Thesis Guidelines
The Senior Honors Thesis is a yearlong project for which the student enrolls for six hours credit over the course of their senior year (three credits in the Fall semester and three credits in the Spring semester).
During the second semester of their junior year students need to decide on a general topic for their thesis and find a faculty member who can chair their thesis. The program coordinator, Dr. Lichtenwalner, can help facilitate this process, and students need to inform the program coordinator of both their topic and their thesis chair by no later than November 15 if they will be starting their Senior year in the Spring semester and April 15 if they will be starting their senior year in the Fall semester.
The Senior Honors Thesis represents an in-depth, capstone experience designed to provide honors students with opportunities to develop a deeper knowledge of English, a closer intellectual interaction with faculty, and more complete preparation for their career goals. The thesis should represent a student's most sustained research as an undergraduate. The thesis should involve the student in intensive research of a topic in literature, rhetoric, or language. It should be considered a manuscript that may be submitted for publication in a scholarly journal (minimum of 20 pages). Works of fiction, drama, poetry, or personal essays may not be submitted as a senior thesis.
An electronic version of your approved thesis needs to be uploaded to eThesis no later that November 15 for Fall graduation and April 15 for Spring graduation.
A final requirement for the Honors Thesis is that it must be presented publicly. Students will work with their director and the URHP advisor to set up a public presentation of their work either at the Boland Undergraduate Student Research Symposium or another appropriate venue.
An approved Senior Honors Thesis that receives a grade of B or better and that has been orally presented in public is required for graduation as an English Honors student from East Tennessee State University.
The Thesis Committee
A senior honors student should choose a thesis committee in conjunction with the English URHP program coordinator. The committee must consist of a thesis professor and a second reader, both from the Department of Literature and Language.
Recommended Honors Thesis Timetable
The following are the recommended timetables for completion of the English Honors Thesis. You must complete a thesis to graduate with Honors in English. Please contact the Undergraduate Research Honors Program advisor, Dr. Lichtenwalner (lichtenw@etsu.edu), with any questions.
| Thesis Progress | Deadline if Graduating in Spring | Deadline if Graduating in Fall |
| Choose Thesis Director (second semester JR year) | November 15 | April 15 |
| Complete Prospectus for Director Approval Choose Second and Third Readers |
November 1 | March 19 |
| Present First Draft to Thesis Director | February 15 | October 1 |
| Present Second Draft to all Readers | March 19 | November 1 |
| In conjunction with URHP Director, set date for thesis presentation |
April 1 | November 9 |
| Deadline for Thesis presentation | April 20 | November 30 |
| Deadline to submit bound copies to thesis director and English URHP Director | April 15 | November 15 |