students an opportunity to
broaden their knowledge and experience.
If you are an English major with a cumulative GPA of
3.0 and a 3.3 GPA in your English courses, you are eligible for
admission to the English Department Honors Program. Departmental Honors is
entirely separate from the All-College Honors
Program; therefore,
admission to departmental honors does not require completion of honors
courses or honors colloquia at the freshman and sophomore levels. A total
of nine hours of honors course work taken in the junior and/or senior
years is required for Departmental Honors.
This includes the thesis or research project, usually completed in
the senior year.
At the beginning of each semester of the junior year,
Departmental Honors students select, with the approval of the instructor,
a 300 or 400 level course to take on an “Honors” basis. The student
then completes a special advanced project, under the instructor’s
direction, in conjunction with the course. Two of these projects must be
completed, in two separate 300 or 400 level classes; or, the student may
choose to pursue only one special project at the 300 or 400 level, and
instead earn credit for two semesters of work on the thesis. As a senior, the student
chooses a thesis director and under his or her direction researches and
writes an honors thesis (earning three credits for “EN485 Honors
Thesis”). The thesis director and the student, in consultation with the
Departmental Honors Committee Chair, will recruit at least two members of
the department to serve, in addition to the thesis director, as the
student’s thesis committee. Whether
the thesis qualifies the student to graduate with honors will be
determined by the student’s thesis committee, though the thesis grade is
determined solely by the thesis director.
As a final requirement, honors candidates must present a portion of
the thesis to the college community at the annual ATP (Adrian Tinsley
Program) Spring Symposium.
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Students who complete Departmental Honors
will have the phrase “with Honors in English” entered on their
transcripts. Much more
importantly, students completing Honors will have proven themselves
capable of sustained, original research—a significant personal
accomplishment, valuable preparation for graduate school, and a necessary
skill in many professions. Honors
students also have the opportunity to develop more satisfying and in-depth
relationships with faculty and with their peers. Lastly, all
students completing Departmental Honors are required to present their work
at the all-college ATP Symposium—a unique opportunity to share
intellectual achievements and participate in Bridgewater’s community of
thinkers and learners.
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There are three different forms for Departmental
Honors: program application, contract credit proposals (non-honors
courses at the 300 or 400 level), and thesis credit proposals. All
forms are available on the Honors Program bulletin board in the English Department (Tillinghast Hall, third
floor) or in the Honors Center (located in the Academic Achievement Center,
Maxwell Library, ground floor). Forms must be filled out and returned during
the first two weeks of the semester in which the student wishes to
undertake the work.
All forms are also available in PDF and require Adobe
Reader™. Download
the FREE Reader.
For more information, contact:
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