geography

Department Honors in Geography

Department of Geography » For Current Students » Department Honors in Geography

A student may graduate with Geography Departmental Honors by completing the following requirements:

  1. The student must be a declared Geography major by the beginning of their senior year, with a GPA of 3.5 in major courses and a 3.0 overall at the beginning of the second semester of his or her senior year.
  2. The student must choose a Thesis Adviser during the first semester of their senior year. The student and the Thesis Advisor will select a three person committee including:
    1. Your Adviser
    2. Another geography faculty member
    3. Can be outside of the geography department
  3. Through consultation with the Thesis Adviser, the student must write a detailed proposal of the thesis projectand submit the proposal to all committee members by the end of the first semester of the student’s senior year. The proposal must include, but is not limited to:
    • A geographic research question
    • A literature Review
    • A proposed methodology with justification for that methodology
    • A timetable for completion of project
    • An assessment of resource needs
    • A bibliography
  4. During the second semester of the senior year, the student must register for a three credit independent study course in Geography with the Thesis Adviser. While the student is working on the thesis, he or she will consult with the Thesis Adviser at least once every two weeks.
    • It is at the discretion of the Thesis Adviser to determine when drafts of the thesis are due.
  5. The student must submit one final copy of the thesis to each of the committee members
    • This is due on or before exactly 3 weeks before the first day of final examinations (the final semester of the student’s academic career)
  6. The student must defend the thesis to all members of the committee
    • Approximately two weeks after submitting the thesis, but before the beginning of final exams
  7. It is at the discretion of the members of the committee members to determine whether the student’s thesis and defense constitute Departmental Honors.
  8. If the thesis and defense are determined to constitute Departmental Honors, the student will be so commended at the University of Mary Washington commencement.

For thesis examples see our listing of past student research projects.

Geography