Completing a Thesis in the Research Humanities or Social Science Disciplines

The Senior Honors Thesis in humanities and social science disciplines is typically envisioned and executed entirely as a written piece of work. This kind of thesis might resemble a long research paper in form, but it is different than a class paper. It tackles a problem that others have not yet addressed adequately, or it approaches the problem from a new angle. Research into what others have said and done is the essential first step, but your thesis should go beyond prior work to include your own insights and critical thinking. You should have an acquaintance with the relevant scholarship and display originality in the formulation of your arguments. Typically, such a thesis will run 50-75 pages.

Completing a Thesis in Creative Writing

The creative writing thesis is typically envisioned as a written piece of work that has two main components: 1) critical introduction, and 2) original creative writing in a single genre (poetry, short fiction, creative non-fiction, novella, portion of a novel), the bulk of which is created after the approval of the thesis prospectus.

While the length of the creative writing section depends largely on the genre and nature of your project, some suggested guideposts include: a poetry collection (30 pages); a short story collection, creative non-fiction, play, or novella (60 pages); a portion of a novel (80 pages including a detailed outline of the rest of the work). More important than length is the quality of thought and writing. The critical introduction must be 15-20 pages. The central aim of this introduction is to situate your creative writing project within the artistic traditions you are engaging in. For more information on writing a creative writing thesis, please refer to the Creative Writing Thesis Overview and Guidelines.

CLASS senior honors thesis students will submit to Dr. Rikki Bettinger in the Honors College for formatting and content check, prior to the final upload. CLASS students will not submit to the CLASS Dean’s office.

Please use the UH Graduate School template for the front matter. Submit your signed Thesis Defense and Final Evaluation form and your revised thesis following your defense to Dr. Rikki Bettinger in the Honors College for review of formatting and content by December 1 or April 28 of the semester you defend.

The thesis defense form and directions for submitting the final approved thesis to the Honors College can be found on the Defense and Graduation page. After your thesis is checked and approved by Dr. Bettinger, the final thesis must be submitted to the Senior Honors Thesis Electronic Portal by the last day of the term.

There are no bound copies of the thesis required for the Honors College. However, all students who complete the senior honors thesis are welcome to submit a bound copy to the Honors College for display in the Estess Library.