The Honors Program in English consists of three senior-year courses (totaling 12 semester hours), which must be taken for a letter grade:
- ENGL 497: Honors Seminar (fall semester)
- ENGL 493: Individual Study (fall semester)
- ENGL 498: Senior Honors (spring semester)
During this process, Honors candidates are responsible for:
- A thesis in the form of a substantial critical or creative project that is 50-80 pages in length, evaluated by the department and an examiner from outside Kenyon.
- A reflection paper, 5-7 pages, discussing a list of texts developed in consultation with the thesis supervisor.
- An oral exam on both the thesis and the reflection paper, conducted by the outside examiner.
To apply to the Honors Program, students must meet the minimum GPA requirement of 3.7 in the major and 3.5 overall and submit their application by the deadline stipulated by the Honors director. For a full list of application materials and eligibility criteria, please consult the handout on "Proposal Review Process" (available from the Honors director). Note: the Honors thesis requires a year-long commitment. It is our expectation, therefore, that students applying to the Honors program will not be pursuing Honors in a second major.
Students accepted to the Honors Program begin their Honors work in the fall-semester individual study (ENGL 493) and the seminar (ENGL 497). A final prospectus of 5-7 pages (plus bibliography) will be due the first Monday in October. If the Honors committee does not find in the prospectus compelling evidence that the student will succeed in the program, the student will not proceed to complete the Honors Program in the second semester (and will instead complete the Fall-semester individual study and the Honors seminar as stand-alone courses). At the discretion of the committee, a student may be allowed to revise a proposal and resubmit it no later than November 1.
The individual-study course (ENGL 493) focuses on the production of the Honors thesis under the direction of the thesis supervisor. During the first-semester individual study, Honors students meet weekly with their advisors to plan and carry out extensive research and writing and, in the end, complete the draft of at least one chapter or significant section of the Honors project. The focus of the Honors seminar (ENGL 497) will vary based on the director's areas of specialization and pedagogical interests, but it is designed to complement the writing of the thesis.
Successful completion of both courses in the first semester is necessary for students to continue in the program in the second semester. The spring-semester program consists of ENGL 498: Senior Honors (the second individual study); the completion of the Honors thesis (due generally at the end of March or early April); a reflection paper (due the Monday prior to the thesis defense); and the oral thesis defense (three weeks after the submission of the thesis). Students enrolled in the Honors seminar will receive a calendar with the exact dates for the year.
Students who complete the Honors Program will earn grades in each of their three Honors courses (ENGL 493, 497, and 498) as well as a degree of Honors for the program overall. The degree of Honors, determined by the outside examiner in response to the project and the oral examination, may be: "honors," "high honors," "highest honors," or "not worthy of honors."
The English department considers successful completion of the Honors Program to be in itself a significant achievement. We expect, therefore, that most students who successfully complete the whole course of study will be awarded "Honors" in English.
If you are interested in finding out more about the program please contact the 2025-26 Honors director, Professor Pashmina Murthy, at murthyp@kenyon.edu.