Thesis

Overview

The Honors Program is open to students finding their own unique pathways in satisfying this requirement, as long as it ties into their academic or creative goals, so please come and speak to the Honors Director about your ideas. Please think ahead—meet with the Honors Director in the semester/summer BEFORE you plan on undertaking this learning experience.

Students whose major demands a professional experience (CDIS and SOWK practicums, Clinical Practice in Education majors, and MUS 3640 or CDIS 4510, for example), should consult with the Honors Director before beginning those professional experiences, as their requirements are somewhat unique.

Most students undertaking an Honors Thesis or Capstone experience will develop an original and independent effort of their choice; creative activity is also possible and encouraged in this senior-level experience. The common expectation across all majors is that original research or creative activity will be completed in this effort.

Much of the challenge here comes in determining just where the intellectual or creative investment will be made: what do you want to explore? How do the theories you have worked with in your major(s) translate into the reality of an experiment? What have you always wanted to create beyond class requirements? What rabbit hole do you want to deep dive into? Students’ first step toward this final Honors requirement is thinking about a topic to pursue.

Your next step has to tie such thinking to reality. If you have always wanted to research why (for example) an octopus is purple, then Honors can get behind that idea. But if there is not a faculty member on campus who is an expert on purple octopuses, you may have to bend—and research red octopuses! You get the idea. Selecting a mentor and determining that mentor’s fit and suitability (and availability) is vital. And you have to know that faculty are generous in giving you their time and expertise, so you have to rise to that occasion by laying out your plan carefully—and sharing it with them for their guidance and insight. Think carefully about with whom you want to work and why, be sure to be courteous in making such a request, and remember that the student drives this project and is responsible for its outcome.

Logistics

While common guidelines are impossible given the huge variety of disciplinary interests represented across Honors at UNO, the steps toward successful completion of this requirement are below.

• Determine a topic of interest. Draft your ideas. Share that topic/those ideas with the faculty mentor with whom you would most like to work—and ensure their willingness to work with you. Topic and faculty mentor are both essential to beginning the process.
  
  
• Determine how you want to include the credits in your degree plan:
  You can enroll in HONR 4980, which is the Honors thesis course. It is an independent study that you develop in consultation with your selected faculty mentor: you will develop together the subject, expectations, and timeline of the undertaking in coordination with the dates and guidelines Honors will provide. The student drives this process and development; the faculty member is generous in guiding/providing their expectations.
  OR
  You can use an existing discipline’s course at the 4000 level. You need to consult with and receive the Honors Director’s permission to use a discipline-specific course after having ensured the professor of that course is willing to support you earning Honors credit above and beyond the established course requirements. You thus need to work with the course professor to determine what additional Honors work will be completed above and beyond the discipline-specific course requirements.
  
  
• Then firm up the proposal you should already have developed as the starting point of this entire process. The end product should be no more than two single-spaced pages and should include your name, the name of your mentor, and an identification of the course to which the credit will attach (HONR 4980 or discipline-at-the-4000 level). In that proposal, generally speaking, you should have a paragraph overview (macro) in which you outline what you propose to do (abstract), and then how you will undertake the effort (methodology), and a detailed (micro) timeline for completion. Check with your mentor as to their preferred documentation style. This document is REQUIRED prior to enrollment in HONR 4980.
  
  
• Your mentor should review and agree to your proposal—and should have a copy. You should establish communication preferences between you—and the timeline for meetings as you move through the process.
  
  
• The student should then email that proposal as a WORD/PDF attachment to the Honors Director, cc’ing their mentor. All submissions will be acknowledged, and students will then be issued a permission number for their course choice accordingly (if needed). Proposals for undertaking thesis/capstone work should be submitted no later than the end of the first business week of the semester in which the effort will be undertaken.

Students and mentors can expect reminder emails and information throughout the course of the undertaking. Deadlines and information related to required Symposium poster formatting and presentation (undertaken in a student’s last semester at the University) and submission of the final products (generally written) will be forthcoming via email throughout the course of the semester.

The final (generally written) product should be substantive; minimum page expectations are somewhat arbitrary and vary widely across disciplines, of course, but most research efforts are at least 25 pages or more. In terms of content and length, students will find most helpful the guidance and expectations of their faculty mentor.

Please email any questions about any steps in this process to the Honors Director.

To see past theses completed by our Honors graduates, please go to the Digital Commons webpage.