The Honors Thesis

close mentorship and support for advanced independent study

Writing an AMCS honors thesis is one way to fulfill the major's capstone requirement; it allows students to complete an extended study of a cultural topic with the close input of faculty from a variety of disciplines, and it provides both a support system and an audience of peers for that study.  To qualify for honors thesis work, AMCS majors need to have met both the capstone project qualifications and also complete the following before proposing their Honors Thesis:

  • Earned an overall GPA of 3.65 at the start of Fall semester of Senior Year (and they must have a 3.65 or higher at the end of the Senior Year to maintain Latin Honors eligibility - for more on the Arts & Sciences policy, see appropriate Bulletin pages);
  • Completed AMCS 375A in their Junior Year. This course serves to solidify students' understanding of what it means to study culture and prepares them to design a multidisciplinary framework for their project, and is essential groundwork for a thesis-length project.