History and Literature Major

Coordinators:

Dr. Michèle Plott, Associate Professor, History Department 

Dr. Frederick Marchant, Professor and Director of Creative Writing, English Department

Prospective Majors must seek the prior approval of the coordinators of the Program in order to undertake this major. The major is open only to Honors students.

Honors Major in History and Literature

This Honors program provides interested and qualified students the opportunity to explore in depth the relations between history and literature. The History and Literature Honors student must complete the requirements for a major in either History or English and also complete the requirements for the Minor in the other of the two Departments. The student must also complete the Honors program in both Departments. Thus the course requirements of this program are as follows:

• Completion of the Major in either History or English 30 credits
• Completion of the Minor in the non-major field 18 credits
• Completion of Honors Requirements in History and in English

Honors component of the History and Literature major

Regardless of whether the student in History and Literature chooses to major in History or English, he or she must also satisfactorily complete the Honors requirement in both the History and English Departments. The History and Literature Honors component will include the following:

• A 3.5 grade point average
• Completion of the English Department’s Honors Seminar at an Honors level
• Completion of History 503, "History: Theory and Practice," at an Honors level
• Completion of an Honors Essay under the joint direction of one History and one English Professor on a topic that combines the fields of History and Literature
• Provide an oral defense of the Honors Essay, to be evaluated and approved by professors from both Departments
• Interdisciplinary Advising in History and Literature 

To facilitate this process, and to help in the selection of appropriate courses in both Departments, the History and Literature Honors student must select two official Advisors, one from History and one from English. The advisors will perform several functions:

• Provide overall coordination of all aspects of the program between the two Departments
• Help the students select courses in the two Departments that will provide a focus for the program. For example, students may be directed to courses in both Departments on American History and Literature, or the Nineteenth Century, or Women in History and Literature, or on a variety of other parallel topics
• Help the students select an Honors paper topic and guide them through the writing process
  

Departmental requirements

See the History and English Department listings for further details about the respective requirements for either Major or Minor.