Honors
Honors
Honors in History
The honors program in history may be the culmination of a student's study of history at Bowdoin College. If a student majoring in History wishes to complete an honors project that student must receive departmental authorization of a topic of study in the semester prior to beginning an honors project. Students are encouraged to pursue an honors project during both semesters of their senior year and should plan on arriving on campus after a summer of preparatory research.
An Honors Paper in History provides students with an opportunity to engage in historical analysis by carrying out extensive research. The process of completing a major research project that culminates in an analytical essay involves many steps, although the order in which a student accomplishes these tasks will depend on the subject, sources and methodology. Students will design a focused research project, articulating a problem or question(s) about a particular subject. They will locate their study in the historiographical literature of the field, broadly defined, in order to show that their problem is worth exploring in relation to the secondary literature and that it will advance the understanding of the subject. In order to work toward a thesis, they will propose a preliminary hypothesis (a potential answer to their problem). They will design a research methodology that enables them to explore the subject in depth through the extensive analysis of available sources, both primary and secondary. Students will present their thesis and analysis in a gracefully written, persuasive essay.