Pathways to Thesis
A thesis in Honors requires the development of 'next level' professional and academic skills. Through the Honors Thesis, you have the opportunity to develop a project take serves and furthers your academic and professional goals. While everyone in Honors has to complete a thesis, you can turn your thesis project into something that serves your future goals or explores questions that you always wanted to answer. Many academic programs have a culminating project. Honors does not need you to do both and Honors Thesis and an academic program capstone. You can build your Honors thesis out of a capstone project. No matter your undergraduate program, there is a path through the Honors Thesis process for you.
Design and complete an original thesis project in close collaboration with your Faculty Thesis Advisor – a full-time faculty member in your field who will oversee the quality and scope of your work from start to finish. This is the most open-ended of the thesis pathways, giving you the freedom to pursue a topic or question that genuinely excites you, in whatever form best fits your discipline and goals.
Your project could take many forms, amongst them:
- A research project
- A creative work + critical statement (more information here)
- A scientific or engineering investigation
- An applied or professional project
More information about this pathway's proposal form can be found here.
Departments in the College of Arts & Sciences and Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs offer Distinction programs that guide you through a senior thesis. Distinction thesis serves as a 1:1 equivalent for your Honors thesis. While Distinction projects serve as a 1:1 for Honors Thesis- you are expected to follow our thesis submission timeline and turn the final written project in to Honors. You are also required to present on Honors Presentation Day. No two Distinction programs are alike, so check whether your major offers one and connect with your department’s thesis coordinator to learn more. Completing this path means graduating with both Distinction in your major and Renée Crown University Honors.
We ask students to reach out to your academic department to inquire about their specific distinction process. Please do so ahead of you Junior year.
Below you will find a list of distinction programs, but please be aware that the distinction path may have been updated by the department; it's always best to reach out to the department directly for the most up to date information. If you do not know the departmental point of contact for distinction, start by reaching out to your faculty advisor (listed in Orange Success), the director of undergraduate studies, or the department chair.
Capstone Plus (Capstone+)
Many majors require a senior capstone project as part of your degree. As an Honors student, you don’t have to complete both a capstone and a separate Honors thesis – you can build your thesis out of your capstone work! Program capstones are overseen by a faculty member and are often connected to a course. If you choose to build your Honors Thesis out of your capstone work, please approach the capstone faculty about it. You will need their consent to use the capstone work for your thesis. Capstone faculty can serve as Faculty Thesis Advisors for your Honors thesis, but you will have to inquire about their availability to serve in this role.
Because a capstone is already part of your degree requirements, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for an Honors thesis. Capstone projects are also often completed as group work, while your Honors thesis must reflect your individual contribution. The Capstone Plus pathway asks you to extend that work in a meaningful way that is distinctly your own.
Some examples include:
- Refining or testing an aspect of your capstone solution individually
- Applying the group design to a different context or case
- Exploring the broader implications or societal impact of your team’s work
- Adding an additional application, analysis, or layer of background research
- Critical Statement for creative works (more information here)
Your Faculty Thesis Advisor can help you think through what additional work would be most meaningful given your project and discipline.
Culminating Project Plus (Culminating Project+)
Some majors have a project as part of their program that acts as a culmination of the program itself. This project is distinct from a Capstone, but falls under a similar umbrella in terms of how it interacts with the thesis project. As such, the process of designing a thesis through a Culminating Project is the same as designing it through a Capstone. If you plan to build your thesis out of a Culminating Project, please refer to the Capstone+ section for guidance.
Architecture Directed Research – B.Arch Only (Directed Research+)
In their final spring semester, B.Arch students complete a Directed Research (DR) course – a faculty-led capstone experience. As an Honors student, you don’t have to complete both Directed Research and a separate Honors thesis – you can build your thesis out of your DR work! It
- Your Honors thesis can be built out of your Directed Research work rather than completed separately. Because DR is already a degree requirement, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for your Honors thesis – your project will go beyond the DR requirements and reflect independent scholarly contribution.
- If you are pursuing this path, we strongly encourage you to connect with your Directed Research faculty and your Honors core faculty in Architecture early to ensure your project is scoped appropriately and that you are set up for success. Your Directed Research Faculty can serve as your Honors Faculty Thesis Advisor
- The work in addition to your Directed Research can come in many forms. Please make sure to connect with your Faculty Thesis Advisor to determine the scope of the extension work.
Internship-Based Thesis
Many students choose to participate in an internship as an experiential learning opportunity, some as a required part of their program of study, others as a way to broaden their professional and educational experience. The result is a thesis that bridges practical, real-world learning with academic inquiry, and that can serve as a compelling addition to your professional portfolio.
- If you choose to build your Honors Thesis out of this experiential learning opportunity you will need to plan ahead. First, as with every other thesis path, you will need to secure the support of a Faculty Thesis Advisor. Second, this pathway needs to be planned with a research question already in mind and use the internship experience as an opportunity to explore this question.
- A few important considerations if you are thinking about this path: if the internship is already part of your degree requirements, it cannot serve as a 1:1 equivalent for your Honors thesis and will require an additional scholarly layer. You will also need to think carefully about whether the organization would permit you to collect and use their data or work product as part of your thesis research – this is a conversation to have early.
Please set up an appointment with your Honors advisor ideally ahead of your Junior year to discuss whether this is the right path for you. if you plan to build your thesis out of an internship experience, please follow the Faculty Mentored Thesis Project pathway in the Junior Thesis Proposal Form.