Eligibility Requirements

WGSS majors who have strong academic records may choose to participate in the Honors Program in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies which culminates in the writing of an honors thesis during the fall and spring semester of the student’s senior year. All WGSS students who plan to write an honors thesis must take WGSS 4141: Feminist and Queer Research Methodologies and must also enroll in the 1-credit WGSS 4142: Thesis Proposal Workshop offered concurrently with WGSS 4141. Both WGSS 4141 and WGSS 4142 should be taken during the fall semester of the student's junior year unless special departmental approval has been given. 

Honors thesis students who have maintained an overall cumulative 3.65 grade point average through 5 semesters and have at least a 3.65 in the WGSS major are eligible for Latin Honors. Students who do not meet the GPA requirements for Latin Honors can still earn Departmental Honors. To qualify for Departmental Honors, students must have maintained a cumulative 3.5 grade point average through 5 semesters and have at least a 3.65 in our major.

Selection of Primary Thesis Director

The student is responsible for finding a primary honors thesis director from among the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies faculty and associated faculty. In selecting the thesis director, the student should be attentive to the research interests and areas of expertise represented by the faculty and select the individual whose expertise most closely relates to the student’s proposed thesis topic. The student must obtain the consent of the faculty member. (Students should note that faculty members periodically take leaves of absence and may not be available during the semester when the student intends to complete the thesis). Students should begin reaching out to potential thesis directors early, preferably in the fall of their junior year. Early planning is especially important if the student is going abroad during the spring semester of their junior year.

Students must also find two other faculty members to agree to be on their honors thesis committee. These readers will be primarily responsible for evaluating the finished thesis, though they may also serve in an advisory role during the thesis-writing process. At least two of the three members of the thesis committee must be WGSS-core or WGSS-affiliated faculty.

Thesis Proposal Workshop

Prior to submitting their thesis proposal during the spring semester of their junior year, all prospective WGSS honors students are required to enroll in the 1-credit WGSS 4142: Thesis Proposal Workshop during the fall semester of their junior year. This workshop will take place over the second half of the fall semester and will guide students on the conventions of proposal writing, as well as giving students an opportunity to get feedback on their ideas.

Applying to the Honors Program

Application to the program must be made by March 17 of the junior year. An application consists of a 1-page application form, 4-6-page thesis proposal, 1–2-page bibliography, and current (unofficial) student transcript. Please send the completed form and documents via email to cbarounis@wustl.edu.

• Application Form: The application form asks for the following information: name, student ID number, and proposed thesis title. Also required are the names, email addresses, and signatures of all members of your honors thesis committee. This includes the faculty director who has agreed to supervise the thesis and the two faculty members who have agreed to be readers of the completed thesis.
• Thesis Proposal: Students should consult with their thesis director while working on the draft of the proposal. Thesis directors are encouraged to read and provide feedback on a draft of the thesis proposal in early spring semester. The proposal should be 4-6 pages, double-spaced and should outline the central issues or problem to be investigated during work on the thesis. The proposal should contain the following:
  • brief overview of the topic
  • clearly stated research question(s)
  • brief literature review  
  • method(s) to be used
  • timetable for the project
  • an acknowledgment of whether IRB approval will be needed and when you plan to submit your application for IRB approval
• Bibliography:  1–2-page preliminary bibliography of works that you have cited in the proposal as well as scholarship you plan to consult while working on the project. This bibliography does not need to be annotated.
• Transcript: Copy of the student (unofficial) transcript (printed out from Workday).

Note: Any work that involves human subjects, whether interviews, surveys, testing, etc., may require application to and approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB). Students planning to use human-subject research done abroad must have received prior IRB approval from Washington University for this material to be used in the honors thesis. If applicable, make sure to include this process in your proposal and in your timetable. IRB applications must be submitted by May 1. IRB approval must be obtained by September 1, or the honors project cannot continue.

Acceptance Procedure

All honors proposals will be reviewed by the WGSS Honors Thesis Committee. Students will generally be notified of their acceptance or rejection by early April. In some cases, students may be asked to revise and resubmit their proposals.

Accepted students should register for WGSS 4991 (Honors Thesis: Research and Writing) in the fall and spring semesters of their senior year.

General Guidelines

• An honors thesis is an original work. For students who plan to earn Latin Honors, the recommended thesis length is 50-70 pages, typed, and double-spaced, including bibliography. For students who plan to earn Departmental Honors, rather than Latin Honors, the recommended thesis length is 35-50 pages or a comparable creative or public intervention project. However, this can vary and the specific length of the project should be determined in consultation with the thesis director.
• Work should begin on the honors thesis in the summer before senior year. Thesis directors and students should consult to devise a reading list or other plan for preliminary research to take place before fall semester.
• Frequent meetings with the thesis director should take place during both the research and the writing part of the thesis. Weekly or biweekly meetings are customary. To help students stay on track, it would be advisable for the student and their thesis director to work together set up a schedule of writing deadlines for fall and early spring semester.
• The thesis director will counsel their student on research process, analysis and argument, and presentation. The thesis director will also read drafts and make suggestions for revisions.
• While students work most closely with their thesis director, the two readers are available for consultation. For the sake of continuity, discussions between readers and student should also be communicated to the thesis director.
• The introduction should explain the topic/state the research question and clearly state the thesis’s main argument or intervention. It should also include a literature review that explains the existing research about the topic and situates the thesis work within this scholarship.
• The thesis should be written in a clear, concise fashion, as a double-spaced, typed document. It should have a cover page with the title, student’s name, the month and year, and the names of the thesis director and second readers. The student is also welcome to include an acknowledgments page.
• For footnotes and sources, students should use the style and format that is appropriate for the subject; students should check with their thesis director to ascertain what format to use.
• Please remember that doing an honors thesis is demanding and takes a great deal of time and effort. It is strongly recommended that the student develop a schedule, in consultation with the thesis director, for the research and the completion of the thesis so that deadlines set by the program and the College can be met.

Other Requirements for Honors

• Participation in the Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium: All honors thesis students are required to present their work in the Undergraduate Research Symposium which takes place in April. The research posters must be dropped off at the WGSS Office within one week of the symposium.
• Participation in the WGSS Senior Presentations: During the Monday of reading week, students will be expected to give a 10-minute presentation of their honors thesis to WGSS faculty and students at the WGSS Senior Presentations.
• The research symposium and honors presentation are requirements that must be completed to receive Honors.

Evaluation of the Thesis and How Honors are Determined

The thesis committee (director and two readers) will review the thesis and if the committee determines that the work earns an A or A-, the student will receive Honors.

For students who are eligible for Latin Honors: levels of Latin honors are determined by GPA and are based on those seniors participating in the honors program in the College of Arts and Sciences. Latin honors will be calculated once spring grades for the eighth semester are submitted, and the breakdown is as follows:

• Top 15% GPA:    summa cum laude
• Next 35% GPA:   magna cum laude
• Remaining 50%:  cum laude

For students who eligible for Departmental Honors: this designation will appear on their transcript as “Honors earned in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.” However, they will not receive the Latin designations outlined above.

Timeline

Junior Year (Fall Semester)

• Prospective honors students should be enrolled in WGSS 4141: Feminist and Queer Research Methodologies during the fall semester of their junior year. They should also register for the 1-credit WGSS 4142: Thesis Proposal Workshop that meets during the second half of fall semester.
• Prospective honors students should begin reaching out to potential thesis advisors before the end of fall semester.

Junior Year (Spring Semester)

• March 17: Completed honors applications due. If your project is one that could benefit from outside funding, consider also applying for the Andrea Biggs Undergraduate Research Award (due March 17). For more details, see: https://wgss.wustl.edu/undergraduate-awards
• Mid-April: Students notified of acceptance. Begin working on IRB application (if required).
• May 1: Deadline for submitting IRB application. Approved students should also meet with thesis director to determine summer reading list and agree on work that will be completed by fall semester.

Senior Year (Fall Semester)

• September 1: IRB approval (when applicable) must be secured by this date, or honors may not proceed.
• October 15: Literature review should be complete and submitted to honors thesis director.
• December 15: Approximately 50 percent of the thesis should be complete in draft form and submitted to the advisor. The fall grade is largely dependent on achieving this goal. Other chapters should be outlined for completion by February 1.

Senior Year (Spring Semester)

• February 1: Completed draft of thesis due to thesis director. The director should provide suggestions for revision to the student by February 15.
• March 1: Final draft of thesis due to thesis committee. This is the version that will be graded.
• April 1: All students in the honors program will be notified of their thesis grade and whether they have earned Honors
• Mid-April: Honors students present their work at Undergraduate Research Symposium which usually takes place in mid-April (details for registering will be provided early spring semester). Within one week of the Undergraduate Research Symposium, honors students should email a digital copy of their poster or presentation slides to Cynthia Barounis (cbarounis@wustl.edu). If the student has created a poster for the research fair, a physical copy of the poster should be dropped off with Crystal Odelle in McMillan 210 to be displayed in the WGSS hallway.
• Last day of classes: Final digital version of thesis due via email to Cynthia Barounis (cbarounis@wustl.edu). Students also have the option of publishing their thesis in Wash U’s Open Scholarship Repository (details for submission will be provided).
• Monday of Reading Week: Honors students present their work to WGSS faculty, students, and public as part of the WGSS Senior Presentations.