Philosophy Honors Thesis Checklist:
In what follows:
“Semester 1” = the semester in which you take PHIL 691H
“Semester 2” = the semester in which you take PHIL 692H
“Semester 0” = the semester preceding Semester 1
Semester 0 is usually the Spring semester of the Junior year, but it can be earlier.
All these are regular Fall/Spring semesters; if you need to work on your thesis over the summer, special arrangements will have to be made.
Semester 0:
-Choose a thesis topic, find an advisor.
-Submit an Honors Thesis Application to the DUS. The application should be a list of the PHIL courses you have taken, along with the grades you earned in each course, accompanied by a writing sample, which should be a piece of writing that was turned in and graded for some PHIL
-Fill out an Honors Thesis Contract, get it signed by your advisor.
-Turn in your Honors Thesis to the Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, and get registered for PHIL 691H in the Spring Semester.
Semester 1:
-Contact your advisor and set up a meeting during the first week of classes.
-With your advisor’s help, form a committee of three faculty members (including your advisor).
-Fill out an Honors Thesis Work Plan and get it signed by your advisor; you must turn it in to the Director of Undergraduate Studies by the end of the first week of classes.
-Prepare to write your thesis and meet with your advisor regularly over the course of the semester.
-Ask the Director of Undergraduate Studies to register you for PHIL 692H for the following semester.
-By the end of the semester, turn in a 6-10 page paper on the topic of your thesis.
Semester 2:
-Attend meetings of PHIL 692H during the first few weeks of the semester.
-You will be randomly assigned a presentation time.
-At least one week prior to your presentation, send a copy of a short paper (which may be the same one you turned in to your advisor at the end of the preceding semester) by email attachment to the Director of Undergraduate Studies and to every other student enrolled in PHIL 692H.
-To each meeting of PHIL 692H, bring two written questions about each paper that will be presented at that meeting.
-Continue meeting regularly with your advisor.
-In consultation with the members of your committee, schedule your thesis defense. Please communicate your defense date to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Your defense must be held by a deadline set by the Honors Program in your final semester at UNC (which might or might not coincide with Semester 2).
-Register your Honors Thesis online. (This must be done by the same deadline as the defense.)
-Prepare two copies of the final version of your thesis:
-One is for the Carolina Collection at the Davis Library. It should meet the specifications in the document “Guideline for the Preparation and Submission of Honors Theses.” Please turn this one in unbound.
-The other is for the Philosophy Department. It should meet the same specifications, except that it need not be printed on any special type of paper, and it should be in some sort of black binder.
-Hand in both copies to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.